The Purity of Blood: Volume I (49 page)

As he spoke she
followed his voice and turned towards me.
 
She was beautiful, as beautiful as Daniel was handsome.
 
Older than him, she looked to be in her mid to
late thirties.
 
I’d never seen a movie
star in person, but she looked like one.
 
Not from the current day, but back from a time when glamour really meant
something.
 
Her lovely face was only
marred by the haughty expression that clung to it.
 
She looked at me through dark eyes like an
uninvited guest, or a bug she wanted to crush under her spiky high heels.
 

She opened her
mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.
 
Finally, she said “She’s –”

“Yes, she’s
human,” Daniel continued her thought for her.
 
“Sara, this is Lucy.”
 

I hesitantly
raised my hand to offer it to her, but was interrupted by Professor
Walker.
 
“Better not do that, Sara.
 
You might not get it back,” he warned as he
took his seat again.

Lucy leaned over
and lightly hit him on the arm.
 

“I’m sorry,
Sara, I was only kidding.
 
Lucy is house
broken – most of the time,” the Professor said, his eyes full of amusement.

“How can you
stand to be around them?” Lucy said.
 
At
first I thought she was talking to them, but soon realized she was actually
addressing me.
 

“Men!
 
Human – vampire, they’re all the same.”
 
She leaned in toward Randall and whispered
“Does she know?”

“What, that
we’re vampires?
 
Yes, she knows.”

“How
unusual.
 
What in heaven’s name for?” she
asked him.

“You’ll have to
ask Daniel that.
 
She’s sort of a pet of
his.”
 
They both turned in unison to look
at him.

“I love
her.
 
She’s not a pet,” he said
defensively as I felt his hand tighten around mine.

“Really?” she
asked in astonishment.
 
“I need a
drink.
 
Tell me you have something better
than pig in this house.”

The Professor
got up and disappeared into the house leaving just the three of us out on the
deck.
 
Almost as if she was pretending
Daniel and I weren’t there, Lucy stretched out her long bare legs and rested
them on the ottoman in front of her.
 
Her
indecently short skirt revealed the full length of her perfectly toned, if a
little pale legs, and leaning her head back, she closed her eyes for a few
moments and let the sun fall warm on her face.
 
I had to wonder if she could really feel it, or if like Daniel she
didn’t really feel heat or cold.
 
She
must have felt something because she smiled contentedly for a moment.
 
She looked dazzlingly beautiful when her face
was freed of her scowl.
 

Where I usually
felt frumpy compared to Daniel, sitting there beside Lucy, I felt like a
homeless street urchin wandering the bowels of some nameless inner city slum.

A few minutes
later Randall returned with a dark glass and handed it to her.
 
She took a sip and made a face.
 

“Horse?”

“Cow,” he answered.
 
She rolled her eyes and quickly drained the
glass.
 
I couldn’t see through the glass
to know what it was, but the trickle of red that came down her chin as she set
the amber glass down told me all I needed to know.
 

“She’s not easy
to be around is she,” Lucy commented dryly.

“No, she isn’t,”
the Professor said.
 
“She’s a pure.”

“Well, that much
was obvious the moment they got out of the car.
 
No, she’s a bit more than that.
 
Potent,
very
potent.”

I shifted my
weight in the chair, more than a little uncomfortable with the way she turned
and looked at me as if she was waiting for the dinner bell to ring.

“That’s enough,
Lucy,” Daniel said beside me.
 
His tone
was a clipped warning.

“I wouldn’t mind
so much if she’d just do something decent with her hair.”

I followed her
gaze as it left the top of my head.
 
It
lingered on my face for only a moment, but long enough for me to see the
disdain in her eyes.
 
It left me to
wonder if it was me she didn’t like or just humans in general.

Professor Walker
shook his head.
 
“Now Lucy, if you can’t
be civil to my guests you can just go inside.”
 

At which she got
up, smiled at him and without another word gracefully traipsed into the
house.
 
But not before walking past
Daniel and gently running her fingers through his hair on the way.
 
I carefully watched his response.
 
It was not what I would have hoped for.
 
He didn’t recoil, but instead leaned into her
touch ever so slightly.

“I apologize for
Lucy,” the Professor said as he pulled me away from my wondering what exactly
Daniel’s relationship was or had been with Lucy.
  
I looked over to see the Professor lean back
in his chair.
 

“She’s not used
to interacting with humans as much as Daniel and I are.
 
I’m sure he’s explained to you that most
vampires don’t live the way we do.”
 

He paused for a
moment as if waiting for me to react, then continued.

“I’m sure he’s
also told you that I was disappointed he’d told you the truth about who we are,
even if you did figure out some of it on your own.
 
Slicing open your hand, Sara?
 
Now really.”
 

If I didn’t know
any better, I’d say he was scolding me like my father would.
 

“It does no good
to let humans know who we are.
 
In my
time I’ve only seen bad things come of it.
 
Our kind only survives because the truth about us is unknown to the
general public.
 
Even the most
animalistic of our kind hold this one rule sacred.”

Daniel got to
his feet and walked over to the railing.
 
He paused for a moment as if considering the Professor’s words then
leaned against it, seemingly deep in thought.

“Daniel, let’s
not be rude.
 
Get Sara a beverage.” The
Professor turned to me.
 
“What would you
like?”

“Water’s fine.”

Daniel smiled my
way then walked off into the house.

“So, now that
you know the truth, what do you think of us?” Professor Walker asked, smiling
at me.
 
His smile didn’t put me at ease,
but somehow made me feel even more uncomfortable if that was even possible.

“I’m not
sure.
 
I guess that will take some
time.
 
I’m not entirely sure I’ve been
able to wrap my mind around it fully yet.”

“A reasonable
answer.
 
I would have expected no less
from you, my dear.
 
I knew from the first
day I saw you in class that you were a cut above the rest.
 
That was why I singled you out.
 
I like to see if the ones like you can
survive under the pressure.
 
I’m pleased
to see that you did.”
 

“Thanks, but I
thought it was the orange juice.”

At this he tried
to stifle a laugh as he held his hand up to his mouth as if he’d coughed.

“So I hope
you’ve started on your project with your partner.
 
I’d be disappointed if you got anything less
than an A.
 
I paired you with someone I
thought would complement you well in many ways.
 
I hope it works out for the both of you.”
 

“I think
so.
 
He’s actually a friend of mine.”

“That’s
good.”
 
He paused, staring into my eyes in
a way that made me uncomfortable again.
 
“Daniel is the best of us you know.
 
He is everything I wished I could have been in this life.
 
He deserves nothing less than the best.”
 

At that moment I
heard voices in the house and looked over my shoulder to see Daniel and Lucy
laughing in the kitchen.

“And I know
he’ll have it someday when she’s ready.
 
I think it will be soon. – And you.”
 
He turned from the window and looked at me.
 
“You have much to look forward to in life as
well.
 
I’m sure after graduation you’ll
find that life holds everything you’ve ever expected and more.
 
I only hope you realize that we all have
limitations in life.
 
Some things are
just beyond our grasp.
 
I guess you could
say some people are on a different level.
 
We all need to realize our level and stay within it to be truly
happy.
 
Wouldn’t you agree?”

A moment later
Daniel came back, placed the glass down on the arm of my chair and returned to
his spot on the railing.
 
He was
smiling.
 
She must have said something to
make him laugh.
 
I could only wonder if
it had been at my expense.
 

Turning away
from my unpleasant thought, I watched the Professor’s gaze shift to Daniel and
then back to me.
 
With something of a
frown on his face, he stood up and walked over to pat Daniel on the shoulder
before following after Lucy into the house.
 

When I looked up
at Daniel, he was staring at the chair the Professor had just vacated,
pondering something.
 
If I had to guess,
I’d say he was thinking how crazy he was to think I’d ever be able to join his
circle of friends with any degree of success.

Without saying a
word, he walked over, sat down next to me and took my hand in his own.
 
Instinctually, I leaned over and placed my
head on his shoulder.
 
I wished I hadn’t
come and I wanted to understand why he’d brought me here.
 
Surely he must have known this was how it
would play out.
 
After a few minutes, he
stood and gestured for me to go inside and followed me through the door into
the living room.
 

After leading me
over to the sofa he said “I’ll be right back,” and disappeared down the hallway
headed towards the back of the house.

Lucy came from
the direction of the kitchen with an ultra-slinky walk and glided down into the
seat across from mine, only to stare at me for a long, disconcerting
minute.
 

“I think you
should try some kind of styling product on your hair to take some of the frizz
out.
 
Maybe a flat iron.”
 

A shaky “Okay,”
was all I could manage in response.

“Daniel was such
a dear to come and get me.
 
Once he got
up there I really didn’t want to leave.
 
Then again I don’t think he did either.
 
But he’d promised Randall to bring me back with him so off we went.
   
I have to say I’ve really missed him.
 
We had a spat a few years back and I wasn’t
sure if he’d forgiven me yet, but now I know he’s back to his old loveable
self.”
 

When we heard
the sound of approaching footsteps in the hallway, she leaned in close and
whispered “I should probably warn you, Sara, Daniel has something of a
reputation.
 
I don’t mind, but then again
that’s my type.
 
But you need to be on
your guard he doesn’t try anything with you.
 
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
 
My
fellow is a bit of a cad.”
 

Then she winked
at me just as Daniel came around the corner.
 
He produced a little white box and handed it to me.

“Open it,” he
said with a smile.

I did.
 
Inside was a snow globe, but instead of snow
it had little fall leaves and said
New
Hampshire
inside with a log cabin in the middle.
 

“I had to go up
to New Hampshire to get Lucy.
 
I saw it
and thought of you.
 
All those tumbling
leaves.
 
It just needed you going down
the hill.”
 

He smiled again
as if he was seeing me with leaves and twigs tangled in my hair.
 
Reflexively, I smiled back and said thank
you, but Lucy’s words were still echoing around in my ears.
 

After he sat
down beside me, I listened as the three of them laughed over stories of things
that happened long ago, long before I was even born truth be told.
 
Their conversation went by so quickly, it was
hard for me to follow along.
 
I was
finding it difficult to imagine what it would be like to have friendships that
endured for over a hundred years.
 
It was
obvious they all shared a great affection for one another and just as obvious
that Professor Walker and Lucy were a little too polite to me.
  
Well, the Professor at least.
 
He was all politeness.
 
Lucy was polite on the surface, but I could
tell, underneath it all, she really saw me as a snack or just some inanimate
thing with bad hair.