Eleanor was from London. She’d gotten sick from the plague, which killed her husband and two daughters. She’d been full of wrath the first fifty years of her newly born life. We’d bonded over our anger and held a friendship which lasted generations. Once I settled at the temple, she’d decided to explore the new world with the North men. That was the last I saw of her . . . until now.
“Why are you here?” I side-eyed her, waiting to see if she would admit to her motives.
“Imagine my surprise, while visiting a friend in Tokyo, about a mysterious vampire who’d slaughtered a whole coven, walked in daylight, and his description perfectly matched yours. I’d thought surely, if Tatsou had been alive all these years, he would have sent a letter. We were friends long ago. So I decided to see if the rumors were about you. I assumed sooner or later, you’d show up here, so I befriended the lovely new owners of the farm and waited. Now here you are. Alive.” She spoke sweetly and confidently, then suddenly she smacked me on the shoulder. Hard.
“I apologize for taking so long, my lady.”
She frowned. “Tell me what happened. You were my best friend and then you vanished. I’d gone to that temple many times. The monks were gone, and so were you. The great Wisterian Vampire had become nothing but a tale to get children back into their beds at night.” We lowered ourselves on a flowerless bench.
“I was tired and needed rest. While I slept, the enemy attacked and killed everyone. I only woke a few weeks ago.”
Her grip around my arm tightened, and her body shuddered beside me.
“Tatsou . . .” She knew how much I cared for those monks, and what their deaths would do to me. She was the closest I had to a sister after my own had perished.
“Botan stayed in the cave with my sleeping body to protect me. He starved to death, and his body rested beside mine all these years.” While I spoke the words aloud, I waited for the sorrow and rage to hit me like before, except they didn’t come. Instead, Kat’s face flashed through my mind. She smiled while we had placed flowers on his grave we’d created for him.
A tear rolled down Eleanor’s right cheek. Vampires tended not to be emotional monsters, since it made the whole “drinking people’s blood” a hard task. However, there are those like Eleanor and myself, who felt too strongly at times. Since awakening, all I’d felt was pain and anger, until I met Kat.
“I’m sorry.”
“The clan who butchered them settled at the temple and turned it into a mansion. Their descendants live there now.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. We watched the breeze drop leaves from the trees like colorful snow.
“Are they still breathing for such an act?”
I felt solace knowing she would not judge me if I said “no.” “I’d wanted to destroy them, but it seemed like too easy a death. I’d decided to hurt them from the inside by using their precious and beloved daughter.”
“Always one for theatrics. Simply killing them would have been sufficient,” she teased and her words hit their mark.
I laughed, knowing I was not the theatrical one of our friendship. “This coming from the woman who paraded around as a man for two years, convincing people that you were the bastard son of a king. Once you became king, you showed your true colors and the people waged war over who would be crowned next while you sat back and watched.”
“The king called me ugly, the old toad,” she said smugly, clearly full of remorse. Not.
“Would you like some help dispatching the family?” she offered.
I declined instantly. “There’s a girl.” I dared to speak with Eleanor about Kat but she cut me off with a squeal. Women were all the same, even centuries-old vampires.
“You rarely spoke of girls. I’d thought you chose to be with those monks because you liked the male companionship. Tell me everything,” she gushed and it was like time had never passed between us.
I delved into the happenings of my life in this time with Katsumi. I was thankful for my old friend.
“Oh, I cannot wait to meet this Katsumi. She sounds absolutely precious.”
I spent all night telling her everything. When I finished my story, Eleanor had her hand pressed to her heart.
“I’m not sure what to do,” I said. With my final thought, the darkness receded, and the sun rose before us.
“While you were snoring in that silly cave, I’d actually remarried in 1700. He lived in America as a farmer. He knew what I was and chose me anyway. We had a beautiful life together, and when he died of old age, it was hard.”
My head dropped, knowing that if I stayed with Kat and gave into her wish to save her family, I would lose her eventually.
“But I wouldn’t trade that time with my Jonathon for all the world. He gave me a purpose for those years. He showed me love, and my once-broken dead heart beat for him. I wish I could finally see you happy with someone like I was.” She lightly gripped my chin and lifted my head to face her. Those blue eyes glowed with the love swirling inside her. Potent feelings.
“I’m not sure I wish to see the day she dies.”
“Then change her,” she suggested casually, like it was something we did every day. I’d never changed anyone, and as far as I knew, neither had she.
