. Don't worry, it isn't serious... at all!
Chapter 1
Sudoku and Suitcases
A weighty sigh slid from Artemus’ lips and dribbled into the room. It held his dreams and desires, his wants and wishes, his fears and feelings and his annoyance with Sudoku puzzles.
“Quit sighing, Artemus!”
Ashley had never been a particularly patient vampire, but the retort stung him all the same. He had taught her better than that. Looking back at the puzzle in his lap, he sighed again.
“I’ve had enough, Ashley,” Artemus unfolded himself from the wooden chair carefully so that it made loud annoying creaking sounds. Across the room, Ashley winced at the disturbance.
“Can’t you keep your lecture down a bit?” she looked up from her crossword and fixed him with an irritated stare before dipping back behind her fringe.
Her pencil darted about the newspaper, filling in boxes here and there, never stopping as she churned through the cryptic clues. When she wasn’t scrawling an answer, she sifted back through and crossed out the ones she’d already done.
When Artemus was in a good mood, he called her ‘The Crossword Cruncher’. When he was in a bad mood, he called her anything that came to mind. Artemus was not in a good mood.
“Ashley you warped, beef-witted bladder!” Artemus spoke loudly, possibly forgetting he was only two meters away from her. Ashley knew when he was irritated. She set down her crossword and folded her arms.
“You sound like you’re in a bad mood, Artemus.”
“So it seems, my Fledgling.”
He stomped around the room bumping his head on the low ceiling and lashing out at any furniture in his way. After a brief moment he paused and rubbed dejectedly at a large bruise on his forehead.
“Is it anything I can help with?” Ashley asked timidly.
He shook his head vigorously and came back to his senses. Ashley smiled, lay back on the couch and focused her attention once more on the crossword. Artemus shrugged.
“I’m worn out,” he started slowly but built up speed as he monologued, “I need a holiday, Ashley. I need to get away. Somewhere I can escape to, where I don’t have to keep looking over my shoulder when I feed. Somewhere I can lose myself.”
Ashley looked up at him quizzically and a concerned frown lurched onto her face.
“Sorry, did you say something?”
A disgruntled humph from her Sire, as he stood by the doorway, gave her the feeling that he had indeed said something. Something that may also have been quite important
“I have an announcement to make,” he announced, “I’m leaving, Ashley.”
She looked up at him, raised an eyebrow and opened her eyelids wide. Her chin dropped and her mouth curled into a concerned ‘o’. As Artemus looked down at his fledgling, he felt a touch of pity for the forlorn vampire. His gaze seemed to hurt her and she bowed her head, tears brimming in her eyes.
“I,” she gulped in air, “I just c-c-can’t–”
“It’s ok,” Artemus crooned as he knelt down beside her. He clasped her hand in an iron grip and crooned a little more.
“If you can’t do without me, I can stay a bit longer.”
“Nooo!” she whined inconsolably, “you don’t understand!”
Artemus smiled and slid up onto the couch next to her. He wrapped his arms around her in a fatherly hug, despite her desperate struggling and vicious bites to his upper arm. After a minute, she fell quiet.
“There that’s better now isn’t it,” Artemus released her and stood, rubbing his punctured biceps.
“No,” she shook her head sadly, “it hasn’t solved my problem at all!”
“Then what is it? Living on your own isn’t that bad!”
“I know,” she breathed out, her face desolate, “but I just don’t know the answer to 4 Down!”
“Oh, Ashley,” Artemus sighed and walked over to the closet. He flung open the door and the resulting cascade of umbrellas and high heeled shoes buried him.
“Hmm,” Ashley pondered aloud to no-one in particular, “five letters—”
“Give me a break!” the muffled cry erupted from the pile moments before the man who had uttered it. He bent and flicked several pairs of shoes into a suitcase before donning a travel cloak and facing his Fledgling. Ashley looked up.
“You do know no-one wears them anymore, Art?” she asked untactfully but her Sire smiled and lifted the battered case.
“I do, Ash,” he replied using the short form of her name that she hated the most, “so I’ll get some money for new clothes by selling these shoes!”
He grinned happily to himself and swept up to the doorway. He put down the case, pulled the door off its hinges and vaulted out onto the raw night air. From her cosy Ashley rolled her eyes as her Sire performed his pre-flight exercises.
“And stretch … 2 … 3 … and turn … 2 … 3 …”
Artemus paused, breathed in and took two steps backwards. He balled his fists and leaned forwards, waiting for the air to settle in front of him. Judging this time was right he pushed off and sprinted to the end of the patio before soaring over the ground after it. The wind ruffled back through his hair and he jogged in midair towards the sun setting in the smog to the west.
Ashley rolled her eyes again. She couldn’t understand why he always had to run. Just lying back and letting the wind take you was so much easier. She unfurled herself from the bed and shut the door, obscuring her Sire’s silhouette running alongside a Boeing 747.
“Oh, Artemus!” Ashley picked up the forgotten suitcase and lobbed it into the cupboard.
“Looks like I’m keeping my shoes then!”
The young vampire smiled contentedly and settled back down with her crossword. She wasn’t worried in the slightest. He wouldn’t last long out there and he’d turn back soon. Wouldn’t he?
