“That was an utterly selfish thing to say.” His voice cracked when he looked her in the eyes. “You are only allowed to leave the Occult when it is unquestionably necessary. You leaving for me is a safety precaution, because I want you here, Charlotte. That is true! ”
“But I have been leaving the Occult every single night for the last ten years.” Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
“Not anymore.”
“But what about you? What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“But Valek—”
“And another thing — you are never, never allowed to be in the woods alone!” He pulled his pipe from his breast pocket and lit it.
“But Aiden was with me!” She continued to argue.
“And he did nothing to protect you.” He put the end of it to his lips.
Charlotte’s mouth filled with acid. “Yes, he did! He stopped my bleeding so I wouldn’t be in any danger walking back into this house!” Her hands flew up to cover her mouth.
Valek closed his eyes and calmly blew a perfect smoke ring into the air. He turned his back to her and walked steadily toward the fire. “Do what you want, then. If that’s how you really feel, Charlotte.”
Her arms dropped slowly back to her sides. Of course that wasn’t how she really felt. The honest truth was she had been sketching his face in her drawing book for months. The honest truth was she had snuck into his bedroom because she couldn’t tear him from her mind, because if she were being upfront with herself, he was the one thing in life she treasured more than anything she’d ever possessed. But she quickly shoved those sick thoughts back to the deepest depths of her mind. He could not ever know how she felt. Sadly, she turned and started to leave, hiding her own pained expression.
“Take your whistle,” he whispered.
Grinding her teeth together, she clasped her trembling hand around the small, tarnished thing on the end table beside the door. She placed it around her neck again.
Valek listened to her footsteps make their way out into the windy night. He heard the front door open, and then shut with a finalizing thud. He peered out of the large, dusty library window at the small girl pushing through the frigid wind, her arms wound tightly around herself. The wind blew the hem of her dress up around her knees. He thought about running after her, but he knew he ought to just leave her alone. He had never felt the need to yell at Charlotte before, but there was just something about her getting too close to him scared him.
She was like a small, pomegranate seed he held in his hand. If he squeezed too hard, it would burst and the red would spill over and stain his fingertips. She would be so very easy to destroy, and yet she seemed so quick to destroy him. He couldn't deny his instincts. He never told her how he still struggled sometimes. If she walked past and the wind rushed the scent of her mortality to him, he had to force himself to fight that one awful thought.
He knew she didn’t really mean what she said, and he knew she felt sorry the instant she’d said it. Guilt grasped a tight hold of him as he watched her walk alone in to the freezing darkness and fought the urge once more to run after her. But the Regime had just begun to keep a close eye out for Occult people crossing the borders. He had to be home anyway, just in case a patient decided to walk in.
Valek somberly made his way back to his office to take care of some paperwork. Sounds of the house’s foundation settling filled the space Charlotte left vacant. He hated the empty feeling. Even silence seemed too loud when she was gone. He sat at his desk, sighing, and pulled messy patient files from the drawer. He started putting them in some sort of order that made sense to him. It was merely busy work. He actually didn’t need to keep files at all with his photographic memory. He glanced at the desk schedule in front of him. No scheduled appointments tonight. He sighed. No scheduled appointments for the last several months. It seemed nobody wanted to pay a visit to the Vampire doctor.
Maybe he should go after her.
There was a knock at the front door then. He stopped. Curious. Patients always came in through the office door in the back. If it even was a patient. Who could be visiting now? He looked at the carved owl clock on the wall. It was a little after midnight. Charlotte couldn’t be back so soon. That was when he remembered what she mentioned to him last night. Evangeline.
He quickly shoved his papers back into the bottom drawer, and inhumanly sped to the front of the house, taking him about half a second to get from one end to the other. He adjusted his corduroy vest and opened the front door to find the sultry Witch standing before him in a curve-hugging, black dress that only came down to the middle of her thigh.
“Good evening, Evangeline. What can I do for you?” he asked, maintaining his gentleman-like qualities. He did not allow his eyes to stray any lower than her face.
She scoured the house behind him, no doubt looking for Charlotte. Her wine-colored mouth twisted into a wicked smile and she walked in, letting the door slam shut behind her.
The harsh wind whipped Charlotte’s matted hair around her face, blinding her as she pushed through it. She was so stupid. She could get rid of some of her pride to go back and at least grab her sweater. The night air was freezing. Her teeth chattered as she hugged her arms tightly around herself. The leaves flew easily from the trees to the wet ground. She saw almost every pair of tavern doors bolted shut, and even the most restless night creatures had turned in for the evening. Nothing was dumb enough to be out in weather like this.
She grimaced as she continued to play their argument over in her mind. He was just as prideful as she was, if not more. Maybe she really would have gotten to live a normal life if he had just left her where he’d found her almost eighteen years ago. Maybe, if he had just gone on about his magical, otherworldly business, someone from her own race would have rescued her instead. Someone normal. Someone safe. Someone who would have turned out to be a lot less confusing, because they would have aged just as she did. Someone she would — no matter what — think of as nothing more than a parent.
Charlotte blinked back the image of Valek’s devastatingly beautiful face behind her sour tears. Crossing her arms over her chest, she dug her nails into her arm, trying to distract from that which was causing her internal pain.
She rooted around in her satchel to see if there was anything left of the traveling potion Evangeline had given her. To her dismay, she pulled out two empty glass bottles. She couldn’t run away now, even if she really wanted to. And she didn’t really want to. As much as Charlotte didn’t want to admit it, she could never leave Valek. But having those spells would have made hunting for him easier at least. Now, she just had to be lucky enough to find someone on the country road. A farmer, perhaps. Though, she knew stumbling across another human wouldn’t be likely on a night like this.
Thunder thrashed somewhere very close by, causing her to leap out of her skin. She decided if it started to rain heavily again, she would turn around and go back. Valek would just have to stay thirsty for one night. She held her arms up to shield herself against the heavy wind as she continued to push through. Maybe she shouldn't even wait for the rain. Maybe she should just turn back now.