“Old enough,” the vampire replied coyly.
“Did you have a family?” Snod paused, noticing the vampire’s frown and quickly amending, “I’m
sorry. You don’t have to...”
“It’s fine,” the vampire replied softly. “They’ve been gone a long time. My mother died from a fever
when I was a child. My father was never quite the same after losing her. He always said she was the
light of his life. He lost his way without her.”
“What happened to him?”
“Well, I went overseas to France for business, and by the time I returned, he had already died.
Consumption, they told me. Tuberculosis.”
“France?” Snod inquired, trying to keep the conversation light. “I’ve never left the country.”
“See? Something else we can add to your list!”
“List?”
“Your freedom list!”
Snod snorted, asking, “What kind of printing business took you to France?”
“I was a secretary then,” the vampire said with a grin as he finished up cleaning Obe’s wounds, “to a
very influential American ambassador.”
“Oh?” Snod flexed his shoulders, surprised that he couldn’t feel any of the markings he had inflicted
on himself. He turned to face the vampire, putting it all together as he said, “Printer. Philadelphia. An
ambassador to France. The portrait in your living room. You worked for Benjamin Franklin?”
“Oh! You know your history! So they do allow reading in the Order?” the vampire teased, blinking
away and returning with a clean shirt.
“Yes,” Snod bit back, grabbing the shirt defiantly and pulling it on. He didn’t feel right wearing the
scapular now, shoving it into his pocket as he argued, “We are taught very well.”
“Yes, I can tell.” The vampire smirked, throwing Snod’s soiled clothing in a hamper. “Early
American history, self-flagellation techniques, how to kill vampires... very sane and effective
schooling.”
“You didn’t answer the question,” Snod persisted, following the vampire back into the kitchen. He
noticed the mess he had made of the first aid kit had all vanished.
“No, I did not,” the vampire said plainly, taking out the bottle of vodka from the freezer and pouring a
shot in a glass.
