Young Writers Society

When Evie walked into the bedroom, Caius had his back to her studying the painting that hung over the bed. It was an oil painting of a farm with cornfields and cattle. Evie smiled to herself at the thought that William would have liked it, but then she shrank back in on herself as that cold wash of grief fell over her.

Curiously, he lifted his hand and brushed his fingertips over the painting, feeling the slight ridges of the paint. The grey shirt clung to Caius’ back, accentuating the rippling muscles underneath. Evie moved slightly and a floorboard creaked underfoot. Caius shot back, dropping his arm and turned to her with his eyes wide as if he’d just been caught doing something bad. When he noticed it was her, he smiled softly and swiped back a dangling piece of hair that obstructed his view.

“How was Alexander?” he asked, moving towards her.

“He’s alright. We made up.” She smiled.

“What was wrong?”

“I made him remember something from his past.” She squirmed, still feeling a little guilty. “He had a wife and a son.”

“A wife?” Caius looked perplexed.

Evie laughed a little at his confusion. “Yeah. I was a little shocked, too.”

“Huh.” He furrowed his brows and scratched the back of his head, suddenly looking awkward. “Look, about what he said. About me being like your parent-”

She held up her hand, silencing him. “Let’s just forget about that.” She thought back to the encounter between Alexander and Varsee that she had just witnessed. The closeness. The teasing. The lust. “I’ve come to realise that vampire relationships and human relationships have different rules.”

Caius sighed with relief. “Okay, good. Because I didn’t want it to get all weird between us. I’ve only just got you back.” He gave a start. “I do…have you back, right?”

She couldn’t help but smile at the terror shining in his eyes. She crossed the room and took his face in her hands. His fingers wrapped around the tops of her arms, keeping her close. His long hair fell over her cheeks and hid their faces from the rest of the world. “You have me back and I’m not going anywhere.”

He let out a large exhale of relief. Even though vampires had no need to breathe, Evie could have sworn he had held his breath as he waited for her response. His eyes swooped closed, his long eyelashes brushing his high cheekbones, and he leaned into her. She pushed herself up on her tiptoes and met his lips. As soon as their lips touched, Caius let out a gasping, urgent moan and slipped his hands to her hips. He squeezed them and drew her closer so she was pressed flush against him. Every inch of them connected. She giggled excitedly as his fingertips brushed under her vest and ran over her skin. Vampire skin was always cold and lifeless like stone, but his touch was like fire, burning into her and giving her life. She felt her insides jump as if being revived by an electrical charge. She moaned softly and splayed her fingers into his hair, feeling it curl around them, soft like silk.

Caius turned his body and sank down onto the edge of the bed. Evie fell onto him and straddled his waist. Their bodies rolled together. Her fingers left his hair and started popping open the buttons of his shirt while his fingertips ran up and down her spine. She was desperate for more contact. The feel of his skin on hers was like being touched by sunlight. She craved it in a way that she couldn’t quite fathom.

She broke the kiss and pressed her forehead to his as her fangs unsheathed. The click of them made him growl longingly and he followed suit. He exhaled, dragging the tips of his fangs across her bare throat. She extended her neck to him with a sigh as she continued to work on the buttons of his shirt.

It was when she managed to pop open his fourth button when a noise caught their attention. They both stared into each other’s eyes. She watched as Caius’ forehead creased with confusion and then both their heads snapped to the side at the sounds coming through the walls.

Evie’s eyes widened as her vampire hearing zoned in on the muffled moaning and the unmistakable sound of bedsprings.

“Is that...?”

“Alexander and Varsee.” Evie turned back to him and sheathed her fangs. “Yeah.”

“But…they’re brother and sister.”

“Vampire brother and sister. I told you, the same rules don’t apply.”

His lips started to twitch before he let out a little laugh. “Wow.”

She pressed her hands into his shoulders, pushed herself off him, and got to her feet. “Yeah.”

“Who are these people?”

Evie laughed. “I don’t know but I think we’re stuck with them.” She unbuttoned her jeans and they dropped to the floor. They had been barely hanging on to her skinny hips anyway. The vest she was wearing- Varsee’s vest -was more like a dress on her so she made the decision to wear it to bed seeing as she had no pyjamas. Caius watched her as she skirted the bed and crawled up onto the right side. Her side of the bed. No matter where they lived, she always slept on the right side of the bed. Even when she was with William.

The thought of William made her jump back to her feet and find her bag that she had placed on the chair in the corner of the room. She unzipped it and withdrew the old framed photograph that lay on top of Caius’ spare shirt. A shirt she now wanted to throw out after seeing him in what Alexander had put him in.

The backs of her eyes burned as she looked down at the picture, taken the night William had proposed to her at the Opera, arm in arm, looking as happy as every young couple should.

She turned and saw Caius stepping out of his pants, also readying himself for bed. He had already removed his shirt which he had folded neatly and placed on the floor next to his shoes. He folded his pants also then crossed the room to Evie. He looked over her shoulder to see what was in her hands.

“I thought you had left that behind.”

“I couldn’t.” She curled her fingers around the simple brass frame, tightening her grip as if it were going to jump from her hands. “It’s all I have left of him. And all you have left of her.” She looked up into his eyes. His eyebrows lifted and his lips formed a thin line.

“What do you mean?”

She smiled and looked back down at the picture, turning it over in her hands. She spun back the clasps and took off the back of the frame to reveal a small, folded square that was hidden behind the photograph. In the corner of her eye, she saw the muscles in Caius’ face tighten. She unfolded the hidden photograph and passed it to him. He took it, eyeing her face warily. She could see he was looking at her but she was focusing more on the photograph. The photograph she had seen him unfold and stare at by the bedside when he thought she wasn’t around. He would brush tears from his eyes, mutter things under his breath and run his fingertips over the broken, faded picture. He’d seen her do the exact same thing with the photograph of William night after night.

His photograph was of him and Catherine. They were both sat at a table in a white cloth restaurant. He had his face pressed to the side of hers and they were both laughing. He looked how he had that night he had Turned her. His hair was slicked back in a side parting and he was wearing a dark, three piece suit. Catherine looked beautiful. When Evie had first found the photograph, a bitter jealous rage surged up inside her. Evie had been Turned when she was twenty-three years old and had always felt like she hadn’t really grown into a proper woman. Her cheeks were still a little round and her body lacked curves. She was pretty, but in a plain sort of way. Whereas Catherine was breath-taking. Her dark hair was sleek, pinned up in a wavy bob and her face was thin and elegant.

Now when she looked at the photograph, she just felt Caius’ pain. Because she had learned to understand that Catherine was to Caius, as William was to her.

“How long have you known about it?” Caius held the photograph to his chest, as if shielding it from Evie.

But Evie just looked up at him passively. “Ever since you put it there. I don’t see why you felt the need to hide it. You knew about my photograph and you don’t mind, do you?”

He shook his head. “Of course not.”

“Then I don’t see why you expected anything less from me.”

There was that twitch in his eyebrow again. A little blip in his stoic mask.

“But our situations are different. I lost Catherine. She was killed because of me. And I took it out on you.”

Evie flinched, seeing those early months of her new vampire life in her mind’s eye.

“I had neglected you when you needed me the most. Hurt you when you didn’t deserve it. You were just a new-born.” His pale eyes started to glisten as he looked down at her. “I was so wrapped up in my guilt and depression that I took it out on you. You hated Catherine because of what she made of me. But it wasn’t her fault-”

“-It was Guardian’s,” Evie cut through him.

He gave her a melancholy smile. “It was mine.” His eyes flickered to the photograph she was holding and his eyebrow twitched again. “You had to leave him behind. You were going through your own heartbreak. I should have been there to console you.”

She remembered the nights- Caius slouched in his high armchair, his suit wrinkled and his face wan. Never moving. Never blinking. Just staring into the fire as if he were waiting for something to appear. But the only thing he had been longing for was gone.

Caius placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it a little before gliding to the bed and sitting on the edge of it, gazing down at the unfolded photograph in his hands. Evie watched him, sat in his underwear staring down at a picture of another woman with a pleading, sorrowful look on his pale face.

“She would have liked it here,” he said with a laugh and looked up at Evie. He nodded to her side and she turned to see three more china plates decorated with cats hung behind her head. They seemed to have taken over the whole house. “She always liked cats.”

“How many did she have again?” She turned back to him.

He smiled. “Eight.”

“You still remember all their names, don’t you?”

His smile tightened sheepishly.

She laughed. “Go on.”

“Maurice, Edward, Charles, Pickles, Jeremy, Snowball, Erin and Maisie.”

Evie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “You’ll never forget those, will you?”

“I’m afraid they are imbedded into my memory. Just like Jeremy’s claws used to imbed into my legs.”

She laughed and crossed the room, placing the framed photograph on the nightstand. She sat down beside him, still gazing at the picture. William was the polar opposite of Caius, with his fair hair and strong, squared jaw. They were both handsome in their own way.

“We should find a frame for yours,” she said and looked down at the photograph that hung loosely between Caius’ fingertips. Because of how many times it had been folded, it had white lines running all over it and was barely holding together.

He just passed it to her without looking up from the floor. “Put it where you found it.”

She did, knowing that the memories that arose whenever he looked at it were too dreadful to experience on a nightly basis. Because bad memories cancelled out the good. Every time she saw the picture of William, she knew that were true. The first memory that hit her was always her last of him. The only bad memory in a life time of good ones. But that was the one that stuck like a tattoo on her brain.

They both crawled under the covers which were crisp and cold from the lack of use. The silence between them amplified what was going on a few doors down. Whenever Evie caught Caius’ eye, they just laughed, shaking their heads. At one point, a heavy bang -which she guessed was probably caused by a headboard smacking against a wall- made the painting above their heads crooked. Evie reached up and set it straight, only for it to drop at an angle again. So she gave up and sank her head into the expensive feather pillow. Caius lay beside her, patting down his pillow when it obstructed his view of her. She smiled at the familiar sight of his dark hair scattered around him and wrapped her arms around his bare middle, pulling him towards her. He let her and cupped his hand under the crook of her knee to hitch it up and over him. Every inch of their bodies were connected and even though they were both technically dead; two beings without a heartbeat, she no longer felt like it mattered. Because she had experienced life without him and it almost destroyed her. If he had given up; if he had just let her go; if he hadn’t come back to save her, she’d be locked up with Nico, probably wishing she was dead. Real dead.

A heartbeat is overrated. As long as she was with Caius, she felt alive.

She kissed the edge of his lips, down his throat, to his collarbone, and then rested her head against the crook of his neck. His hands slid up and down her back lulling her to sleep as she felt the daylight dragging her under.

Chapter 27

As Evie stirred, she could sense the darkness outside even before she opened her eyes. She felt herself pressed against something hard and when she finally rolled her eyes open, she realised it was Caius. Of course, she had slept in the exact same position she had drifted off in because of her vampire death-like slumber. She sort of missed waking up and wondering where the hell she was, only to realise she had just rolled over. She missed dreaming, too. Sleeping alone in that Premier Inn, she woke up knowing she had dreamt of something but only remembered fragments. She enjoyed trying to piece them together afterwards. But vampires didn’t dream, apart from Cries for Help. But they weren’t exactly dreams anyway.

Caius was awake, his fingers massaging her scalp. She closed her eyes and smiled and the tingling sensation that swam through her.

“How long have you been awake?” she murmured into his chest.

“About half an hour. I didn’t want to move you though.”

She rubbed her eyes and rolled onto her back.

“It’s because you’re a new-born again. You can only rise when the sun has fully set.”

She groaned. “I hate being a new-born.”

“At least you can stay up for longer though. Your body clock is still probably adjusting to being a vampire.”

“Well, I certainly wanted my sleep this morning.”

He smiled down at her, his pale eyes glowing in the grey-darkness of the room. With no lights on and the black-out curtains drawn, the room was probably pitch black, but Evie’s vampire vision allowed her to see everything as if it were just shrouded in fog.

“That’s probably because you’ve been through a hell of a lot,” said Caius.

Evie replayed the events of the day before and the night that followed. It was a big mess of horror and pain and suffering. She covered her eyes and swallowed back a heavy lump in her throat as the visions hit her like blows to the head.

Caius’ arms wrapped around her and held her close. His chin rested on the top of her head. “Shh, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay from now on.”

Evie managed to calm herself a little by pushing all those fresh memories into the back of her head. Something that vampires were able to do rather well. It was probably a coping mechanism for eternal life. She remembered how it had felt when she had Turned human again, like a wall had been pulled down and she was seeing the world for what it really was. As a vampire, you were on Earth, but there was always a nagging feeling that you weren’t a part of it. Separated from the world by some invisible force. Separated- sometimes- from your own emotions.

But it only worked to a certain degree. There was only so much a vampire could lock up and forget about. That was why Caius was the way he was, a little distant and melancholy. It was why Alexander put up his cocky front. And it was why Varsee…

Her Maker’s stormy eyes filled Evie’s mind, and the sickening vertigo she had felt when she looked deep into them. There was nothing in them. Or maybe too much. So much that it just churned up into one big messy blur.

She rolled onto her back again and Caius’ hold on her loosened. “We should go downstairs.”

“Okay.” He pulled back the covers and shifted to a seated position. Evie watched as he padded over to the huge wardrobe and started checking the clothes that hung on the rack. She pulled a face at a black and purple paisley shirt he pulled out but luckily he didn’t find it appealing either and put it back.

“Why don’t you just where what Alexander gave you last night?” offered Evie as she grabbed Varsee’s jeans from the floor.

He swatted away the suggestion, still searching. “It was too constricting. The shirt anyway. It was like a size too small.”

“But it looked good.” The tightness of it was what Evie had liked about it. The way his muscles rippled underneath like brewing waves had almost made her drool.

She saw his eyes brighten as he reached far back into the wardrobe to unhook something. This time, he pulled out a dark grey and brown stripy baja jacket. He held it up in front of him to take it all in and then smiled. Quickly, he shrugged it on and started routing through the set of drawers hidden inside the wardrobe. Luckily, the pair of dark jeans he pulled out were slim fitting and not flares. Evie rolled her eyes as she tugged on Varsee’s jeans but when she looked up and he was fully dressed, a smile crept onto her lips. He looked like himself again. Sure, what Alexander had dressed him up in was great, but it wasn’t him. Not anymore, anyway. Now, the man stood in front of her with his long shaggy hair still ruffled from sleep and bare feet, was the man that she had woken up to for a hundred years.

His pale eyes slowly fluttered to her and his thin lips broke into a smile when he noticed her beaming back at him. He tugged on the hem of the jacket with a shrug. “It’s comfy.”

Evie looked down at the jeans she was wearing- the ones that drowned her and made her walk like she was wearing flippers. “I think I’ll have to raid Varsee’s wardrobe for something else.”

After rolling up the bottom of her jeans to prevent falling flat on her face, Evie and Caius made their way downstairs. Evie could hear voices in the hall coming from the kitchen and suddenly felt very awkward at the prospect of facing Alexander and Varsee after overhearing their rather private and rather energetic escapade the night before. Sucking back the feeling, she ploughed onwards with Caius strolling along beside her. Evie had run a brush through her hair to look presentable but Caius hadn’t followed her lead so his mane still looked feral.

She pushed the kitchen door open and saw Alexander perched on a wooden chair at the dining table with his back to her. He also had a bed-head, his hair curling slightly at the tips. Draped over his slender form was a black silk kimono with a pattern of lotuses climbing up the sleeves. Nestled in his hands on the table was a steaming cup of, what she guessed was blood.

“Sleep well?”

Evie jumped and shifted her eyes to Varsee who was leaning against the kitchen counter holding a steaming mug of her own. Unlike her brother, she was fully dressed and looked completely fresh faced and radiant. Her blonde hair was curled out from her face and she was wearing a simple olive green blouse, navy figure-hugging jeans and black thigh high boots. She was smiling at Evie, awaiting a response.

“Yeah. Yeah. I did. Thanks,” she hurried with a smile.

At the sound of her voice, Alexander turned around. His eyes completely bypassed her and raked Caius up and down, his lip curled up a little with revulsion.

“What the hell are you wearing? You look like a nineteen-eighties hippie. And not I a good way. If there even is a good way.”

Caius shrugged and took the chair opposite him, unfazed by the remark. “I found it in the wardrobe.”

Alexander’s eyebrow arched. “You mean Mr. Braverman’s wardrobe? What was wrong with what I put you in? Y’know, I give and I give. I worked hard on making you look good and what do I get in return?” He threw Caius a sweeping gesture. “I’d like my shirt back.”

Caius’ eyes were on the table, distant and resigned as always. “That’s fine.”

Alexander looked over his shoulder at Evie. “Seriously, what do you see in this guy?”

She bit back a smile and crossed over to Caius’ side of the table, brushing her hand across his shoulder blades before sitting down beside him. He looked to her and offered her a soft smile as she took his hand and squeezed it, gazing into his eyes.

“God, you guys are sickly.”

“Would you like a drink you two?” asked Varsee, her voice noticeably louder to try and drown out her brother.

“That would be great, thanks,” said Evie, and Caius turned to Varsee with a nod.

Varsee nodded back and opened the fridge.

“Well.” Alexander stretched his arms above his head, making the sleeves of his kimono drop to his shoulders. His arms were thin yet laced with muscle and when he stood up, Evie noticed that so was the rest of him. His kimono- that had been loosely pulled together with a silk cord- fell open, revealing his bare torso and matching silk pants. His silk pants hung low, revealing the V of his hips.

His body reminded her of a greyhound. The way he seemed to be made up of just muscle and bone. There was no extra fat on him at all. And yet, even though he was slim, Evie couldn’t help but sense the power radiating from him.

When Evie glanced upwards, she did a double take and then felt her cheeks burning as a grin cracked on Alexander’s lips, filling his angular face. He lifted his mug to his lips, gave her a cheeky wink and glided out of the room.

Varsee swooped in and took his seat, placing two mugs of blood on the table, snapping Evie back to attention.

“Thank you,” said Caius as he took the mug nearest to him. Evie did the same and took a sip. She winced and coughed at the burning sensation in the back of her throat.

“What’s in this?” she wheezed.

Varsee smiled. “I put a little bit of rum in it, hope you don’t mind. It’s what Alexander and I do to start the night.”

“Gives it a kick,” said Caius, eyeing up the contents of his mug appraisingly.

“It sure does.” Varsee smiled, flipping her long blonde curls over her shoulder. Then her eyes widened with realisation and she hid her face with her hands. “Oh God. I’m so sorry about last night. The noise.” She dropped her hands and sent the two vampires a queasy, bashful look. “It just sort of…happened. And we’re not used to having guests.”

Caius ducked his head, letting his long hair shield his face. Evie could feel her face flushing at the memory but also found it amusing that she was embarrassed. “It’s fine,” she said finally through a laugh.

Varsee still looked a little pale and awkward on the other side of the table. She fiddled with her fingers and stared down at them as if they were fascinating. “I just didn’t want you to think that we were like animals that had to jump each other’s bones every moment we’re alone together. Because we’re not.” Her head flipped back up, making her curls fly over her shoulders. “We can be good hosts.”

“I don’t doubt it,” said Evie, still not being able to shake off the awkward laughter in her tone. Caius, not being any help at all, just nodded with his eyes still casted downwards.

“Sis, I’m ready!” Alexander called from the living room.

Varsee’s eyes sparkled and she straightened on her chair. “Great, I can stop babbling on.”

Evie furrowed her brows and gave Caius a sideways look. “What’s going on?”

Varsee got to her feet. “You might want to save that blood for after.” She waved towards the door. “C’mon.”

“After what..?” Evie was starting to feel uneasy as she got to her feet at her Maker’s sudden shift from embarrassment to casual ease. She couldn’t help that the earlier conversation was just a way to stall them.

Varsee was already pushing her way through the door. “You’ll see. Stop asking questions and just follow me.”

Caius’ chair dragged across the tiled floor. He tucked his hair behind his ear and Evie caught the apprehension on his face.

Who are these people?

Caius headed towards the door and Evie fell into a step behind him. He paused for a moment before shoving it open. Evie went to follow but ended up crashing into his back. She moved to step around him but he stuck his arm out, preventing her from moving any further.

And then she realised why.

In the centre of the floral room stood Alexander in an oversized grey knitted jumper, tight leather pants and thick black boots. He had his back to them, his blonde hair mussed from running his hands through it too many times. And in his hands were two pistols.

Evie’s fingers dug into Caius’ side as she frantically searched for Varsee. She was stood by the stairs in the open-plan room, facing her brother, watching him with a soft smile as he felt the weight of the guns.

“What’s going on?” asked Caius, his usual soft voice uncharacteristically sharp.

At the sound of his voice, Alexander spun around and Caius pressed his arm harder against Evie’s chest protectively. But Alexander just smiled, the guns dangling limply by his sides. “Welcome to the party.”

“Varsee?” Evie looked back to her Maker for some sort of explanation.

“Caius, stand on the other side of Alex.”

“Not until you tell us what is going on.” He turned his head to Varsee.

“We need to test this bond you two share. To see just how strong it is.”

He dropped his arm from Evie and started to stalk across the room towards Varsee, his back up and his hands curling into fists.

Alexander stepped in front of him, blocking Caius’ path to his sister and started motioning him backwards with one of his guns. Alexander nodded with a smile but with his eyes dark and devious when Caius started stumbling away.

“There.” Alexander positioned him before the sofa and back stepped to where he was originally stood. Now all three of them stood in a line, about five feet apart from each other. Alexander’s head flipped to both of them, his blonde hair slapping his cheeks, and the raised both guns with his arms stretched out completely. Varsee’s chin lifted and her body seemed to tense all over as her brother trained his gun just below her heart. But her eyes were blank.

On the other side, Caius tried to back away and smacked the back of his legs against the side of the sofa, his hands waving in front of his chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” Evie looked between them, her eyes wide and her brain whirling.

“Got these from some of those vampire hunters I killed. Wooden bullets. I’ll dodge your heart so they won’t kill you but they hurt like a bitch,” said Alexander, a dark grin cracking his lips as he looked down his outstretched arm to the gun pointing at Caius.

“You’re going to shoot them?” Evie’s fingers tangled into her vest. It was a strange sensation, to be terrified as a vampire. Your heart didn’t bash against your ribs. Sweat didn’t bead on your brows. You didn’t tremble.

But her head felt foggy and her nerves felt like they were been stretched out dangerously thin. She felt the need to gasp for breath as a sob longed in her throat.

“I sure am. But you can save one of them.” Alexander’s blue eyes flitted to her. “You just need to choose who.”

Caius. Of course it’d be Caius. She loved him. She had spent a hundred years with him. Her life was nothing without him.

But then her eyes started slowly drifting to Varsee, her new Maker. The blonde vampire must have felt her gaze because her lips curved into a smile as she started hopping from foot to foot, readying herself for a bullet in the chest.

Evie suddenly felt that tug stronger than ever, like Varsee had lassoed her and was dragging her towards her. Caius fell to the back of her mind as if he were just a person in a dream she was slowly waking up from, forgetting.

The feeling made her shudder and she snapped her attention back to him. He looked stiff and dark and fearful as his pale eyes fell on her. The skin on his face was pulled tight and he seemed to have sunken in on himself as he watched her.

Caius, of course I’m going to save Caius, she repeated in her head, trying to sound as confident as she could to block of the doubt brewing in the back of her mind.

“You look conflicted.”

Evie shot Alexander a glare. His eyes smiled at her over his shoulder and then he shifted his body a little, widening his stance. “You better make your mind up quick,” he said as he pulled back both the hammers with his thumbs.

“I’ve made up my mind,” she snapped back.

“Okay. Good.”

Then he fired.