Dhampir Love (5 page)

    First thing that came to my mind was Mildred.  Surely, she was just trying to rattle me.  I couldn’t let that bother me.

     “I have no choice,” Tony said, and then hung his head.  “I don’t want to leave you here.”

     Placing my hand under his chin, I tried to get him to look at me.  “Tony—if you have no choice—I understand.  I’m sure Jennifer will let me stay with her while you attend this meeting.”

     Tony didn’t look up.  He sat with his head almost touching his chest.  I got up, walked behind him and hugged him tight.  He reached for the calendar and flipped it to February.  Turning the page to March, Tony sighed.

     “Have you ever attended one of these meetings?”

     “No,” he whispered. “I don’t know what to expect either.”

     “If it’s
just about rules then there shouldn’t be a problem.”  Tony needed to get his mind off of this meeting.   “Would you like to go to the park today?”  I asked, closing the calendar.  I glanced toward the window and looked at the sky.  A few clouds lingered, but the day seemed promising for no rain. 

     Tony kept his head down.  “Sure.”

     Arriving at the park, we made our way to the duck pond and watched the ducks swimming in the water. The ducks, of course, went to the other side of the pond when Tony was halfway across the bridge. I could tell he was thinking too hard about the meeting.  I wasn’t going to bring it up either.    We sat on the bench facing the pond enjoying the quiet.

     “
Were you looking at the calendar for any particular reason?” he asked, with sarcasm and a half grin.

     “I was just looking.”  Maybe this was his way of getti
ng the meeting off his mind.

      Tony turned toward me putting his arm around me. H
is free hand moved to my chin, turning my face toward him.  “When would you like to be my wife?” he asked seriously.

     “I was thinking of a June wedding.  It’s warmer and we could have it outside.
”  I laid my head on Tony’s shoulder and placed my hand on his leg.  He put his hand on mine and intertwined our fingers.

     “What day in June?” he asked. 

     I reached down into my purse and pulled out the day planner. Looking over June, I pointed to the twenty-fifth.  A little over three months away, and that would give us plenty of time to plan and get ready.  Tony would invite his parents. I would invite my small number of friends. We didn’t need a big wedding and the only church in town was nice and small.  It would accommodate everyone.       Reverend Malcolm could perform the ceremony.  The park was also a good place too.

     “T
he church or…,” I said, looking around the park. 

    
“Please don’t say the park,” he smirked, turning up his nose. Tony didn’t like the idea of ducks at our wedding.  The ducks didn’t care for Tony being here either.  They were keeping their distance from him. Tony raised his eyebrow.  “We have a little while to decide where we can get married.  Not the duck pond or any part of the park,” he said.  “Let’s walk, okay.”

     We walked over to the playground.  Tony sat in the swing.  I went to the picnic table and watched him start swinging. 
Watching Tony swing encouraged me to do the same.  I got up and went to the swing beside him.  We swung as high as we could go.  Tony let go of the chain and leaped out of the swing.  He landed light as a feather on the ground in a crouched position. 
Not fair
, I thought to myself and smiled.  I slowed my swing and got out.

     We took each other’s hand and started walking toward the animal cages.  Every time we saw an animal
it ran back into its home.  Now that I knew the animal’s reaction to Tony, I didn’t care when they disappeared.  At least, Tony got a glance of them before they took off.

     After seeing all the animals we could, we
headed back home.  Tony didn’t mention the meeting while we were at the park and I didn’t bring it up.  I didn’t know what to say.  All I knew was, if he had to attend a meeting in Italy, he would have no choice but to go.

     Tony went straight to the phone when we got home.  I didn’t want to hear the conversation between Tony and Victor, so I went to the bedroom.  I was changing into my nightshirt and heard a noise outside the window.  Pulling the curtain open, I saw Mildred standing at my window.  “What are you doing?” I asked angrily as I was opening the window.

     “There was a gray kitten and I was trying to catch it,” Mildred said.

     “At this time of night,” I said, sounding unhappy.

     “Frank got it for me earlier.  It ran out of the house when I went to put the garbage out,” she said.

     “Put some milk out and I’m sure it will come back,” I stated.

     “That might work,” Mildred said.

      “Good night, Mildred,” I said, sarcastically.

      Closing the window, I put the episode in the back of my mind.  Normally, I would have told Tony, but he had enough to think about with the trip to Italy.  I went into the kitchen to check on him.  He was still on the phone with Victor.  I kissed his cheek and headed to bed.  Little did I know Mildred was on the front porch listening to
Tony’s conversation with Victor.

     Tony woke me up crawling into bed.  He pulled me to him and hugged me tight.

    “Is everything alright?” I asked.

     “Father said, it was reported a dhampir didn’t protect his family.  Apparently –Dhampir’s have rules they have to abide by.”

     “What kind of rules?” I asked sitting up in bed.

     “Father said we are to protect our family.  We are great protectors.  He said, one of our kind, didn’t protect their family member and it
’s caused a devastating mess.”

     “What kind of mess?” I asked.

     “Father said Thorment didn’t go into details.  The consequences are not good.  The time has come for me to know the rules that are set forth for Dhampir’s.”

     “Tony, I know you will protect me to the ends of the earth.  If you must attend this meeting, then
please
attend.” 

    
I had the feeling he wasn’t telling me all he knew about this mess. Tony hugged me tight.  I didn’t protest because he was nervous about this meeting.  When Tony knew what the mess was, he would tell me.  For now, he needed to relax so I lightly kissed his neck.  He released his hug a little.  I kissed his neck with lots of small kisses.  Tony moaned and I knew he was relaxing and forgetting his worries.  He kissed my neck and bit it quite hard, making me flinch with a tingle that set my body on fire.  His face bent over mine and I grabbed the back of his neck, nibbling on his ear, I panted, “we should do this more often”.  The growl started from the pit of his stomach and it didn’t take much longer before he joined me and together we reached our climax.  Exhilarated, we rolled to our sides of the bed.

     Tony fell asleep and I turned toward him watching him snore lightly.  Looking at the clock on the night stand, I decided I would call Jennifer and see if she knew what was going on.  Tony would know the second I got out of bed, but I wanted to talk with Jennifer.  Scooting to the edge of the bed, I moved the pillow long ways close to Tony.  At the doorway of the bedroom, I turned to see if Tony was still asleep.  He was and I went to the kitchen.  

     Lifting the receiver, I dialed Jennifer’s number listening for Tony to come down the hall. 

     “Mureaux residence,” Jason answered.

     “Jason, this is Jessica.  May I speak with Jennifer,” I whispered.

     “Please hold the line,” Jason said, and the phone went silent.

     Remembering Jennifer’s house and how big it was, I was sure it would take Jason a little bit to find her.  To my surprise, I didn’t have a long wait.

    “Hello Jess, how are you?” Jennifer asked, softly.

     “I’m fine.  I called to see if you might know what is going on with a meeting in Italy next month.”

     “Oh dear Jess, what do
you want to know?”

      “I know Tony has to attend a meeting with some vampire named Thorment.  There were rules he needed to know and he had to attend.”

      “Well,” Jennifer paused.

      I peeked around the corner down the hall to make sure Tony wasn’t coming.

     “I don’t know what I should tell you,” Jennifer said.

     “All I’d like is an idea of what is going on.  Tony mentioned a devastating mess had occurred, and Victor didn’t go into details.”

     “Jess honey, a horrible thing has happened.  A dhampir, like Tony and Jason, is required by vampire law to protect their family.  Protection is a must, especially when it is ordered by the vampire the dhampir is fathered from.  Victor told me that a dhampir, Mergen from the Valcarie clan, was ordered to protect his mother while his father went on a business trip to the Appalachian’s.  Mergen is courting a human from a nearby village, but he took off to the village to visit her leaving his mother unprotected.  The people of the town hunt anyone associated with vampires.  While he was away, they burned the house with his mother trapped inside.”

     “My goodness
, Jennifer, did he understand he was to stay with his mother during his father’s absence?”

     “Love apparently conquers all,” Jennifer said, and then sighed.

     “It’s beginning to sound like an old story.  I didn’t think people hunted vampires anymore.”

     “I didn’t either.  This is the story Victor told me, and Thorment has called a meeting in Italy next month for all Dhampir’s.  That’s all I know, dear.”

     “When is the date for the meeting?” I asked.

     “March fifteenth and sixteenth.  Everyone has to be accounted for on the thirteenth and signed in.  Victor plans on leaving early so Tony has to be here by the twelfth.”

    “Would you mind if I stay with you during their trip?” I asked.  I knew she would encourage me to stay with her, but I didn’t want to barge in without asking.

     “Of course you can dear.  You know I would love to see you again.”

     “Thank you, Jennifer.”

     “You’re welcome dear.”

     “I’ll see you then.  Goodbye, Jennifer.”

     “Goodbye, Jess.”

     I hung up the phone and hurried to the bedroom.  Tony was turning over toward my side of the bed.  I moved the pillow quickly lying beside him before his arm wrapped around me.  “Where were you?” he asked.

     I didn’t want him knowing I was on the phone with his mother.  I came up with the best answer I could think of.  “I was thirsty.”

     Tony didn’t say anything.  He pulled me close to him and hugged me tight kissing my neck.  It wasn’t long before Tony and I were back to sleep.

                                        
 
Chapter Three

    
Bright and early in the morning there was a knock was at the door.  Tony and I got up to see who it was.  A man was dressed in a suit and tie.  Through the screen door, Tony asked, “May I help you?”

     “Hello, my name is John Santino.  I’m the prosecuting attorney for Cauburn, County.  Is Jessica Pearl in?” he announced taking off his hat.

     I came around the corner from the hall in time to hear him announce who he was.  Tony opened the door for him.  “Please come in,” he said.

     “Please have a seat.  Can I get you anything to drink?” I asked.

     “No, thank you.  I’m fine.”  He took a seat on the sofa, opened his briefcase taking out a brown folder and placed it on the cushion beside him.  Opening it up, he took out a piece of paper and looked it over.  He handed me the paper and stated, “Is this the statement you gave the police regarding the incident that happened back in March of last year, when Max Brown assaulted you.”

     Taking the paper and looking it over, I
nodded, “Yes, it is.”

     “I’ll be the prosecuting attorney for the state.” He looked
at Tony and back at me.  “We are scheduled for court at the beginning of next year and you’ll be our prime witness.”

     “If court isn’t until next year, why are you here now?” I asked not completely understanding.

     “I’m in the process of gathering and interviewing witnesses to make sure all their statements are correct.”