Balance Beam

The most dangerous thing on this planet is a woman. Forget angry best friends and vampires, an emotional woman like Alexa was what I was afraid of. Like any other human girl, she was intimidated by Giselle right away. She should be, I mean there’s simply no comparison between the two. Anyway, that’s not helping my case too much.

Alexa has been smothering me since she learned about my acquaintance with the vampire. She has demanded every bit of my free time and when we’re not together, she’s blowing my phone up with text messages. Being the prick that I am, I complained to her about it and asked why she was so clingy all of a sudden. Alexa was clearly embarrassed when she told me that she was afraid I liked Giselle more than her. So like the smart prick I am, I lied. I told her that I did not know her all that well and that I was not fooled by her vampiric beauty.

Lying didn’t help all that much because even though she has cut back, Alexa still sends me too many text messages in a day and insists on hanging out often. Her behavior didn’t just scare me, it turned me off completely. She was needy and clingy, and it was just annoying. I know I told Giselle that I’d take the girl out and such, but I’m not her boyfriend. I’d hate to see how she’d act if I was.

I finished drinking my coffee when my best friend strolled into the kitchen. He was whistling as he retrieved a bottled water from the fridge. As of recently, this was definitely odd behavior for him. I eyed him skeptically and he finally caught my gaze. He had that goofy grin on his face and I instantly knew he was no longer mad at me.

“So I have to ask, how are things going with Alexa?” he asked. I groaned loudly, earning a chuckle from Quinn.

“I think she thinks I’m her boyfriend,” I complained.

“That’s not good,” he shook his head. “Why do you even put up with her? I mean, besides the fact that she’s Lucinda’s daughter. You should’ve known it was a bad decision.”

I nodded, rolling my eyes at him.

“Giselle told me to take her out,” I admitted. Quinn’s jaw dropped.

“Vampires are so weird,” he stated, shrugging. “So are you going to continue to take her out? I honestly think you shouldn’t.”

“Why is my relationship, if that’s what you want to call it, an interest to you all of a sudden?” I asked, a bit angry.

Quinn rolled his eyes at me, obviously annoyed by me. He was starting to get on my nerves. It seemed to me like he was trying to pick a fight. If a fight is what he wants, then I suppose that’s exactly what he’ll get.

“Everyone knows Alexa is bad news bears. Even her own mother said she’s an alcoholic and sleeps around. She’s not right for you dude,” he answered, leaving the room.

I stood in the kitchen, fuming. I guess you know what’s good for me, Quinn? You couldn’t even sense when that witch was preying on you, yet I’m suppose to trust your judgment? Certainly not, that would be foolish on my behalf. I was well aware of Alexa’s lack of morals and her drinking problem, but we all have problems. Hell, mine just so happens to be her clinginess, my moody best friend, and the fact I couldn’t have Giselle, the vampire that was turning my world upside down.

I groaned aloud, checking the time. Despite it being Saturday and my day off, I offered to go into work today since everyone was working around the clock trying to cover as much news as possible. More laws concerning vampires were being discussed to make sure they were treated equally as humans. The public was abnormally okay with the whole vampire thing. Everyone was so supportive, not really concerned about their own safety. I, however, could only see something bad unfolding from all of this.

I left the apartment and made my way towards Aroldo Veneratio’s townhouses. I may or may not have asked someone to spy on Giselle just to find out where she lived. I know it was rather crazy, but I just needed to talk to her. Hopefully she could clear some things up for me. As I approached the townhouses, I felt nervous. After all, this was a vampires only residence.

I made it to her floor without crossing paths with anyone. I reached her apartment door and stood there, staring at it. Before I could raise my fist to knock, the door opened suddenly. Giselle stared at me wide-eyed, pulling me inside the apartment quickly. She slammed the door shut and spun around, glaring at me.

“What are you doing here?” she asked sternly. I shrugged, rubbing the back of my neck.

“I wanted to talk and you didn’t give me your number,” I half-smiled, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Bram, you can’t just show up here like this. You could get yourself killed. Not everyone around here is human friendly, they’d rather have you as a snack,” she huffed. “You wanted to talk, so talk.”

I nodded at her, taking a deep breath. “How are you, Giselle? I mean, really. And what can I do to help?” I asked. She sighed, flopping down on the couch and I mimicked her actions.

“Listen to me, Bram. You cannot help me. You’re just a man,” she whispered.

Her words stung with truth. Deep down I knew that there wasn’t a thing I could do to help this beautiful creature in front of me. I just wanted to help her and make her feel better, put that pretty smile back on her face. Giselle had turned bitter and that could only reflect how she felt about her Maker. I wanted to kill him for hurting her, for not appreciating her like she needed to be. But I couldn’t, not being the human guy I was.

“I’m sorry, Bram. But I think its best if you leave,” she said sadly. “We can’t see or talk to each other anymore, it’s far too dangerous. I couldn’t bare it, if something happened to you.”

I nodded at her, rising to my feet. As I walked towards the door, I avoided eye contact with her. It hurt too much to even look at her before leaving. Suddenly I stopped in front of the closed door, feeling her gaze upon my back. There was so many things I wanted to say to her, but nothing came from my mouth. Instead, I walked out of her apartment with my head held high. There has to be a way for me to help Giselle and I was going to find it. Somehow, some way.

***

I figured if I was going to help this vampire, I needed to know more about her kind. Not what I interviewed people about or anything you saw on the news. I needed to know the raw stuff. So luckily for me, I befriended one of the vampire bar owners that I had first interviewed for work. Even though Zekial seemed like the type to stay out of drama and such, he heard a lot of things around the bar.

Last night we met up and I told him that I needed to know more about his kind. Refusing to tell me himself, he recommended that I go see a lady he called Miss Geneva. According to Zekial, she was an expert on vampires and knew much of their history. I was ecstatic that someone with such knowledge existed.

Miss Geneva’s residence was located above an old, run-down human bar. I knocked on her apartment door three times and patiently waited for an answer, glimpsing around the dirty hallway. The door creaked open and I looked up, coming face to face with a middle-aged black woman.

“Hello ma’am,” I smiled. “Are you Miss Geneva?”

She eyed me up and down, a blank expression on her face. Then she began sniffing the air, but stopped.

“Depends. What’s your name boy and what do you want? I haven’t all day,” she said crossing her arms. I cleared my throat nervously.

“My name is Bram,” I answered. “I have some questions and Zekial said you’d be able to answer them.”

Her facial expression softened and she welcomed me inside. I entered her small apartment, turning around to face her as she shut the door.

“You’re not a new vampire, so what is it you must know Bram?” she asked as she took a seat at a cluttered table. I joined her, pushing some books to the side so I’d have arm room.

“I want to know about the vampires,” I answered honestly. Geneva chuckled, shaking her head softly.

“Yes, but which ones?” she asked and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “There is more than one kind of vampire, Bram. Of course, vampires don’t want you humans to know that.”

“You, you’re not human?” I stuttered. She shook her head no.

“I’ve never been human, I’m a witch. A Mother witch, to be exact. But I’ll tell you all about that some other time,” she gently smiled at me, much like a mother would to her son.

“How many kinds of vamps are there?” I asked.

“Three. You’ve got the Norms. They only drink blood, whether it be human or animal is their personal choice. They have abnormal speed and strength, and are affected by sunlight. The Norms are average vampires, like the everyday kind.

“Then there’s the Vladmirs, created by Sir Vlad himself. He was a vampire that outlawed. Unlike Norms, they don’t need blood to survive. All they need is sexual energy. Vladmirs are harder to spot, because they are resistant to sunlight and don’t need to kill anyone to stay alive.”

Geneva paused and stared at me for several minutes while I let all the information sink in. She asked if I’d like some tea before she went on. I simply nodded and watched as she moved into the kitchen, busying herself.

I took this time to look more around Geneva’s apartment. Nearly every surface was littered with books, amongst other things such as small bowls, herbs, and other witchy items. As I peered at a book on the table in front of me, I noticed a photograph sticking out. I curiously grabbed it from its place.

“Ah, such a fine family they were. I worked for them as a maid,” Geneva smiled as she poured us each a cup of tea.

I looked down at the photo and froze. There Geneva was, much younger back then, with three young women and a couple. The youngest girl had striking red hair and an olive complection. I recognized the girl as Giselle and assumed this was taken when she was a human.

“They were the Giovannis, a highly respectable Italian family. The girls were all delightful, so full of life. I loved working for them,” she said. Her smile died and a heavy sigh escaped from her lips.

“What happened?” I asked. She sighed again, before sipping her tea.

“I had a premonition that the youngest would be in danger when she was to leave and move to her fiancé’s. But I didn’t speak up. Back then I would’ve been burned at the stake, so I let her go anyway.”

Geneva took a deep breath and I sat there patiently. I almost felt dirty for not speaking up and saying that I knew that very girl she was talking about. Giselle would be upset that I was learning private details of her life.

“She got turned into a Norm and I tried to keep track of her whereabouts, while trying to keep the family from falling apart. Everyone missed her so, so much. They thought she’d been murdered, because back then much wasn’t known about monsters lurking in the night. Eventually they got through their grief and when I knew they’d be fine without me, I quit and began looking for her.”

“Did you ever find her?” I asked curiously. Giselle had never told me anything of her human life, or Geneva. I wonder if she knew how much joy she had brought to this witch?

“A few decades later,” she softly chuckled. “She’s why you’re here, right?”

I stared at the old witch, amazed how she knew. Once again, I nodded.

“In a round about way, you could say that. What’s the last kind of vampire?” I asked. Another smile brushed over her face before sipping from her tea cup once more.

“The Culprits are the most powerful vampires. Not only do they feed on blood, but human energy keeps them going too. They’re so much stronger and faster than Norms and Vladmirs,” Geneva said.

“What kind of vampire is Giselle’s Maker?” I asked abruptly. Geneva glared at me harshly, standing from her seat.

“I think that’s enough for today, Bram. You can stop by in three days, same time. Please see yourself out,” she nodded before cleaning up our mess from tea.