The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (14 page)

Where the hell did he go? What is he doing?
Jason glanced around nervously at the box on the back seat. Just some bottles. Old looking. Nothing too unusual. He couldn’t look really close. He was too fearful to concentrate.

A few minutes passed. Then several more. Jason turned on his cell phone but he got a weak signal. At that point he just wanted to drive off; leave him. Call the police—and, then what? Ten more minutes passed. He felt like he just could not sit there one more—

A sound at the rear side window made him jump. Augere was at the back door, tapping gently on the glass.

He reluctantly unlocked the doors and Augere got in and then calmly said, “We can return home now.” Jason started the car and quickly accelerated. To his unbelieving eyes he easily found the ramp back onto the main highway, and he didn’t care if they were pulled over for speeding or not.

All the way back home, Jason felt an immense relief just to be heading back toward civilization. He tried to make some sense out of all that had just happened.

Maybe he really just had to go, Jason thought. But it occurred to him they had passed by numerous places that were much more appropriate; well lit, well peopled and where there were likely to be facilities. Had they been heading somewhere else, and Augere had changed his mind? Had he gotten ill?
I don’t think I could have done what he did, no matter what,
Jason thought. How could he even see where he was going? How freaking dangerous was it out there? Jason shuddered at the thought.

He could have told me he needed to stop. Was he just embarrassed?

No matter what, Jason would not make mention of this to him.
Just let it go, that would be best
.

Augere was silent the entire ride home, which lasted more than thirty minutes. Jason took a few glances at him in the rearview mirror. Augere sat quietly, gazing out the window.

Augere lifted his box off the seat and said good evening when Jason dropped him off at the front of the house. Jason parked the car and not long afterward climbed into bed. It was 3:30 in the morning; he was more exhausted than he realized and he soon fell asleep, letting the weirdness of the evening slip away.

The events of the night before came to him with clarity as he awoke. He instinctively knew trying to take it all in stride was the best way to go, to avoid any further awkwardness between them. Even if he understood none of what had happened or why. He pushed thoughts of the girl from his mind and wrote it off as a bad decision best forgotten. Her behavior still concerned him greatly, but it seemed there was nothing he could do about it.

The day after next, Jason returned from the gym around noon. As he was headed to the kitchen to make himself lunch, he encountered Augere in the foyer.

“Are you busy?” Augere asked him.

Jason shrugged. “No.”

“Will you drive me to the ocean?”

“To—the Cape?”

“Not so far as that. The north shore will do.”

“Sure—uhmm…did you want to stay out there a while? I could bring the folding chairs…?”

“Yes! Excellent.” His voice displayed more enthusiasm than Jason was used to. This felt like a surprise gift to him. Here was another chance to get to know him perhaps. Jason was suddenly very much looking forward to doing something that had not even occurred to him a moment before.

Jason thought to grab a bottle of white wine, a corkscrew, and some paper cups as he was picking up a book to take with him. He tossed all of these into his backpack and then got the folding chairs and put them into the trunk.

He pulled the car around and picked up Augere, who stood waiting in the front of the house. He was holding a book he was bringing to read.

As they drove out toward Gloucester, Jason stole occasional glances at him in the rearview mirror, his thoughts focused on Augere. He always sat in the back; did he like the feeling of being chauffeured? He seemed different today; not as languid; a little more energetic. There was a little color to his cheek and his eyes were intensely violet blue today. He looked almost cheerful.

It was late afternoon on a weekday so parking was not a problem; they easily found a stretch of beach all to themselves. Augere seemed to be waiting for Jason so stake out a spot, which he did, and then Augere rested his book on the folding chair, keeping his usual distance.

Jason put on his sunglasses, as Augere had done, and looked out to sea from the comfort of his lounge chair. He kicked off his shoes and then, dangling one leg off of the lounger, he dug his bare toes into the warm sand. A delicately cooling breeze ruffled his hair as he expressed a deep sigh of contentment.

He wondered now if maybe Augere had been ill. Maybe he had a recurring illness. And maybe he is just now feeling better. Could he be germ phobic too? Those explanations could account for some of his behaviors: his always keeping a physical distance; his paleness; the long intervals spent away from people.

Jason closed his eyes and absorbed the gentle breezes and the soothing sounds of the waves rolling into shore. After a while he thought
why haven’t I done this before? I could have been having this peace and contentment more often
. What a good idea to come here and relax. He felt hopeful. The world was full of possibilities again.

And once again he felt he was bridging the gap between Augere and himself. The transition to his new life was finally unfolding as it should.

He opened his eyes and gazed out to the horizon. Now Augere was standing at the water’s edge, looking out to sea. He had been standing there a long time now.

I can’t help wondering what he is thinking and feeling right now. Does he find peace here? The same kind of contentment I feel? This life I have now—it is really because of him. He has made this possible. Whatever it is that makes him sad, withdrawn, and isolated— I hope there is some relief from that trouble or sorrow for him here
.

People strolled by; children ran and played. Seagulls cried and circled overhead. Jason caught the strains of a Bob Dylan song playing on a radio nearby and the raspy voice he loved was singing “Standing in the Doorway.” The song had intrigued him from the first time he heard it. He could relate to those words somehow. There might be something bad coming, someday. But not right now. Not here. This might just be a fleeting sense of safety and comfort but for right now just welcome the peaceful serenity of the present. Be here in the moment.

Jason opened the novel he had brought and began to read. Augere finally returned to his chair and sat, as Jason observed, not as heavily and clumsily as he himself had, but lightly, as if he were no more than a feather settled by the wind. Augere picked up his book and began to read.

After a while, Jason opened the wine and poured some into a cup and silently handed it to Augere, who took it without a word and drank. Jason poured some for himself. There was no need for either of them to speak; no words needed to be said.

They watched as the sun began to sink into the horizon.
I haven’t seen enough sunsets,
Jason thought. He poured them both more of the wine. Then he continued looking to sea. The sun was quickly disappearing and he focused on the image intently now, searching for
le rayon vert
. Did Augere know of this?

But the green ray was elusive this time, as usual. When you see the green ray, you gain a clear perspective of your true self, of your own true feelings, and the same truths about whomever is with you. This was from one of his favorite Rohmer films.
I guess that truth will just have to wait
.

He found it necessary to glance at Augere from time to time. At intervals Jason felt the absence of his presence; as if Augere had simply faded from sight. But always, there was the reassuring view of him, right there. Jason still did not know quite what to make of this persistent strangeness, but he felt less and less as if it were simply misperception on his part. Something strange was going on but he could not quite grasp or define it.

The sparsely occupied beach began to empty out even more as it grew dark. Jason had closed his book a while ago; Augere was still peering into his.
He can’t possibly see well enough to read; there is not enough light to see much of anything, much less to read
.

Finally Jason began to gather up his things and Augere joined him as they carried their chairs back to the car. On the leisurely drive home they had their windows open, enjoying the night air and an unspoken shared contentment.

Chapter 7

August

For the rest of the summer, they managed to get out to the shore several more times. Usually Jason brought wine, and occasionally things to eat such as cheese, bread, fresh fruit, olives.

“What would it take,” Jason asked Augere late one afternoon, as they sat on a beach near Rockport, “to get you to eat just one olive? Just one segment of orange?”

A brief flicker of amusement rose in the violet blue eyes, a small hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. “Why is it important to you?” Augere asked him.

“I just want to know, that at least once, I actually saw you eat something.”

“I……eat.”

Jason frowned slightly with a lingering look at him before popping a green olive into his mouth.

Augere had begun to invite Jason more frequently to watch movies with him. Sometimes Jason was invited to select the film, which he saw as another positive step in their burgeoning relationship.

Sometimes after watching a movie, they would talk for a while, though always too briefly, about a variety of things: books and film adaptations; travel, sometimes regarding the movie locations; art, music and philosophy as integral parts of films. Augere always had interesting comments and observations. These brief discussions confirmed Jason’s earlier impressions of Augere: he was quite articulate and had an extensive vocabulary; and though knowledgeable, he was not always current on contemporary subjects. Jason learned Augere had been born in France, which should not have surprised him, that French and Italian were his native languages, having learned English later as an adult. Jason was impressed at how well and how thoroughly Augere had picked up English in such a relatively short time, given his young age. These tantalizing details only made Jason hungry to know more about him.

“Mr. Augere tells me he has been going to the beach, and I find that a little hard to imagine.” James Genier laughed gently when he called Jason to check in. “How did you manage that?”

“It was his idea, actually. We take folding chairs and wine and we relax, read, enjoy the fresh air.”

“Yes, he does sound more relaxed. I had been telling him he needed to get out more. I am glad to see it happen.” A brief pause, then, “Is he being decent to you?”

The question surprised Jason.

“He has been fine to me, yes. He seems willing to open up a little more lately, but it is still kind of hard to draw him out—”

“Hmmm… Any problems or concerns?” Genier asked.

“Not a concern, really, just a question: would you say he is germ phobic?” Jason immediately regretted putting it so bluntly.

There was a pause. “I don’t think I would describe him as such. I know he does not like to be touched, or to be in close, crowded places though.”

“So, perhaps a little claustrophobic, maybe?”

“It would be quite fair to say that, yes. Definitely.”

There was more he wanted to ask, but he thought it inappropriate to pry into Augere’s personal life. Things he was meant to know would probably be revealed in time. Or not.

Augere sometimes surprised him with the kinds of things he would ask, out of the blue: “What is the global warming? What is the crisis that currently concerns everyone? Why are people afraid?” There would be rapid fire questions, catching Jason by surprise. Once, when Jason stopped to get gas for the car, Augere, who was present, asked why he was allowed to do that himself. Jason explained that practically everyone had to pump their own gas these days. Augere requested that Jason show him how to do it. The disparity of information when it came to Augere would cause Jason to take stock: Augere, wearing one of his T-shirts that said Vandelay Industries, Purveyors of Fine Latex Products, or Invader Zim or Cthulhu Waits and Dreams would cause Jason to wonder: how can he know about ‘that’ but not know anything at all about ‘this’? Then he would shake his head and laugh.

At first Jason would go into detail with his explanations in response to Augere’s inquiries, but he soon learned Augere would quickly appear bored and distracted. Whenever Augere would turn to him now with an inquisitive look, Jason knew to give brief, to the point responses. Augere wanted the digest, not the full version.

At one of their Thursday morning meetings, Augere asked if Jason would arrange for him to attend a concert, but “not in California. I never go there.” He said there was a young woman whom he wanted to see perform.

“Okay, sure. Who is it you want to see?”

Augere retrieved a note he had written on a scrap of paper and had slipped into the pages of his journal.

“Her name is Janis Joplin.”

Jason stared at him for several moments. Augere’s expression was a serious one. Jason had heard the name before…whatever had happened to her? He associated her with his parents music. He had to look her up on the internet.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news. She died quite some time ago.”
Long before you were born,
Jason thought.

Augere looked at him in that intent, solemn way he had. “I see,” he said quietly. He asked for no other information.

But Jason ventured a question. “Why do you say you never go to California?”

Augere shrugged one shoulder. “Earthquakes. Raging fires. Mudslides. Hollywood.”

Jason nodded solemnly. “I see. You want to avoid all the catastrophes.”

Sometimes while he was driving him places, Jason would mention a desire to stop at Dunkin Donuts, or a sub place, or at Boston House of Pizza, and would ask if Augere wanted anything. Invariably, the look he got from Augere suggested he truly had no idea what Jason was talking about. It always seemed odd to Jason that Augere could be so out of the loop. About so many things.