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  I returned the next day in hopes of seeing her again, but she was not there.

  When relating my trips to Mr. Sullner, I mentioned nothing of the woman and our failed meeting. I don't know why I felt compelled to omit these facts. But they felt very private to me and I did not wish to share them. From the way Mr. Sullner looked at me I could tell he guessed something was amiss, but he did not question me about his suspicions.

  As time passed I fell back into routine and gave up on any chance of a second encounter with the woman from the cinema.

  As spring approached the theater began hosting matinees of old horror films to which I had a great interest. The first weekend in May they were scheduled to play Dracula and I eagerly awaited the evening show.

  Mr. Sullner was out of town on one of his clandestine excursions to London and Allison would not be persuaded to see that type of movie, so I was blissfully on my own once again.

  As I was preparing to make my trek to the theater on foot Saturday evening, it began to rain. I sighed and resigned myself to having Tom drive me.

  “I believe your probation is up, isn't it?” he asked on the ride over.

  “Yes,” I said. “But it seems I've grown accustomed to walking.”

  The light shower had intensified into sheets of rain that beat against the Ford's hood in a drowsing composition.

  “You would have done just as well to drive,” Tom estimated looking out the front windshield. “This rain isn't going to let up any time soon.”

  When we arrived at our destination I told Tom he could come back at nine 'o clock to pick me up if it was still raining. With assurance he said he would be there.

  I made my way passed the crowd of people milling about the entrance of the cinema and bought my ticket. I entered the showing room and was in the process of shaking the rain from my coat when I saw a familiar form in the back row. She was seated in the same place as though she had never moved. Her manner and demeanor were the same and she looked as radiant as she did the last time I had seen her.

  Noticing the seat next to her was vacant, I summoned all my courage and approached. She looked up at me with her all knowing eyes and I timidly asked if I could sit.

  Smiling ardently, she assented in a melodious, thick accent.

  I sat and introduced myself to her. Her name was Helena von Strauss.

  “It's a pleasure to meet you Miss von Strauss,” I said, relieved when she didn't correct the title. “Your accent, is it Russian?”

  Helena laughed a beautiful harmonious vocalization and corrected me. “Austrian. But my grandfather was Russian and my mother French. So it was a good guess.”

  I smiled. I had forgotten I was an engaged man in a public venue. Helena made me feel as if we were the only two people in existence.

  “Were you raised in Austria?” I asked.

  “No. Nova Scotia. I moved to New York when I was sixteen.”

  I looked hard at her trying to guess her number of years. Her beauty had an ageless quality that had me stumped and I couldn't convince my mind that Helena was more than sixteen.

  “I've never seen you before,” I admitted.

  “I have been vacationing in Paris,” she exonerated with a sly smile.

  Helena turned to the screen as the movie began. I made myself watch also but I was in a state of unrest. I bounced my right leg and twirled my hat trying to make sense of how I could have lived in the same city with a woman like Helena von Strauss for five years and never hear her name or lay eye on her until a few months ago.

  I kept stealing glances at the woman beside me. She was watching the movie with such childlike fascination that I wondered if she had ever seen it. Her eyes conveyed the emotion of someone who had never even been to a movie before.

  I was surprised when she leaned close to me halfway through the movie and whispered. “Do you believe in monsters, Mr. Calloway?”

  I almost laughed until I caught the look on Helena's face. There was no jest in her lovely features and her ice blue eyes were serious.

  “That depends on your definition of monster,” I said. “Philosophically, religiously, morally; then yes. However, if you are referring to vampires, werewolves, reanimated corpses and ghosts; then no. I have never seen anything to make me believe in the story tale version of monsters.”

  “Haven't you, Mr. Calloway?” Helena asked with an odd tone of voice.

  I felt a chill as I wondered what she could have meant. I was tempted to ask her the same question but found myself afraid of what her reply might be.

  Pushing aside my discomfort, I asked Miss von Strauss if I could buy her a drink.

  She looked at me for a moment as if deciding whether or not to be offended by the answer I had given her then smiled her slow, secretive grin.

  “I am not thirsty at present, Mr. Calloway,” she said sweetly. “Perhaps later.”

  We finished the rest of the movie in tense silence. I was unable to overcome my sense of disquiet at Helena's character yet still felt exhilarated at finally making her acquaintance.

  As we left the theater together, I was disheartened to see that it was still raining steadily. Helena and I found a dry place under the eves where I waited for Tom to bring the car.

  “Do you need a ride, Miss von Strauss?” I offered when I saw no car for her.

  “Thank you, Mr. Calloway. But I much prefer to walk.”

  “Please, call me Adam,” I said. Mr. Calloway sounded much too formal for someone as young me.

  “You may call me Helena,” she said with a grin.

  I watched as Tom pulled the Model A off of the highway in front of me and got out. I wasn't sure when I would see Helena again and was loath to part with her.

  “Are you sure you don't want a ride?” I insisted. “It's raining pretty hard.”

  Helena shook her lovely head. “The rain does not bother me, Adam.”

  With a final farewell I got into the car and Tom shut the door. As he drove away, I turned to get one last look at Helena. Through the distorting streaks of rain on the back window I could see the theater and it's patrons hurrying about trying to stay dry, but I could see no sign of Helena von Strauss.

 

  *****

  Chapter 6

  I spent that night, as I did so many others, in the library. Unable to keep my mind on the facetious affair of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, I eventually ceased trying to read and yielded to the aimless wanderings of my mind.

  As I lay back on the settee and stared into the nothingness around me, my thoughts drifted to my mother. I often wondered what kind of a woman she had been. She had obviously been very beautiful, but what had her personality been like? Was she flighty like me? Or had I inherited my discontent from my father? Sister Mary had always spoken of Charlotte Calloway with respect so she could not have been much like me. She had to have been a fine lady for someone like Mary Williams to admire her.

  I played out the events in my mind of what my life would be like if my mother had lived as the rain pecked steadily against the tall, stained-glass windows. I felt myself growing drowsy and gave in to sleep.

  I awoke to darkness. The rain was still falling at an even pace and thunder rumbled nearby. A flash of lightening eerily illuminated the library casting long shadows on the walls.

  I raised myself into a sitting position and clicked the lamp switch. It remained off. I tried a few more times then concluded that the power was out. Mr. Sullner kept oil lamps and matches in all the rooms in case of such a situation. In the library they were positioned on the desk to my right. I stood and made my way to where they should have been but could not find them.

  I got the strange sensation I was being watched. When I turned I could see nothing in the darkness. I called out Tom's name hoping he had come to the main house to light the lamps.

  “He is not here,” replied a pleasant female voice.

  I was vaguely surprised when Helena struck a match and lit the lamp in her hand. She looked
not at all as she had when I saw her a few hours ago. Her hair was loose and hung to her shoulders in damp curls, her make-up was smudged slightly from the rain, and she had changed clothes. What she wore now looked more like a night dress – tight, thin, and revealing – compared to her refined garments of earlier. She wore no shoes.

  “I discharged him,” she went on in a voice huskier than I remembered. “I hope I was not wrong in doing so.”

  So many questions went through my mind but I couldn't form a whole one into words. It befuddled me that Helena had known where to find me or why Tom would have allowed her entrance at such a late hour. And how, even with her lack of shoes, she had managed to navigate the Manor in complete darkness undetected. The more I tried to make sense of it all the more I could come up with only one conclusion. And it did not make sense.

  Yet in all my logic, I could not bring myself to fear Helena von Strauss. I only stared at her until she laughed at my stupidity.

  “You are not afraid of me?” she asked seductively.

  “No,” I replied with a bravado that shocked even me.

  Helena approached me at a relaxed pace. I stood still with my back to the desk and watched her intently. She stopped an inch away from me and, tilting her head back, looked into my eyes.

  “You are very brave, Adam. I like that about you.”

  “Is that why you're here?” I asked. “To try and scare me?”

  Helena stared at me through her long lashes. “You offered me a drink, remember?”

  My willingness to say whatever was on my mind had often earned me the nickname 'smart aleck' by Sister Mary and had accounted for much of the abuse of my ear when I was a child. I knew Allison shared in this opinion, but most times I couldn't control it. My mouth acted quicker than my brain.

  “And I take it you don't want brandy,” I said.

  Helena laughed. Not in a condescending or playful way. “You are not only brave but funny. Another quality that I like about you.”

  “Yeah, I'm a riot.” Her coyness was starting to irritate me. “Didn't anyone ever tell you it's bad manners to play with your food?”

  Something like hurt dampened Helena's spirit and she lowered her eyes. “I did not come here to kill you, Adam,” she said meekly.

  Reaching around me Helena picked up a large book off the desk and began thumbing through it. With fascination I realized it was Mr. Sullner's family Bible.

  “Why are you here?” I asked.

  “I want to give you something.”

  “What?”

  “Eternity,” she whispered.

  I stared at Helena as I considered what she was offering me. I didn't know much about vampires at that time. What I had read and seen was being disputed before my eyes. I was curious. But I was not scared.

  Helena put the Bible back on the desk. “It will not hurt,” she told me.

  I remained still as she closed the distance between us and put her small arms around my shoulders. I returned her embrace as she stood on her tiptoes and pulled me close. The feel of her breath against my neck gave me chills. I flinched slightly as Helena's sharp teeth penetrated my skin. The wound burned as if covered with alcohol but it did not hurt.

  I held onto Helena fearing she would leave now that her deed was finished.

  “What happens n-”

  The shattering of glass cut off my speech as one of the full length windows broke covering the library floor with colorful shards of debris. Rain came pouring in soaking the carpet and drapes.

  I heard Helena call out “Lucian!” with fear in her voice.

  Before I could wonder what was happening, she released me with such force that I fell backwards over the desk and hit my head on the wall. I had not the time to recover when I felt a strong hand close around my throat and lift me off the floor. I gasped for air as the world grew increasingly blurry and my lungs began to burn. I could hear Helena screaming as if my ears were full of cotton.

  I then had the sensation of flying and the pain of hitting the bookshelf at the far side of the room. A wave of dizziness hit me as I tried to raise up and I had to fight not to pass out. Something warm and wet was trickling down the right side of my face and my head was spinning sickeningly. I felt immense heat and as my eyes focused I saw that the room was on fire.

  Willing myself not to pass out, I crawled out of the library and struggled to my feet. Using the railing for support, I managed to make it downstairs. I fell three times on my way to the front door but eventually made it across the six foot distance. After a minute of fighting with the knob I remembered it was locked. I unlocked it with trembling hands. The cold rain assaulted me as I ran into the driveway. It was there that I allowed myself to pass out.

 

  *****

  Chapter 7

  I awakened some time later in a dark room. I could hear water dripping, the rustle of pages being turned and the scratching of a pen on paper. I was disoriented and my head was pounding. I groaned and tried to raise myself. As I lifted my arm I noticed that there were chains clasped firmly around my wrists and secured to the metal bed frame. I tugged forcefully at them testing the strength of the links. They were heavy and strong.

  “I am sorry about that, Adam.”

  I turned too quickly and felt a wave of dizziness overcome me. My eyes blurred momentarily and as they cleared I saw Mr. Sullner sitting at a roll top desk a few feet from me. He was wearing his reading glasses and holding a pen in one hand. The top of the desk was scattered with papers and leather bound tomes. The only light came from an old smoke stained oil lamp.

  “Where am I?” I asked him.

  “Still in New York.” Mr. Sullner put down his pen and turned his chair toward the bed. His eyes were sorrowful. “Do you remember what happened?”

  I concentrated and found I remembered everything perfectly well. Everything up until the time I was attacked by the man Helena had called Lucian. After that, my memory became foggy.

  I nodded at Mr. Sullner. He waited expectantly for the tale I didn't want to tell.

  After a long silence I asked how I had gotten here.

  “Tom brought you,” he answered. “He found you unconscious in the drive and – seeing the marks on your neck – brought you to the only safe place he could think of. His family home.”

  I felt a pang of shame at discovering that Mr. Sullner knew what had caused my wound. I had not thought of him or anything else when I accepted Helena's offer. I had assumed I would be going with her wherever she went and would not have to explain my choice to Mr. Sullner. I felt totally responsible for all the events that had taken place.

  “The Manor is gone, isn't it?” I inquired unnecessarily.

  Mr. Sullner nodded. “Along with thirty years of research.”

  I couldn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. The only place that had ever felt like home to me - the place I had lived happily for the last five years of my life - was gone. And it was all my fault.

  I mumbled an insignificant sorry.

  Mr. Sullner took a deep breath, let it out slowly. “No matter. My research can continue. And you are safe. For now.”

  I frowned at his choice of words. He ignored me and went on.

  “Adam, I need to ask you some questions and I need for you to be completely honest with me. Can you do that?”

  Feeling I owed him that much, I nodded.

  Mr. Sullner sat back and rummaged through a stack of papers on the desk. He held up a photograph with it's back toward me and studied it. “Was it a woman who did that to you?” he ask.

  I wasn't sure if he was referring to the bite marks or the head wound. I considered for a moment then said yes.

  He raised his bushy eyebrows. “Is this her?”

  As he showed the picture to me I noted it's age. It was yellow and frayed around the edges. At it's center was a beautiful woman. She was dressed in a long gown and bustle popular in the eighteen hundreds. Her young face was enlightened with a carefree smile and he
r eyes glimmered with all the prospects of life that youth presented. Helena was even more stunning in her photograph than what she had been the first time I had seen her.

  “Helena von Strauss,” Mr. Sullner announced. I nodded. “She was an actress from Nova Scotia, Canada. She was quite talented. Adored by all. But she gave up everything at age of sixteen to be the consort of a rich Romanian theater owner, Lucian Vlasiescu. Not long after, they both disappeared.”

  He showed me another photograph. This one had not been taken with a camera, but painted and copied. It looked like the page of a book. The man in it was perhaps twenty-five years old, yet seemed to carry the weight of many centuries. He had long hair and a ruffled shirt underneath an embroidered velvet jacket. His handsome features might have been more so if he were smiling, but his jaw was set in a determined sneer. In his eyes was the fierce look of a predator.

  “He's a vampire,” I breathed.

  Mr. Sullner only nodded. “A very old one. This picture was made in 1724. Over two hundred years ago. Who knows how long he lived before it was crafted. That is the furthest back I have been able to trace him.”

  I rested my head on the pillow. I was in pain. My entire right side hurt, especially my head.

  Mr. Sullner continued. “As far as I have been able to tell, Lucian and Helena are the only two vampires currently in existence. Another has not been created in over a hundred years.”

  He looked at me thoughtfully. “Adam,” he said slowly, “I would, with your permission, like to discover more about these fascinating creatures.”

  I stared at him. I could not possibly understand how he could find any of this fascinating. I had always admired Mr. Sullner. He had been like a father to me and I had thought he looked on me as a son. I could not help but feel betrayed that he now saw me only as another one of his experiments.

  “I only wish to run some tests on your blood to see what changes are occurring. I will do nothing without your consent.”

  Taking into account all Mr. Sullner had done for me and all I had caused him to lose, I pushed aside my hurt and anger, and nodded. Deep down, the scientist part of me that my mentor had honed for so long, was curious.