Baby, We Have Eternity

I had been talking with Jon and Spencer in his room when Mike came in.

“William asked me to get you,” he said immediately, not giving us a chance to greet him.

“Hi to you, too, Mike,” I teased, standing up. He smiled.

“Just doing my job,” he replied. “Hey guys,” he said to Jon and Spencer. He received ‘heys’ back and I followed him out the door.

“What does he want?” I asked, following him up the staircase. He shrugged.

“He wants to talk to you.” I bit my lip nervously; could he possibly have found out about my sneaking out? Perhaps one of his spies had seen me talking to Pete? “I’m sure it’s nothing,” Mike reassured, seeing the nervous look on my face. I didn’t answer, and he left me at the door of William’s study. I pushed the door open hesitantly as Mike headed back down the hallway.

William was standing at the window, perfectly still as I cautiously walked over to him.

“You’ve been well behaved lately,” he stated, not turning to face me yet. I didn’t respond, hoping this wasn’t a trick. “I’m pleased,” he said, finally turning. He didn’t sound happy, but his eyes were their usual dark brown instead of an angry red, so I took it as a good sign and relaxed a little.

“I only try,” I lied, staring back into his eyes. It gave me a strange sense of pride and pleasure that I could lie to him so easily. Most couldn’t do that successfully. It gave me the confidence to stand up to him.

“We have another gathering in a few night’s time, and I expect the same,” he informed me in a measured tone. I nodded wordlessly. “I love you,” he said, but not sounding how those words are supposed to be said. He said it like it was business. He stared at me, waiting expectantly.

“I love you too,” I responded lifelessly. I forced the meaningless words out of my mouth. It was all just habit now, it had been for awhile, and would be for the rest of my eternal life.

“You can go now,” he said, turning back to the window. I left, shutting the door behind me.

I thought hard as I walked back to my room.

The truth was, there had once been something behind the words. But that was a long time ago, when we had been mortal.

He had changed dramatically since then.

I had insisted upon him changing me as soon as I found out what had happened to him.

I wanted to be with him for eternity, although that had quickly changed once our clan began to grow.

After he had changed me, it got into his head that others might want the same. To start off, he had managed to convince Michael and Mike to change and join us forever.

I remembered how Sisky and Butcher had refused to change. William had let them go with their decision, since they had been such close friends at the time. I sighed. I missed them. They had gone into hiding after William became powerful, and I hadn’t seen them in years. They sure would have brought some entertainment to this otherwise dreary mansion.

And then came Jon, Spencer, Ryan, and Brendon.

That was also the day that Pete had changed. Spencer, Jon, Ryan, and Brendon had changed agreeably enough, but Pete had refused and tried to stop William from changing the other four. He had fought back and gotten bitten, which had given Patrick, Joe, and Andy time to get away. I wasn’t so sure how they were doing other than they were still with Pete in this vampire gang war, but I hoped they were safe, along with Sisky and Butcher.

Pete hadn’t joined like William had hoped, and various vampires had followed after that disaster.

That was when William had changed for the worse. He became power-hungry, cold, and distant.

That was when I stopped loving him.

I missed the old William. My William. Bill. But no one had called him that for ages.

Sometimes, if I tried really hard, I could see my Bill in William. The one that liked to spend time with me. The one that made my heart race when he touched or kissed me, back when my heart was still beating, that is. The one that would spend hours talking to me. The one that would sing me to sleep.

The one that loved me.

But he was long gone, and I was just as alone as I went to sleep every morning at sunrise.