past to join me in our present. "For too many years, I wandered the night, hiding in alleys, taking life in order to sustain my own existence. Women flocked to me, walked into the dark with me as though they could not see the evil in my heart. I walked the night and I mourned the sun."
Each word he spoke brought with it the visions of my dreams. I had walked those alleys with him. I had seen the death he brought to those women. I had mourned the sun with him. For the first time in my life, I cursed the gift I had been given. I didn't want his memories, their details sharp and horrible. I wanted to continue to be able to doubt his words so I could stay with him, love him.
"It wasn't until decades later that I met Alfred. It was he who shared the secrets of our existence with me. How home soil allows us to live in the light. How our venom makes more of us. How if I were careful, if I could control myself, I could take blood without killing or turning my donors. It was only with his teaching that I was able to step out of the sewers and return to the human world. But even then, I was still a monster, still a killer."
"I count meeting Alfred as my third birthday," Mathias said. "My first was when my mother brought me to this world, the second when my Kathryn left it."
"And even though I'd found ways to be reborn into the light, the light of my mortal life haunted my every moment. There has been a gaping hole in my chest from the moment I realized what I had done, how my selfishness had taken Kathryn from this world. I vowed I would never be that selfish again, that I would never again allow my desire to live in and be surrounded by the light to endanger someone I loved."
Mathias smiled at me. "But I cannot be anything but what I am."
He held my hand to his lips and watched me so intently and silently that I couldn't bear it any longer.
"What happened to Alfred?" I asked softly to break the silence.
"Alfred and I recently parted ways. He travels extensively and unlike me, he does not seek to live among humans for long periods of time. He wanted to go to Europe and I wanted...I wanted some time alone."
I wondered what Mathias had been about to say he wanted, but before I could ask, he continued.
"Don't worry, Mairin, should he visit, I would insist on his word that he not hunt here. I would protect you and your family from me and mine."
I shuddered. "He...he hunts?"
"He does not hunt as much as he did when we met, but he is, shall we say, less civilized about how he obtains his meals than I am."
My mind wouldn't grasp what Mathias was telling me. He could see my confusion and said, "Let me finish my tale, Mairin and I will answer all of your questions. Do you not want to know why I came to live in Highland Home so recently?"
I nodded, not at all certain I really wanted to know what had brought Mathias into my life but unable to resist drawing out the story he spun. The longer he spoke, the longer I could stay with him. If only he were Scheherazade. A thousand nights could easily be a lifetime with Mathias.
"I was drawn to this little town because I needed to replenish my home soil supply. Without it, I would have to live in the darkness, something I could not abide for long. Living in California I could soak in the sun and pretend to be human, but that lifestyle drained the power from my home soil so quickly. I came to take soil from the garden where my Kathryn lays buried and then I planned to return to California."
It jolted me to realize the cobbled streets upon which Mathias had killed were buried under the asphalt here in Highland Home. He noticed my shock and kissed my hand.
"But then I heard your voice, so clear, so pure, so much like my Kathryn's and that changed everything. You and your family were laughing together, coming off the beach after a day in the sun. I watched you from my Kathryn's grave and for the first time in almost a century, my heart sang. I knew I had to stay, that I had to
Each word he spoke brought with it the visions of my dreams. I had walked those alleys with him. I had seen the death he brought to those women. I had mourned the sun with him. For the first time in my life, I cursed the gift I had been given. I didn't want his memories, their details sharp and horrible. I wanted to continue to be able to doubt his words so I could stay with him, love him.
"It wasn't until decades later that I met Alfred. It was he who shared the secrets of our existence with me. How home soil allows us to live in the light. How our venom makes more of us. How if I were careful, if I could control myself, I could take blood without killing or turning my donors. It was only with his teaching that I was able to step out of the sewers and return to the human world. But even then, I was still a monster, still a killer."
"I count meeting Alfred as my third birthday," Mathias said. "My first was when my mother brought me to this world, the second when my Kathryn left it."
"And even though I'd found ways to be reborn into the light, the light of my mortal life haunted my every moment. There has been a gaping hole in my chest from the moment I realized what I had done, how my selfishness had taken Kathryn from this world. I vowed I would never be that selfish again, that I would never again allow my desire to live in and be surrounded by the light to endanger someone I loved."
Mathias smiled at me. "But I cannot be anything but what I am."
He held my hand to his lips and watched me so intently and silently that I couldn't bear it any longer.
"What happened to Alfred?" I asked softly to break the silence.
"Alfred and I recently parted ways. He travels extensively and unlike me, he does not seek to live among humans for long periods of time. He wanted to go to Europe and I wanted...I wanted some time alone."
I wondered what Mathias had been about to say he wanted, but before I could ask, he continued.
"Don't worry, Mairin, should he visit, I would insist on his word that he not hunt here. I would protect you and your family from me and mine."
I shuddered. "He...he hunts?"
"He does not hunt as much as he did when we met, but he is, shall we say, less civilized about how he obtains his meals than I am."
My mind wouldn't grasp what Mathias was telling me. He could see my confusion and said, "Let me finish my tale, Mairin and I will answer all of your questions. Do you not want to know why I came to live in Highland Home so recently?"
I nodded, not at all certain I really wanted to know what had brought Mathias into my life but unable to resist drawing out the story he spun. The longer he spoke, the longer I could stay with him. If only he were Scheherazade. A thousand nights could easily be a lifetime with Mathias.
"I was drawn to this little town because I needed to replenish my home soil supply. Without it, I would have to live in the darkness, something I could not abide for long. Living in California I could soak in the sun and pretend to be human, but that lifestyle drained the power from my home soil so quickly. I came to take soil from the garden where my Kathryn lays buried and then I planned to return to California."
It jolted me to realize the cobbled streets upon which Mathias had killed were buried under the asphalt here in Highland Home. He noticed my shock and kissed my hand.
"But then I heard your voice, so clear, so pure, so much like my Kathryn's and that changed everything. You and your family were laughing together, coming off the beach after a day in the sun. I watched you from my Kathryn's grave and for the first time in almost a century, my heart sang. I knew I had to stay, that I had to
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