The Paris Escapade

The spikes were aimed squarely at Evangeline and I, piercing through the air. This was another moment where there was no time for thinking, no matter how quick. I reacted, instinctively, putting my hands up to somehow ward off the attack.

Outstandingly, it worked. Each and every spike halted in the air before us. I could feel the weight of them pushing against me, though they weren’t physically touching me.

The new ability I had acquired in the graveyard had manifested itself strongly, but it was still untamed, running wildly through my veins. I had not had time to master this ability, and it was taking it’s toll on me, draining my strength rapidly.

Evangeline stepped up, attacking Véronique, breaking her control over the dark spikes. I released my hold on them and they immediately shattered into black dust.

I fell backwards, my body light and lifeless. I didn’t feel it when I hit the floor. White smoke crawled over the edges of my vision, making me feel very light-headed.

I could still hear the fight continuing, but I couldn’t move to help. A golden vision drifted past me, the white clouds giving Nora an ethereal look. She knelt down next to the dead student and shook her head.

There was the sound of breaking glass, but I didn’t have the energy to turn to it. I was able to see, just out of the corner of my eye, movement by the tables. The children stirred, looking around them, letting out startled gasps and tiny shrieks.

Nora stood up and turned to the girls, her hands held out in a calming gesture. “Please stay calm, I will protect you.” she told them.

The girls stayed where they were, but began spouting questions as the situation dawned on them.

“Nora, what is going on?”

“What are we doing here?”

“What’s wrong with Daisy!”

There was a sudden rush as all of the girls hurried over to Nora, who held her arms out to prevent them from passing her. “Daisy is very hurt, please don’t touch her.”

“She’s not moving!” one of the older girls wailed. The others clutched at Nora, or each other. Nora tried to hold them all, but her arms weren’t big enough.

There was more activity in the cafeteria, as students and teachers came upon the scene. Everyone in the school had woken up, it seemed. That must mean Dimitri had left.

Ms. Brun hurried over to the girls and Nora left them in her care. She bent down next to one of the fallen tables and picked up it’s long maroon tablecloth. She walked over and covered me with it, pulling it over my head as well.

“Dawn is approaching.” she said to me. “This should protect you for a little while. Excuse me while I go stop them from killing Véronique.”

“Thank you.” I managed to say, but she was already gone.

I think I must have passed out for a little bit, consciousness was a tricky thing to hold onto sometimes. The next thing I knew was a presence kneeling down on the floor next to me.

“Gabriel, are you still alive?” Evangeline asked, her voice completely hollow.

“I hurt too much to be dead.” I told her.

There was a stretch of silence a mile wide, then “I guess we should get you out of the sun, then.”

“I would appreciate that, yes.”

“Can you stand on your own?”

“I can’t feel my legs, so... probably not.”

“Come on, then.” She slid her hands under my shoulders and helped me up, making sure that no part of me slipped out from under the tablecloth. Once she got me on my feet, which I still couldn’t feel, she arranged the tablecloth so it covered me like a cloak, allowing me to see again. Nora stood a few feet away, wearing an extremely over-sized coat like a cloak. It took me a moment to realize it was Kieran’s, and that was only because he stepped up next to her and wasn’t wearing it.

The cafeteria had more window than wall, and even though they were mostly stained glass, it was still uncomfortably bright. It was the airport all over again. Evangeline pulled me, while also taking most of my weight. She kept her eyes on the ground so as to pick a clear path through the debris littering the floor and carefully guided me up the stairs and to the dark hallway.

I had some feeling in my hands, so I was able to hold the tablecloth around me till we got back to our room. “Ms. Brun wants us to stay here until things are sorted out downstairs.” Evangeline said as she guided me over to the bed and sat me down.

From this angle I could see her face more clearly. It was completely drained, her features hanging from her skull by a miracle. Her eyes were dull and her lips had almost no color at all. “You should rest.” I told her.

She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, as if just mentioning rest made her exhausted. “Yeah, I know. Lemme just take care of you first.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to, alright!” she snapped, then calmed herself quickly. “At least give me the chance to feel like I can do something right, okay?” She pulled the tablecloth off of my head and shoulders and her eyes widened briefly.

“What’s the matter?”

She blinked and shook her head. “Nothing, it’s just your hair. You’ve gone white.”

“That happens sometimes.”

“Yeah, I know. When you passed out the first night, I saw some of it change. Just seeing it all like this so suddenly, caught me by surprise.”

I had feeling in my arms and torso now, and with it’s return I felt hunger. “When I feed it’ll change back.”

She immediately turned to our luggage, which included a metal cooler with my supply of pig’s blood. I reached out and grasped her wrist, preventing her from walking away. She looked back at me, but there was no alarm, no fear in her eyes, just that same dull look.

“Lucien told me I had to drink that while I was at the house. Since he is my last living blood relative, I respect his wishes. Also, he has the deed to the house.” I said. “But, I’m not home right now.”

“Gabriel, I’ve still got the chain.” she said in a flat voice.

I looked at her other hand and saw that the silver chain was still wrapped around it, the cuffs hanging from her fist. I released her. “Fair enough.”

She opened the cooler and fetched a white bottle. She warmed it up by running it under the hot water in the bathroom sink for a few minutes. Then she handed it to me, still dripping.

I opened the bottle and drank slowly so as to not shock my system. I still didn’t know the full effect that using my new ability had had on me. I didn’t need it going haywire with the influx of blood.

As I nursed my drink, I watched Evangeline. She sat down on the floor next to the luggage and started unwinding the chain from around her hand. It didn’t seem to want to detach from her skin. She winced and hissed under her breath as she revealed the bruised and bloody skin underneath.

“Anything broken?” I asked casually.

She slowly flexed her hand, testing each finger. “I don’t think so, but I won’t be able to write for a while.” She pulled the first aid kit out of the luggage and unzipped it.

I finished the bottle of blood and slid off of the bed and crawled over to her. I tucked my legs underneath me and sat on them. “Let me do that, you’ll embarrass yourself if you try to bandage yourself one handed.”

“Are you going to poison this one, as well?” she asked.

“No, I’m good.” I pulled out the bottle of antiseptic and a packet of swabs. “This is going to hurt.”

“Don’t sound so happy about it.” She held out her hand.

“It’s the little things in life that give me joy.” I told her.

I cleaned her hand thoroughly, but she barely flinched. I wondered whether if it was because she was trying not to show weakness, or if the physical pain couldn’t reach her where she had withdrawn to.

How long was she going to be like this? I didn’t like seeing her look so... dead. Things were much better when she was constantly indignant with me, or when she was being stubborn. Things were almost fun then.

Had I been this insufferable when I had been occupied with my own depression? For six months, as well. No wonder Evangeline had tried to drag me out of it.

I finished bandaging her hand, but didn’t let go of it. Instead I stood up and pulled her to her feet. “Once you get some sleep, you won’t be so boring.”

“Excuse me and my grief.” she answered irately.

“See, that was almost a joke, but you’re just not feeling it.”

“A good girl died tonight, I can’t just bounce back from something like that.” She focused narrowed eyes on me. “I’m not a vampire.”

“Explain it to me then.” I said. She rolled her eyes. “Pretend I am someone else, someone who actually cares about your feelings.” I dropped her hand and sat on the edge of the bed, gesturing to the spot next to me.

“Except you don’t care, and having me try to explain it will bore you to tears. Are you a masochist, or what?” she asked.

“Evidence would appear to suggest so.” I admitted. I sighed and lay on my back, folding my arms behind my head. “But, what I do know is that I am willing to suffer through a moment of you being weepy so we can get back to snarling at each other again.”

“You’re so generous.” she said dryly, but sat on the bed anyway. She placed her hands in her lap and focused her attention on them, her thin shoulders slumped. “Look, Daisy didn’t deserve to die.” she began.

“Does anyone really deserve to die?” I asked hypothetically.

“Very few of them, I suppose, but Daisy is different because I knew her. I had an emotional attachment to her.”

“How strong of a connection could you have made in just a couple of days?”

“I learned enough about her to like her.” she said. “She was smart and practical. She liked to volunteer. She had a crush on her teacher. She had friends that will miss her.” Evangeline looked over her shoulder at me. “She was the kind of person Katrina built this school for.” Her eyes welled up. “And, she didn’t know what was going on. French wasn’t her first language, she probably had no idea what that vampire wanted from her. All she was doing was trying to keep the children safe.” Her face crumpled. “There was no reason for her to die.”

Being a vampire, I came across tears a lot less than a human did. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to do about a crying woman. I sat up, hoping to make a quick retreat. She reached out her good hand and gripped the front of my shirt. Perfect.

She pressed her forehead into my chest and wept all over the front of my shirt. I sat there, not moving, waiting for her to stop, but she seemed to have an endless supply. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably as she vented her grief.

I placed my hands on her shoulders in a vain attempt to separate us. It had the opposite effect as it encouraged her to wrap both of her arms around my torso tightly. Her sobs finally subsided into sniffles. “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you.” she said weakly.

“You do realize that now I have to wash this shirt, don’t you? You’ve got your fluids all over it.”

She pulled her arms back. She grasped the front of my shirt with both hands and blew her nose into it loudly. “There, that’s for pretending to care.” she said as she pulled away.

I’m sure my face was frozen in horror. I made an inarticulate noise in my throat, then started to gingerly unbutton my shirt. “You are an awful woman.” I managed to choke out.

“I hate you too.” she replied.

I balled up the shirt and tossed it into the waste basket across the room. “I need a shower so badly right now.” I turned back to her, working up a really terrifying scowl, but she was lying on her side, her knees curled up slightly. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was slow and deep. I looked over at the bathroom door, but decided against the shower. It could wait a few hours.

I lay on the bed facing Evangeline, my eyes absorbing every detail of her sleeping face. It was gone now, that resemblance I had witnessed earlier. The lines on her face were smooth and peaceful once more.

Katrina’s face had been thinner, sharper. The anger inside of her had etched those lines permanently into her skin. I had never once seen her without a severe expression.

Evangeline’s face was softer, her cheeks fuller. Her eyelashes were longer and thicker, and her mouth was rounder. I reached over and pushed some of her hair away from her face, revealing that her eyebrows were sloped more gently as well.

Katrina’s anger had suited her, matching her features, making her beautiful in her rage. That same anger would spoil Evangeline’s face, distort it into something ugly.

For some reason... I didn’t want that to happen.

********

Gabriel was still sleeping when I awoke, so I left him in the room and ventured out on my own. I discovered Kieran standing on the balcony overlooking a silent cafeteria, leaning both arms on the railing. He was without his long coat, and I had to admit that the view from behind wasn’t half bad. He was muscular under a thin black T-shirt, but wore way too many holsters. “What happened to the duster?” I asked as I leaned on the railing next to him.

“I lent it to that little girl, she hasn’t given it back yet.”

“You do know she’s a vampire, right?”

He nodded. “She’s different, much more so than any vampire I’ve come across. I’ve never seen a vampire try to protect someone they way she did. She’s meeting with Mother right now.”

My curiosity peaked. “Oh?”

“She said she has an idea that will solve both of our family’s troubles.”

“That little girl really is something, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could pull a miracle like that off.”

“I’m waiting here, to take her and and that other one back home when she is done.”

I leaned my back on the railing next to him and peered at his face. “While you’re waiting, wanna tell me a few things?”

He turned to me, giving me a suspicious look. “What kind of things? You don’t look like you’re going to ask me my music preferences.”

“How about you start by telling me your story.” I suggested. “What made you decide to be a hunter?”

He frowned petulantly. “Why would you want to know a boring old story like that?”

“I want to understand you a bit, because I’m not sure I should trust you. I want to know why you choose to drag around the weight of killing.”

He exhaled heavily. “Fine, I will tell you ‘my story’.” He turned back to the cafeteria and stared at it silently.

“Take your time.” I said generously.

His frown deepened. “My father was a hunter, but that didn’t necessarily mean I would be a hunter as well. In fact, his wish was that I would never hunt papillons.”

“But something changed your mind.”

“It was the night he died. I was with him when he came for my father.” His shoulders tensed. “He had been sent to make sure my father hunted no longer. He killed my father quickly enough, didn’t make him suffer. But, for some reason, he did not kill me right away. He... taunted me for a bit, torturing me. He was insane, I mean seriously crazed. I was seven years old, and he terrified me.”

Kieran drew in a deep breath, then continued. “Katrina was a good friend of both of my parents. She was staying in Paris when she had heard from another papillon that my father was marked. She hurried to the house as quickly as she could, but she was too late. My father was dead, and the demon had taken my eye.”

“I don’t remember much of what happened after that, just that I was nearly dead. I had lost a lot of blood and my wound was severe. Katrina managed to drive off the papillon, and save my life. I’m still not sure exactly how she did it.”

“Well, she had to be getting pretty old, even all those years ago. I would wonder, too.”

He shook his head. “No, she was still very strong. What I mean is that I don’t know how she managed to save me. I was nearly dead, and she didn’t take me to a hospital. What she did was far beyond regular first aid.”

Without his coat, I could see clearly how his muscles tightened, creating lines of tension over his whole frame. “This is where we come to the really awful part, isn’t it?” I asked softly.

He ducked his head in a small nod. “I don’t show anyone.” he pointed to his eye patch briefly. “Mother has seen it, but I try not to remind her of it.” He looked over at me. “But you... you risked your life for me, and the school.” He smiled wanly. “And I like you, you remind me of- well, not exactly, but the same feeling is there. I look at you and I know that I can trust you.” He looked away. “Still, it’s up to you if you want to see. I don’t want to burden you with something horrible.”

“Saying it like that only makes me want know more.” I told him, but I took a moment and thought about what he said. In order for me to know more about him, to understand him, he was was willing to show me something about himself that he shared with no one else, and it was something awful. I had to decide, did I want to dig myself into a hole I might not be able to get out of?

“I think... after all of this is said and done, after Gabriel and I go back to New York, I don’t want to just forget about you guys. You, your Mom, all the students and teachers here, and Nora. I want to keep in touch with you, and come back again some time, for no reason but to see you all again. That means you’ll become a part of my life, at the very least my friend. And if something awful happened to you, then I want to know, that way I can understand why it is you do things the way you do.”

He nodded, resigning himself. He brought up both hands, carefully taking off his eye patch.

I expected something gruesome, scars, and empty socket that still hadn’t healed all the way. What I saw surprised me. I reached a hand up, pushing his long hair out of his face so I could be sure of what I was seeing.

The skin under the eye patch was smooth and unmarred, and a few shades paler than the rest of his face. There was no empty socket. There was an eye there, looking perfectly normal and fine, except that it was a different color than his other one. His other eye was a deep sapphire, this one was violet.

“Is it glass?” I asked in confusion. “I know they can make them look pretty realistic these days. Why do you keep it covered? It looks fine.”

“It’s not fine.” he answered. “And it’s not glass.”

“Then whose...” I felt my stomach drop as my my mind jumped to the most awful conclusion.

“When Katrina discovered that the papillon had destroyed my eye, she took his. She never told me how she got the eye to bond to me and heal the wound I received. I don’t think I will ever know.”

“It’s not like you can ask her.” I said softly. “What a terrible thing for a child to go through.”

“It is terrible, and it is a constant reminder of the night my father died.” Kieran said. “But it is better than being dead. I am alive, and I will do everything I can to prevent papillons from killing whomever they please. Katrina gave me my life so that I can make sure what I went through, no one else has to.”

I couldn’t tear my gaze away from that violet eye. “It works?” I asked. “Can you see through it?”

“Far better than I can with my own.”

“Then why keep it covered up? It’s strange, yes, but still useful.”

As I reminded him of it, he lifted his hands again and put the eye patch back on. I dropped my own hand. “There are two reasons.” he said. “One is that it puts a terrible strain on Mother, for her to see it, and the others do not know what happened to me. Explaining it over and over would put more strain on her.”

“The second is that I know that Katrina did not kill the papillon she took the eye from. He was too strong and managed to escape. I know he is still out there.”

“And you’re worried if he finds out you have his eye, then he’ll target you to get it back?” I guessed.

He shook his head. “That would be fine, I would welcome the chance to avenge my father. No, my reason is stranger than that. I worry sometimes that even though he has been separated from his eye, he still has a connection to it. Papillons are fearsome creatures with powers that we humans cannot comprehend. What if he could still see from his eye, no matter where it was?”

“Then he would be able know everything that went on around you.”

“I cannot take that risk. I only uncover his eye when I need to.” Kieran smiled at me fondly. “Like when I have to rescue a beautiful girl.”

“I see.... that explains a few things.” I smiled back.

“It has been a while, I will go see if Mother is done with her conference.” He turned to depart.

“Wait just a moment.” I stopped him and he turned back to me. “I just wanted to tell you, that I met a blind vampire while I was here. He was at the cemetery, and I am sure he was the one that put everyone in the school to sleep. His name is Dimitri, and he keeps both eyes covered up with a cloth.”

Kieran looked fairly stunned. “Then, he is still in Paris after all this time?”

I nodded. “He is part of the Black Rose, so I’m sure you’ll meet him again one day.”

He cupped my cheek with his hand. “Thank you for telling me this, Angie. I am glad I shared my secret with you. I only wish you could answer me one other thing.”

“What?”

“Why I am so irresistibly drawn to you.” He bent his head down to mine.

I brought up my hand, pressing three fingers to his mouth before our lips touched. “Go check on your mom.” I told him gently.

He kissed my fingers and dropped his hand. “If that is what you want.” He turned and walked through the door.

“For now, yeah.” I said to his back.