Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (38 page)

‘
I must apologise for my disappearance yesterday,’ he said.
‘But I was not quite myself. I had to … gather my
thoughts.’

‘
That’s okay. It’s probably weird for both of us.’

‘
I must confess I still feel out of sorts. My century has
vanished. I am not so familiar with your world. It unnerves me
somewhat.’

‘
Yeah, you and me both.’

He smiled
back. He did not understand what she had said, but realised she’d
spoken in the spirit of friendship.

‘
So,’ she said.

‘
So,’ he replied. They both smiled.

‘
Your brother … He is upstairs? Have you told him about
me?’

‘
He’s gone to bed. He hasn’t been very well and he doesn’t
believe you exist.’

‘
Aah, of course. Nobody in their right mind would believe I
exist. I am sorry to hear he has been ill. I hope he is recovering
well.’

‘
Do you really not know why he’s ill?’

‘
Should I know?’

‘
Oh my God!’ She shook her head in disbelief. ‘You really
don’t know, do you?’ She stared at him to gauge his
reaction.

‘
Know what?’

‘
When you were still asleep, unconscious, you drank my blood
and I got ill with a fever. Then, a few weeks later, on Christmas
Eve, you drank Ben’s blood and he collapsed too.’ Madison felt a
flash of returning anger.

‘
No!’ He stood up and put his hands over his mouth. ‘But I am
mortified. Horrified. That was not something I did to you
purposely, you must believe me. I have no recollection of
this.’

‘
That’s the reason I tried to kill you. Why I dragged you
outside into the daylight.’ She hadn’t meant to blurt all this out.
The last thing she wanted was to make him angry, but she couldn’t
help herself. Her mouth always ran away with her. It was like some
form of Tourettes, she thought to herself, the need to always tell
it like it was.

‘
Aah,’ he said. ‘It was you. I wondered how I came to be
outside in the light.’ He sat down.

‘
It was only because you … well, you hurt my brother and I
couldn’t risk it happening again. I was angry, you
know?’

‘
Yes. I know. I understand why you did it. But please know I
would not ever willingly harm you or your brother. I am not an evil
creature. I am not like those others.’

‘
Others?’

Alexandre
ignored the question.

‘
But I think the daylight revived me somehow.’

‘
Yeah, it did. I thought you were gonna fry. But instead, you
woke up.’

‘
The best laid schemes ...’ Alexandre said. ‘Well. Thank you
for reviving me, even accidentally.’

‘
You’re welcome, I suppose. But it looked pretty painful. That
sunlight doesn’t look so good for you.’

‘
Not good at all. I thought I had descended into the fires of
hell. But I believe it must have re-energised my body, shocked it
back to life somehow.’

‘
D’you think daylight would work on the others? On your
brother and sister and Leonora and Freddie?’

‘
I have been pondering on this, but until I know for sure, I
cannot take the risk. It could as easily kill them as wake
them.’

‘
Fair enough.’

‘
Your language is quite different to the English I know. There
are many words and phrases I do not understand. Your words run
together quickly. They blur.’

‘
That’s ‘cos you’re a nineteenth century geezer and this is
2011. You’re gonna have to learn the language.’

‘
Will you teach me?’

‘
What do you want to know?’

‘
Everything.’

‘
That might take some time.’

‘
It appears
time
is something I have an abundance of. You know, I hoped you
would visit me today. I cannot tolerate daylight and so was forced
to remain all day in that dingy cellar.’

‘
Weren’t you asleep? Don’t you, like, sleep in the day and get
up at night?’

Alexandre
smiled at her. ‘Well, yes, a little. But it is not the most
comfortable of rooms for a nap.’

‘
So what did you used to do during the day? Before, when you
were here and you were all awake?’

‘
Harold made our lives as comfortable as possible. He
shuttered the windows which meant we could roam about the house by
day without fear. Not that I am suggesting you do such a thing. I
realise I am not your responsibility.’

‘
We could sort something out. Maybe you could have the top
floor, or we could re-fit out the cellar. I could get someone in to
do it.’

‘
You would really do that for me? For all of us?’

‘
I suppose so.’

‘
Thank you, Madison. If there is anything that I can do for
you, please let me know.’

‘
You can help me convince my brother you exist, without
freaking him out too much.’

‘
I will do my best not to … freak him.’

She
laughed.

‘
You are mocking me, Mademoiselle.’ He arched an
eyebrow.

‘
Yeah, Alex, I’m afraid I am.’

They looked at
each other for a moment and then Alexandre broke the silence.

‘
I must tell you I feel relief,’ he said.

‘
Relief?’

‘
Yes. Relief that you are who you are.’

‘
Not quite understanding what you mean.’

‘
Well, I am fortunate. You could have reacted towards me in
quite a different manner. You could have been unwelcoming and
hostile. You could have been frightened and defensive, or
hysterical. But instead you have been kind. Friendly. Humorous. I
am relieved.’

‘
You’ve got a short memory,’ she said, tucking her hair back
behind her ears. ‘Yesterday I was hostile and hysterical and today
I was nervous and frightened.’

‘
Frightened? Today? Really? I am sorry if I caused you to feel
this way. You must know neither I nor my family would ever
purposely do anything to harm you. I am as indebted to you as I was
to Harold.’

‘
Well, I was nervous before I met you again this evening. But
you do seem pretty normal, for a vampire. And I’m glad we can talk
like this.’

‘
You know,’ Alexandre said, realising something. ‘In my time,
it would not have been at all proper to be sitting alone with an
unaccompanied female. It would have been quite
scandalous.’

‘
What? Just sitting talking?’

He nodded.

‘
Yeah, course it would. All that Victorian prim and
proper-ness. No one bothers about all that anymore.’

‘
That is a good thing. It was very restricting and very boring
and it landed me in much trouble.’

‘
Yeah, I bet it did.’

‘
You know, Madison?’ Alexandre smiled.

‘
What, Alex?’

‘
I am not feeling quite so sad anymore. You have cheered me
greatly. Will you tell me more about your century?’

‘
I don’t really know where to start. There’s so much going on
now. Did you have cars back then?’

‘
Cars? Like carriages on a train?’

‘
No. You sit in them and drive them around the
roads.’

‘
Aah, you mean automobiles. Yes. But they were not so popular
– too noisy and too expensive. Horses are far better.’

‘
Yeah, well everyone’s got a car now and they’re still noisy
and expensive, but I think they look a bit different than they did
back then.’

‘
I saw many last night. They are fast and very smooth and
shiny.’

‘
Planes too,’ she continued. ‘Aeroplanes? You can travel on
them. They fly through the air and go to different
countries.’

‘
They carry passengers?’

‘
Yep. You can go anywhere in the world.’

‘
How many days would it take to reach America on an
aeroplane?’

‘
Not days. About nine or ten hours I think.’

‘
Incredible! I do not believe this! Less than half a day? You
must have been at least twice around the world already.’

‘
Me? No. I haven’t been anywhere.’

‘
But why ever not? If I had been born into this time, I would
have spent all of my time travelling on aeroplanes.’

‘
A little something called ‘money’. It’s not exactly cheap to
fly and anyway, I never had the chance. Travelling’s for rich
people, unless you go into debt.’

‘
But you live
here
, in this beautiful house. Forgive me for being so personal,
but you must be wealthy. Unless standards have changed so much and
this is now basic accommodation.’

‘
There’s nothing basic about this place. No, the thing is, we
only just moved here. We used to have nothing.’

‘
I am sorry. I did not mean to pry into your personal affairs.
I am merely curious about how people live now.’

‘
Fair enough.’ Maddy stared at his animated face. He looked
almost like a normal human being. She kept forgetting what he was.
He seemed young and naïve and this only endeared him to her even
more. His thick wavy hair occasionally fell into his eyes and, out
of habit, he kept pushing it back, even when he didn’t need to. She
noticed he used his hands and arms a lot to demonstrate what he was
saying, maybe that was a French thing.

Madison
relaxed back into the sofa. Nerves still twisted inside, but she
loved talking to him like this. She’d almost forgotten what it was
like to have a proper conversation with someone, even if that
someone was a century-old vampire.

‘
So, tell me more,’ he continued. ‘What other advancements
have been made?’ He leant back and stretched his long legs out onto
a tapestried footstool.

Madison picked
up the remote control and pressed the power button. After a second
or two, the 42’ plasma screen flashed into life. An advert for
crisps was running. Alexandre jumped up off the sofa and turned his
head quickly from left to right. He hissed and looked at once
threatening and terrified. Madison was shocked by his lightning
reaction and she too leapt off the sofa. She stood by the door,
ready to run.

‘
Whoa! You made me jump, Alex.’ She exhaled, looking at him
warily. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to freak you out. No need to panic,
it’s just the television.’ She pointed to the screen. ‘Television.
You watch stuff on it.’ She sat back down, her heart still thumping
wildly.

Alexandre
studied the television and walked towards it. He touched the screen
with his fingertips.

‘
I do not understand. There are real people inside the
picture. They move. They speak. Are they trapped?’

‘
No,’ Maddy laughed. ‘It’s called television or TV. It’s just
images, like a moving photo.’

‘
Are these then moving photographs of your family, or your
friends?’

‘
No. It’s like, umm. It’s hard to explain. Like, you know,
stories or a play. Instead of going to the theatre, you can watch
it on the TV.’

‘
Amazing!’ Alexandre sat back down and stared at the screen.
‘This play is not so interesting. It appears to be about somebody
cleaning their house.’

‘
No!’ Maddy laughed again. ‘It’s an advert. They’re trying to
sell you stuff to clean your house with. In the middle of
programmes, they advertise things.’

‘
Advertisements. I see. Very enterprising.’

She clicked
off the television and silence descended.

‘
I am a child again. I know less than nothing.’ Alexandre
frowned. He felt stupid.

‘
Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s all enough to freak anyone
out. Maybe that’s enough info for one day.’

‘
Info?’

‘
Sorry,
information
. Maybe we should just
talk about normal stuff. About your life. Paris. Tell me about
Paris. All I know about Paris is that the Eiffel Tower’s
there.’

‘
The what?’

‘
The Eiffel Tower. I might not be super-intelligent, but even
I know that Paris is where the Eiffel Tower is.’

‘
I am sorry, but I have never heard of this tower you are
talking of.’

‘
Hang on.’ Maddy jumped up, ran out of the room and came back
a few minutes later with a small white machine. She sat down again
and her fingers expertly tapped at some buttons. She leaned across
and showed him an image on the contraption.

‘
A small television?’ he asked, pointing to the
picture.

‘
Not quite. It’s called a laptop. I’ll explain in a minute.
But tell me, is this or is this not The Eiffel Tower?’

The image
showed a tall metal construction.

‘
I have never seen this ugly building before,’ he said. ‘When
was it built?’

‘
I dunno. Hang on.’ She tapped some more buttons and Alexandre
saw writing appear on the screen. ‘Yes. It’s nineteenth century. It
was built in 1889.’