On the Edge of Eternity

Monday night arrived a little too soon for my mother’s liking. By sunset Monday night all of my clothes were packed in to the set of Louis Vatton luggage that Lestat had given me and sat in front of the front door. My mother was preparing for her inspection of Lestat. She had only ever given one of these inspections in her life before, and I think she wanted to have done many more. As much as my mother had liked Nate she was never fond of the idea of me having dated him for three years. She seemed as nervous as I was. Myself I saw in my mother’s nervous habits. How she would pace, and ring her hands , and occasionally chew the right side of her bottom lip. I always paced, far worse than my mother, I only occasionally rung my hands but I did chew the left side of my bottom lip, its was times like this when I wondered if those little traits were genetic or learned. The pair of us had managed to calm our selves enough to be sitting on the couch when she turned me and said, “Just in case he is a vampire, and by some off chance he makes you one, don’t bit me. I don’t want to be a vampire.”

I smiled I loved my mother, “I won’t.”

“But what I am more concerned about, is you being around hard drugs.”

“I simply won’t do them mother.”

“Yes but what if he is?”

“Lestat doesn’t even drink.”

“Really?” My mother said her smile brightening.

“Nope.”

“And he doesn’t have a problem with you drinking?”

“No.”

“What about you smoking dope.”

“I don’t smoke pot, mom,” I lied, that was one thing I never wanted her to know about.

“That’s a lie, I found dope in your room that one day.”

“First of all, you shouldn’t have been in my room, secondly I told you the pot wasn’t mine, it was Nate’s.”

“Yes but Nate doesn’t smoke pot, and it was after you broke up.”

“Mother we are not getting into this argument right now, because, I’m not going to do any hard drugs while I’m with Lestat. Lindsey will make sure of that.”

“I do feel a little better you going with Lindsey.”

“Good.”

“So, do you really like this Lestat?”

“Yes, I do.”

“More than Nate?”

“Its different when I’m with Lestat.”

“Better?”

“I think so.”

“Just don’t get your heart broken.” There was a silence before she spoke again, “And when you say he is gorgeous, you do mean in normal people terms cause I know you thought Nate was good looking and well...”

“Yes mother, he’s tall, he has long blond hair,” My mother gave me a disgusted look, “But its pretty, and thick and well kept. Oh and his blue eyes, they are beautiful,” I said with a sigh.

“Amber you are positively smitten. You weren’t even this giddy about Nate.”

“I am indeed mother, and then he speaks French to me, it makes me melt!”

“You can understand it?”

“Yep, I need to give my high school French teacher a call and let her know I’m putting the French she taught me to good use.”

“I thought you hated her.”

“That old bitch yes I did hate her, but she hated me too. But me respected each other.”

“And that’s why you just called her a bitch?”

“Yes.”

“Your definition of respect must differ from mine.”

“Just because someone’s a bitch doesn’t mean I don’t respect them.”

Just then the door bell rang. I squealed like a girl might before her first real car date. Mom looked at me and smiled, as we both rushed to the door to answer it. Standing behind the door was Lestat, dressed handsomely as always, however tonight for meeting my mother he chose to ware a black blazer instead of his black leather jacket, “Bonsoir,” he said taking my mother’s hand and kissing it, “Amber didn’t tell me she had a sister.” Mom and I both laughed, he was good.

“Oh, I have to invite you in don’t I?” Mother said poking fun at him being a vampire, “Come in.”

“Merci,” Lestat smiled, I could tell he wasn’t going to correct her.

“Um,” I began taking a step forward, “Lestat, this is my mother Sam, and mom this is Lestat de Lioncourt.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Mom said still smiling. My god she thought he was hot, I couldn’t believe my mom! Okay yeah I could, I mean she was closer to his age than I was. Thus began one of interesting thought processes while my mother and Lestat exchanged niceties. Lestat was 229 years older than me. Yes I was legal but somehow he still seemed like a pedophile. But he only looked 21. Did you stop maturing when you got turned in to a vampire, cause why would he want to be in a 19 year old? I’m terribly immature, and Lestat can be too. No that couldn’t be true, because Claudia was a 40 year old woman stuck in a 6 year olds body. He was only two years older than me when he had been turned into a vampire. Maybe I’d wait till I was 21, that way I could drink legally before I couldn’t drink anymore. Was I an alcoholic, because me becoming an immortal was being influenced by my drinking habits. No I didn’t need to drink to be happy and I wasn’t unhappy when we couldn’t get booze, unless it was a party night.

“Amber!” My mom snapped at me.

“Huh?”

Lestat was chuckling, “Our flight, we don’t want to be late.”

“Oh yeah, sorry.”

“I’ll wait in the car,” he said taking my bags.

“It was nice to meet you Madam Waters.”

“It was nice to meet you too Lestat, you better take care of her.”

“Don’t worry I will.”

“Mommy!” I said throwing myself into her arms. I felt the tears coming, like they had the day she left me standing in the parking lot of my dorm. Only this time the next time I see her I may no longer be living, I did love my mother and it seemed only at moments like this I really knew how much I did, “I love you!”

“Baby, I love you too, Why are you crying?”

“Cause I’ll miss you,” Only a half truth.

“I’ll miss you too, but I’ll see you again soon, I like him. And this is a big adventure for you. How many girls do you know get to date a guy in a band?”

“I know.”

“Now call me when you land.”

“I will.”

“I love you baby!”

“I love you too mommy,” I said as I stepped out on to the cement step, the sound of my scarlet pump echoing in my head. This was the beginning of something grand. I knew that the next time I was here I would no longer be the same person I was now hell next time I was here I may no longer be a member of the living. Lestat was waiting for me to open the car door for me. I slipped inside the car, watching everything from my window. I watched Lestat until he disappeared behind the car then I sat staring at my mother. As we pulled away I waved at my mother who stood watching her only child drive away with a vampire.

“So,” Lestat said to gain my attrition, “Tell me about Nate.”

“What?” I said my eyes bugging out of my head. He had completely caught me off guard.

“I want to hear about Nate,” There was no hostility in his voice, but I was still suspicious,” He was on your mother’s mind, as well as some fairly naughty things about myself that I think you are far too young to hear,” He said teasing me, “and when you told me of him, you simply glossed over your one and only ex boyfriend. I find it so hard that you have only had one other man in your life,” I scoffed at Lestat calling Nate a man, “ You are so beautiful after all.”

“What is there to say about Nate?” I began, “ We started dating when I was a freshmen. At that time I didn’t believe in love. I told him so. So he took it upon himself to make me love him. Well the son of a bitch did it. I fell in love with him. He broke my heart. And it took me all of senior year to get over him.”

“That’s it.”

“Yep.”

“No, I want to know what he was like.”

“Oh, okay. Um, he was funny, retarded funny most of the time, but he was smart too, so he could make intelligent jokes, that not everyone would get, but I did. Um he was a sweet talker. He cried a lot. I liked to make fun of him saying he had middle child syndrome even though he was the oldest, he little brother was his dad’s favorite and his sister was his mom’s favorite. He was mamma’s boy. He could draw pretty well. And he could play guitar and sing. But he was jealous, and it took me a while to figure it out but he was a liar. That pretty much sums him up.”

“But you loved him?”

I was silent for a moment, “Yes.”

“And you dated him for three years?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you, Cherie still a virgin?”

I gasp taken back a little at first, “How did you know, even Lindsey doesn’t know that about me, so you couldn’t have read that from her thoughts, and my mother thinks I’m a whore, so how did you know?”

“I just can tell, by the way you want me when I touch you like your experiencing all of these feelings for the first time. How your friends noticed that you never hooked up with anyone even when they were hitting on you, they found that odd, I did get that from their thoughts. How if you weren’t a virgin you would have bedded me by now,” Lestat paused now thinking for a moment before he continued, “How many people have you even kissed?”

“Three,” I said my voice low as if I were being integrated. Lestat nodded as if he wanted me to tell him who they were, “Nate, and you, and one night at a party senior year, the guys dared Emily and I to kiss, and we did, but I don’t remember kissing Emily, I just saw the pictures.”

Lestat laughed, “But that doesn’t answer my question, why are you a virgin?”

“At first I was waiting for my first love, but I was never ready when he and I were together and then we broke up. Then I couldn’t make love with someone I didn’t love it kind of defeats the purpose . And now? Its kind of a challenge, see how long I can stay a virgin, and then…” I paused I had been honest with him up until now, “ I think the idea of sex frightens me a little. I know I sound like such a child. ”

Lestat laughed, I sat quiet until he stop, “ At least you didn’t say because of your’ faith in God’,” Lestat laughed again. That was one thing that annoyed me about him, they way he mocked my belief in something more than this physical world, Lestat looked over at me and he saw the almost hurt look on my face, “ There is nothing wrong with being a virgin,” How many times had I heard that? I always found it funny, as if virginity were a terrible medical condition like Leprosy. But maybe I just had an old fashioned view on the matter. I held my virginity in high regard. I prided myself in the fact that I had managed to hang on to it for so long. “In fact, I’m unbelievably happy you’re a virgin. It makes you all the more special especially in this day and age.”

“Do you think that I’m just something beautiful and innocent you can deflower?”

“No! I wanted you before I knew that about you.”

“I hold my virginity in high regard, and I’m not just going to give it up without a fight!”

Lestat laughed again, “ I would hope not.”

“Oh so its just a game to you? See how easily you can steel my virginity.”

“There it is that feistiness, that fire.”

I smiled, I hated that he could bring me down from anger in just that one line, I also loved that he liked my feistiness. Nate had hated it, he just saw it as an eagerness to argue, and annoying. “Can we change the subject?”

“Oui, your mother was a delight to meet.”

“Yes she is quite the character.”

“I could tell just from our first meeting , that you were a very lucky girl to have grown up with a woman such as her.”

“I know I really was.”

“And she lavished affection upon you didn’t she?”

“Yes, I’m very fond of hugs and kisses.”

“Was your grandmother the same way?”

“Yes. Actually she died 11 years ago today. It feels strange that she’s been gone longer that I ever knew her but I still miss her.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I like remembering her.”

“You can tell me more about her if you like.”

“Okay, I remember, right before my first recital I was only four, you know the baby ballerina’s, my grandmother gave me a pair of diamond earrings for good luck, I wore them every single time I danced after that.”