The Paris Escapade

Hours later, I was feeling refreshed, and slightly remorseful that I had been so hard on Chris. I tapped on Katrina’s door. “Chris? I’m sorry for making you stay in there, you can come out now. I mean, it’s not like Gabriel hasn’t been a pain in the butt to me, too. I can understand the desire to punch him in the face.”

Silence. Was he asleep? I pushed open the door, and found an empty room. “God dammit, Chris.” I quickly headed down the stairs. “Please, please don’t have killed each other, that couch is still considered new.”

When I entered the living room, a strange sight met my eyes. Gabriel and Chris were sitting on the couch, controllers in hands. Chris looked like he was having fun, Gabriel looked cross. “How are you winning? I’m pressing the buttons faster than you can.”

“I know which ones to press.” Chris explained with a grin. Then he spotted me and called to me with a wave. “Evie! You’re finally up!”

“Yes, yes I am.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall, watching the two of them. “What’s going on here? Are you two actually getting along?”

“Hardly.” Gabriel scoffed. “Your brother is a cheater.”

“Aww, you’re just upset I didn’t want to make out with you.” Chris said teasingly.

Gabriel gave him a look that was a mixture of horror and repulsion. “What are you talking about?”

“Oops, looks like I’m ahead again. You should keep your eyes on the game.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed, his lips pressing together into a thin line. He turned his eyes back to the TV, hitting buttons so fast it qualified as controller abuse.

“Mail’s on the table.” Chris told me, not taking his eyes off the TV. “You got something from Mom. Looks like a birthday card.”

“My birthday is coming up?” I asked curiously, strolling into the kitchen. I could never remember my birthday, so it always snuck up on me out of the blue. It was the ninja of holidays.

“It’s tomorrow, June 20th, the same as every year.” Chris sounded exasperated. I could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

“You look like your sister when you do that.” Gabriel told him.

“Shut up, Gabrielle.”

“After you, Chrissie.”

I sorted through the mail quickly as I walked back into the living room. “Bill, bill, magazine for Callie, birthday card from Mom, bill.” The last envelope was a heavy one, made of thick, cream colored paper. It was hand addressed to Katrina Riley. The handwriting was elegant script. “What’s this?” I turned it over. The back was stamped with the picture of an angel in prayer.

I opened the envelope carefully, so as not to rip the expensive paper. I pulled out a single sheet of folded paper, made of the same paper as the envelope. I unfolded it and began reading.

After a moment, I headed to the living room. Gabriel sat on the couch, game controller in his hands. “God dammit! You’re not even trying!” He yelled at the TV.

“Gabriel, did you know that Great Aunt Katrina helped found a school? In Paris?” I asked him, my eyebrows shooting up.

He paused the game and turned to me. Even Chris looked interested. “She spent my money on a school?”

“Sends them a yearly donation and everything. It’s even called Saint Katrina’s School for Girls.” I flashed the letter at him, then went back to scanning it.

He snickered, turning his attention back to his game. “Saint Katrina? What is she, the patron Saint of firearms?”

“No, that’s Saint Barbara.” I said without looking up.

“How do you know that? What do they want? Is it time for their donation or something?”

“No, here let me read it to you.

Dear Katrina,

I am writing to you today to beg for your help. You have been a kind and generous supporter of our school since we began thirty years ago, and now I am afraid all of our hard work might soon unravel before my very eyes.

The Black Roses are growing in power, becoming more and more ambitious in their evil. Their Papillons flood the streets, killing the innocent and the righteous. My girls are in danger!

Please come to Paris as quickly as you can. I know given up hunting, but we don’t have much time! My fears grow with each passing day.

I hope this letter reaches you, and pray that you can save us.

Mrs. Brun
Head Mistress
Saint Katrina’s School for Girls

I looked up from the letter. Gabriel had forgotten about his game and was staring at me. “What’s a ‘papillon’?” I asked him.

“It’s french for ‘butterfly’, another name for a vampires” He replied. “So... are you going to go to Paris?”

I nodded. “I think I will. I know Chris just got here, but what can I do? It sounds like they really need help, and Great Aunt Katrina’s not around.” I decided right then. “I want to help if I can.”

Gabriel stood up, tossing the controller aside carelessly. The car on the screen careened into a wall and stayed there, still running. Chris’ car zoomed past. “Excellent. I’ll start packing.”

I frowned at him. “You? You’re coming with me?”

“Of course, it’s Paris.” He emphasized the word. “The City of Lights. I haven’t been there since the 20s.”

“You’re going to cause too much trouble.”

“Can you speak french?” He asked. I shook my head. “Then you’re going to need me.”

My frown deepened, but I couldn’t argue with that. “Just great.” I grumbled. “The most romantic city in the world, and I’m going to be stuck with you.”

Just then there was a thundering sound from overhead, then Callie rushed down the stairs. “I want to be the one to go to Paris with Angie!” She cried. “Let Gabriel and Chris watch the house!”

“I was just going to say you and Chris should watch the house, just in case any more of Nora’s old lackeys decide to pay us a visit.” I said. Nora had amassed a vampire army using her influence, and some of the more heavily influenced lackeys came by every now and then to try to get revenge from Gabriel. They were usually too confused and weak to cause much trouble, but I didn’t want to leave the house unguarded.

“Do you know French?” Gabriel asked.

Callie’s eyes widened pleadingly. “No...” she said in a small voice.

“Then you can’t come.” Gabriel said sternly. “There’s no reason for you to come.”

Tears welled up in Callie’s eyes. “But, but... If I don’t go, Angie will...”

“I know it’s going to be dangerous.” I told Callie. “If Gabriel wants to come with, he’ll have to watch my back. I’ll be fine.” In actuality, I was sure I would be the opposite of fine. I was heading right into a very dangerous situation, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try to help Great Aunt Katrina’s school.

Callie ran to me, wrapping both arms around me possessively. “It’s not the danger! It’s something much, much worse!”

Chris spoke up from the couch. “What’s going to happen?”

She buried her face into my shoulder, murmuring incoherently. “What?” I asked her. “You’re mumbling.”

Callie turned her face to the side. “I said, if you go to Paris, you’ll fall in love.”

I laughed. “What? With the city? Are you scared I won’t come back?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Callie answered sulkily.

“Not everything you see actually happens.” I told her gently. “You’re probably just overreacting.”

“Am not.” Her voice was stubborn.

“Honestly, is this why you’re so worked up?” Gabriel threw his hands in the air. “You’re hopeless, you know that, right?” Callie buried her face back into my shoulder. “I never believed in your future sight, and now I have proof. No one in their right mind would be attracted to that woman.” She opened her mouth to speak, but Gabriel overrode her. “You don’t count, I said ‘someone in their right mind’.”

“Cut it out with insulting Evie and Callie.” Chris spoke up angrily. “Don’t make me come over there.”

“Oh bite me.” Gabriel said sharply.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Gabriel looked like he was about to explode. I decided to take over the situation before it got any worse. “Okay, everybody just chill out!” I shouted. I put my hands on Callie’s shoulders and pushed her back so I could see her face. “Callie, you have nothing to worry about. Plus, I need your help. I can’t leave Gabriel here with Chris, they’d tear each other apart. I need you to stay here to protect the house.”

Callie gave me a sad look, then sighed heavily. “Fine...”

“I’m going to go call Ms. Brun right now. I’ll try not to stay in Paris more than a week, ten days at the most. If the problem is unsolvable in that time, we’ll come back here and think of something else.”

“Promise?” Callie asked.

“Cross my heart.”

“Okay...” she said, though she still looked sad.

“Good.” I turned to Gabriel. “If you want to come, you have to be on your best behavior. I want you to promise me that right now.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Come on, what do you really expect me to do?”

“Promise me you’ll be on your best behavior, right now.” I looked him square in the eye.

He gritted his teeth. “Fine.”

“Say it. Or me and Callie will lock you up in the attic.”

He sighed. “I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Chris looked confused. “You take him at his word, just like that?”

“Yes.” I turned away, looking for the phone.

********

Hours later, I was sitting in the waiting area at JFK Airport, staring at the pair of first class tickets in my hand. “I still can’t believe how quick it was to arrange everything. I’m surprised we got a flight on such short notice. Though, what truly shocks me, is how quickly we got through airport security. David is like a wizard among lawyers. How did he get you a Passport so quickly?”

Gabriel sat in the seat next to me, his arms spread out over the backs of the seat on either side of him. Dawn was an hour ago, so he wore his long coat, black gloves, a hat, scarf, and a strong pair of sunglasses. We were indoors, but JFK was mostly windows. I found it funny how many strange glances he was getting, dressed like that at the beginning of summer.

Gabriel yawned loudly. “Lucien’s just good at what he does. He is my son, after all.”

I looked over at him. His face was haggard under the scarf and glasses. The shadows under his eyes looked like bruises. “When was the last time you got some sleep?”

He shrugged. “When is our flight? I’m tired of waiting.”

I frowned at his obvious dodging of my question. Gabriel couldn’t lie, but he had learned to evade like a pro. “Should be just a few more minutes.”

Overhead on the loudspeaker, a harsh voice announced our flight, direct to Paris with no layovers. I stood up and stretched. “See? Ask and ye shall receive.” I held my hand out to him.

He looked at my hand, then up at me. One eyebrow arched over his sunglasses. “You look tired.” I explained.

He got up on his own, shouldering his carryon bag. Without a word, he walked past me. I shrugged, dropping my and and following him.

“Did you know, I’ve never flown First Class before?”

“Fascinating.” Gabriel said dryly. “What’s First Class?”

“I can see my conversation is wasted on you.”

“Yes, yes it is.”

We waited on line, then boarded the plane. First Class was as I expected, very spacious and plush, but I was still surprised I was actually going to be sitting up there. I looked back and the cramped and crowded Coach Class briefly, then hurried after Gabriel.

We found our seats, guided by a pleasant Flight Attendant named Mary. She was very happy to show us where our seats were and delighted to tell us the menu items and delighted to give us our headphones. I suspected some kind of medication was responsible for her attitude.

Before taking my seat I turned to the extremely chipper Mary. “Can I just bother you with one tiny favor?” I asked her.

She smiled her false, much too bright smile. “What do you need?”

I looked around, then lowered my voice a little, the flight attendant leaned in a little closer. “My friend here is kind of... scared of flying. Can you please have the other passengers close their window shades for the flight? It’ll make the whole experience that much more bearable.”

She looked down at Gabriel. He removed his glasses and tilted his head up, looking at her out from under his hat. His expression was ever so slightly pleading. He must have been using influence, because his eyes were so clear and brown. It was as if his entire soul lay bare in them. “Only if it’s no trouble.” His voice came out with just the right amount of huskiness.

Mary’s cheeks flushed, I could even feel my own heating up a little, and I knew it was all an act. “I’ll take care of it right away.” She turned back to me reluctantly, as if it pained her to take her eyes from Gabriel’s face. “I’ll see to it that your... boyfriend, has a safe and comfortable flight.”

“We’re just friends.” I said, a tiny smile cracking my lips.

“I-I see.” Mary ducked her head, her cheeks still flaming, and walked up the aisle.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I took my seat. “Wow, you really know how to pour it on, don’t you?” I looked over at Gabriel, but his face was drawn, and he looked even paler than usual. “Are you okay? Don’t tell me you’re actually scared of flying.”

He shook his head. “No, flying doesn’t bother me.” He snapped his window shade closed and grabbed the emergency manual from the pouch on the back of the seat in front of him. He opened it and stared at the pages, not actually reading them.

‘Whatever.’ I thought, reaching for the plastic wrapped headphones on the back of the seat in front of me. I unwrapped them and plugged them into the seat, next to the touchscreen (I was never going to get over flying First Class!), then searched for some music to listen to. Soon, I shut my eyes and tuned out the whole world.

I dozed for a bit, but it couldn’t have been too long, my back was just starting to stiffen up. I put my hands on the arm rests so I could straighten it, and my hand covered Gabriel’s.

I quickly moved my hand, opening my eyes. Gabriel was looking straight ahead, his face taut. His hands clutched the armrests so hard the metal underneath the padding was starting to strain. His scarf lay in his lap, but he was still wearing his hat.

“Gabriel, are you all right?” I asked in an alarmed whisper.

“Not really.” His teeth were clenched as he spoke.

“What’s the matter? Are you hungry? Did someone open their shade?” I glanced around the plane. There weren’t that many other passengers in first class, and all the shades were closed. I prayed that Gabriel wasn’t going to go nuts on a whole plane full of people.

“The water.” Gabriel said tightly. I turned back to him.

“What water? What do you mean?”

“We’ve been flying over the water, for the past hour.” His skin was incredibly pale, and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

It was then that I saw plainly that Gabriel was very frightened. In fact, he was trembling, so slightly I hadn’t noticed it at first. He wasn’t going through some hunger-induced rage; he was scared out of his wits.

Sympathy washed over me, followed by confusion. Why would Gabriel be scared of flying over water?

A small nugget of vampire lore I had researched last year came to me. “If you can’t cross running water, why did you want to come with me to Paris?” I asked, keeping my voice soothing even though I was getting pretty angry.

“I can do it.” He answered, not looking at me. “It’s just not easy. I would prefer to do it while I slept, but we couldn’t get that flight.”

“Why water though?” I asked, before I realized that it might not be the best topic of discussion at the moment.

Gabriel closed his eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down his throat as he swallowed. “Water burns us.” He replied. “So, it’s instinct to fear it. Even if you’re far above it, the ocean is the last place you want to be.”

“No,” I shook my head. “That doesn’t make any sense. You shower, I’ve seen you in the shower, remember? There was all that steam, but it didn’t burn your skin.”

Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “I’m older than most vampires. My skin is stronger. A young vampire would burst into flames if you doused him in water.”

“Really?” My eyebrows shot up.

“That’s how it would look.” Surprisingly, talking seemed to be calming him down. His hands were still on the arm rests, but they weren’t clutching so tightly. “If it was saltwater, anyway. The water that comes through the pipes is fresh.”

“The city filters the water, too.” I told him. “New York has some of the cleanest drinking water in the country.” I thought of the ocean underneath us. Just miles and miles of endless seawater. No wonder he was frightened.

“If I have to cross water, I prefer flying. I’ve done boats in the past...” He paused to swallow again. “I had to be chained down.”

I tried to imagine chains that would be thick enough and strong enough to hold Gabriel down. They would have to be silver, I decided. More importantly, who had done the chaining?

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked. I couldn’t very well ignore him when he was like this. Just like I couldn’t ignore him when he had had blood sickness in the shower last year.

His lips formed the word ‘no’, but it didn’t come out. “Talking helps.” he said after a moment.

“What should I talk about?”

He closed his eyes. “I don’t care.”

“Okay...” I thought over a few topics, but there was one question I really wanted answering. “Why are vampires in France call ‘papillons’? Aren’t butterflies gentle, beautiful creatures?”

“I don’t really want to answer that question...” Gabriel answered with effort.

“What? You’re not even going to give me a hint?”

“I’ll only say, it comes from the way a butterfly is made.”

I thought that over for a bit. “Don’t vampires give their blood to humans to turn them?”

“That’s part of it.” he answered evasively.

“How is that like how a butterfly is made?”

“It’s not.”

“Well, then I’m confused.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“It’s because you’re not answering my questions.” I answered in annoyance.

“It’s not good for you to know too many vampire secrets.”

“Oh, you don’t care about my well being.”

“What I said is still true.”

I sighed softly. “I guess I’ll stop harassing you when you’re not feeling well.” I placed my hand back over his.

“You’re touching me.” he said irritably, as if I hadn’t realized it.

“I know that. It’s called comfort. I know it’s a strange, new feeling for you, but we humans use it to make friends feel better.”

“I’m supposed to be a friend now?”

“Not really, I just feel sorry for you.”

“If you try to blackmail me with this later, I will kill you.”

“I believe you.”

********

“Well, we’ve arrived safely in Paris.” I observed cheerfully.

“The plane didn’t drop out of the sky. Yipee.” Gabriel said brusquely. He pulled his hat down over his eyes another quarter inch. He was back in his overcoat, scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face, black gloves covered his hands. “Can we get somewhere that has walls now?” He glared at the airports large pane glass windows, which let in a near blinding amount of sunlight. Gabriel followed behind me and I tried my best to avoid the direct patches of sunlight on the floors.

“Ms. Brun said she was sending a car to pick us up.” I said over my shoulder. “The last time you were here was probably ages ago, right? We’ll never be able to navigate the streets on our own.”

“Nonsense. My phone has GPS and I have google maps bookmarked.”

“Well, a car sounds nice, better than renting one.”

“Whatever.”

We walked to where a group of people gathered to greet the new arrivals. Some people were holding up signs. I scanned them, looking for my last name, Stanton.

“There he is.” Gabriel pointed.

“Where?” I looked, but couldn’t see who he was pointing to.

“Right there. ‘Riley’.”

“Oh.” Riley was Great Aunt Katrina’s last name. Now that I was looking for it, I spotted him easily. We walked over to greet him.

He was a few years older than me, and about average height. His hair was dark brown and long, tied at the back of his neck. He wore a dark coat and black gloves that had the fingers cut off. I found him to be rather handsome, but the most striking thing about him was the eye patch that covered his his left eye. It was black, with a silver decoration carved in the shape of a rose.

I smiled warmly in greeting. “I’m Angie Stanton, I’m here on behalf of Katrina Riley. Ms. Brun should have told you...”

“Mother did mention that, yes.” the young man replied. His accent was strong, but he pronounced his words precisely. “Still, I had hoped...” He looked at me more closely and paused. “But, I lack manners, forgive me.” He bowed lightly, holding out one hand to me.

I laughed a little self-consciously. I placed my hand in his, half expecting him to kiss it. Instead, he clasped my hand, pulling me towards him as he straightened up just enough to press his lips lightly against mine.

The kiss lasted the briefest of seconds, but my body felt like it had turned to stone. He smiled at me warmly, his one dark blue eye twinkling. “Greetings, Miss Angie Stanton. My name is Kieran. Welcome to Paris.”