Esme shook her head, a look of disappointment across her face. “No, I am sorry William. It’s not so cut and dry. It could be a memory from the other side. It’s possible that you died sooner, and it’s a memory of you in the afterlife checking in on her. There’s no way to tell. You see, I didn’t see you interact with her, or touch her, so the vision was still a bit vague. But that little girl, she will exist, and she is the daughter of both you and Marie. I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me when I first met you. William, she’s your exact replica,” Esme gave him a small smile.
William furrowed his eyebrows together as he thought. “Is Marie pregnant now?” he asked.
Esme gave him a confused look. “Have the two of you been intimate?”
William blushed ever so lightly, but he nodded. “Yeah, we sort of have.”
This news did not please the mother-witch.
William set a hand on Esme’s, a serious look on his face. “I won’t hurt her,” he said.
Esme laughed out loud. “And you think I’m going to trust a vampire? What happens when you get hungry and there’s a warm body sleeping next to you? I wasn’t born yesterday. I know what vampires will do for the blood in the blink of an eye,” she said, her tone serious.
“I’ll feed regularly. I won’t let it come to that. Besides, you saw the vision. We’re going to have a kid, and Marie is alive. Isn’t that all the proof you need?”
The mother-witch stood up angrily. “I don’t know that you won’t hurt her. You could have bitten her, and she could have killed you. She could be a vampire herself in the future. There’s no telling how it’s all going to pan out. So, don’t sit there and ask me to trust you when you’re still a cold-blooded killer.”
William cleared his throat. He wanted to hold his ground. “I love her, Esme.”
“You’ve only come to that realization in the last twenty-four hours. And your hunger as a vampire will beat love any day of the week.”
William stood up to face her. “I’ll make it a point to not go hungry. I’ll feed regularly. It won’t be an issue.”
Esme waved him off, too tired to continue. She blew out one of the candles.
“So, there’s no way to tell if she’s pregnant now?” he asked, his tone softening.
“It’s too soon to tell. But there will be an aura around when she is. Pregnant mothers’ glow. That’s were that saying comes from.”
William took a deep breath. He still couldn’t believe he was going to have a kid and wasn’t sure if he was going to be around for her or not. He had never felt so conflicted in his whole vampire life.
He stood up with Esme and followed her into the kitchen where Marie was. William sat down on the kitchen table and watched as mother and daughter made final preparations for the stew. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Marie and watched her work for a few minutes. Finally, he had to ask.
“So, what’s the big plan here regarding my death. How is it done?” he asked out of curiosity.
“Well, it entails almost everything you thought you knew about killing a vampire, but combined in a way you never would have figured out on your own. An extreme amount of garlic will be required. Garlic, as it turns out, in large amounts, affects vampires. One, it can cause you to have an outer body experience. Two, when you die and when your soul leaves your body, garlic would ensure that you don’t reenter your body. And, that’s when I would strike.” Marie tried to explain it casually, though she had other feelings on the matter at hand.
“I was wondering, are there any other options for me? I mean, if I didn’t want be a vampire anymore? Is there a way it could be undone?”
Marie shared a look with her mother. Esme nodded, taking on the task of answering the question herself. She motioned for Marie to sit down next to William.
Esme cleared her throat. “There is a way to reverse it.” She took a deep breath. “William, is this something you’re interested in?”
“I’d like to give it some thought,” he answered slowly. William looked at Marie and gave her a small smile. He wanted to say more, how he had fallen for Marie, how he wanted to spend the rest of his days with her. But he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. He needed to make sure Marie felt the same way, otherwise things were bound to get complicated.
“Is sticking around really something you’d consider?” Marie asked him, placing a hand on hers. She had yet to know about her pregnancy with him.
He took a deep breath, the sound filling up the kitchen. “Yeah, maybe,” he said.
“Why the change of heart?” Marie asked, her heart racing. William could hear it, too, but she didn’t know that.
“I’d like to see the end of The Kings & Queens of Winter, for starters,” he said and smiled. His line worked, and Marie’s face broke into a smile, too.
“I can arrange for that,” she said.
He nodded, caressing her fingers. “Good,” he said.
“We’re actually waiting on a few deliveries of the ingredients you’ll need if you want to reverse the vampirism. After it arrives, I suggest the two of you take some time to figure out what it is you want. Travel somewhere. It may help provide some clarity for you, William.”
He nodded.
“If, at the end of that time, you still want to be rid of this world, I will perform the task,” Esme said matter-of-factly.
“Mom! No way, I am up for it,” Marie said, standing up.
“I know you are, but I have spoken, and it will be done by my hands. One day, you will understand,” her mother said sternly. She couldn’t tell Marie why. She couldn’t let it be known that her daughter would be pregnant with William’s child. That conversation was for her daughter and William to have by themselves.
AFTER DINNER, WILLIAM and Marie needed to leave. It was nearly dawn. Both William and Marie kissed the mother-witch goodbye. They waited for their car through the ride-sharing app. When the car arrived, both of them sensed the strong presence of a vampire. William held him arm out, protective of Marie as he peeked into the car. Drake, the coven leader, sat in the driver’s seat of the car that had arrived to pick them up. Marie cursed their luck. Their driver, according to the app, was supposed to be a woman. But the car was the same.
“I had a feeling I would run into you two,” Drake said, smiling. He put the car in park and got out of the car, looking towards the rising sun. “You two waited until the last possible moment to leave, didn’t you?”
“How’d you find us?” William asked, stepping in front of Marie.
“You met with the resident witch. That much wasn’t hard to figure out. It’s what I did when I first got here.” He walked slowly towards William, looking at Marie just behind him. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced,” Drake said.
“The sun is almost up. What is it you want?” William asked.
Drake turned his head sharply. “You want to hide from me? You’re masking yourselves somehow. At first, I didn’t know why, but last night, I remembered where I saw your girlfriend’s pretty face,” Drake said. He turned to Marie. “I saw a photo of you inside of that shop, on the witch’s desk. You’re her daughter, which means you’re a witch?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Well, that makes you my new best friend.”