Vampire's Consort

Allira walks towards the showroom with rocks in her stomach. She feels like vomiting, but nothing can get her out of this predicament. Their professor demanded that they enter at least one painting into this charity show. It’s also for a grade. The rotten bastard is extorting her with grades. He knows damn well she is not keen on being seen. She doesn’t want people to see her art. It’s all for her and the selected few. Her family mostly. That scumbag of her ex boyfriend never earned the right to see her art.

She opens the door and slips inside. The crowd is starting to fill up the gallery. Her classmates are vying for attention from the wealthy patrons, but she has no need for that. Allira has no idea where her friends are, but she can see her professor. If she checks in with him, he’ll leave her alone for the night. Doesn’t he know most artists are introverts? She needs a few days of pep talk to get up the courage to go out with Maya. And she only manages that, because nobody even notices her. Maya is the people magnet and perfectly safe to go out with.

Signing in with the professor, Allira finds a dark spot and watches people. She spots Maya with her brother, but she decides to stay put. Shadows are safe. Maybe she can find a chance to slip out without being noticed and just go home. Hope is the last to die, they say. She smiles at her own thoughts and leans back on the wall. This event is too “peopley” for her. Maybe it’s her upbringing? She never had many friends, because she could never invite them over for playdates or study time. But she liked it like that. She had her “cool uncle Alain” all to herself.

A good hour into the event Allira uses the opportunity and dashes for the exit. The professor is deep in conversation with one of the upscale patrons of the university, and everyone else is busy mingling. She makes it all the way to the parking lot, before she notices that someone is following her. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Allira turns around to confront whoever it is. Her heart drops a beat when she sees her ex.

“Mark, it’s over. Stop following me around,” Allira hisses at him. She doesn’t want him anywhere near her. Why can’t he understand it’s over between them?

“So you can go spread your legs for someone else?” He sneers at her.

“That’s none of your business. We are over!” She shouts at him. She doesn’t want him coming too close. Keeping a safe distance is a must. If he grabs her hand, she loses her chance to get away. Dating him was a mistake. He might have been all sweet at the beginning, but he showed his true colours fast.

“I want you back, babe,” Mark tries to sweet talk her. Oh, he’s good at it, but she won’t fall for that puppy eyes look or his sweet voice again.

“No. I don’t want you. I didn’t like the way you treated me. I don’t ever want to be controlled,” Allira glares at him. She is slowly making her way to the car. It’s just a few steps away. She can make it before he does.

“But you let your family control you? How is that different?” Mark throws it at her. She just knew he’d go there. It was the same in every argument they had. How can she make him see that her family is not controlling, she just isn’t allowed to tell secrets of the supernatural world to regular humans?

“Don’t even start. Just because you never understood my bond with my family, you labelled it controlling. I was right to never take you home and introduce you to them,” Allira shakes her head.

She touches the door handle and the Audi unlocks for her. Right now, she is grateful that her mother added her to the car system. Not needing to unlock the car with the key takes away all sounds and flashing lights. Allira shakes her head again, before she slips inside and locks all the doors. She is sure that he won’t do anything to her mother’s car. He can’t afford another strike on his police record. That is one of the reasons she broke it off when she found out. Bullies are bad, but bullies with a police record are the worst. She doesn’t need that kind of drama in her life.

Allira drives back home with a lump in her throat. Mark is not getting her message. He keeps following her around. She didn’t see his scooter at the gallery, so he probably can’t follow her tonight. At least she always managed to lose him in traffic, so he doesn’t know where she lives. If he ever shows up at the mansion, Alain will find out about her stupid choice. That is something she tries to avoid at all costs. There is no telling what her overprotective vampire guardian would do to ensure her safety. He never said she can’t date, but Mark obviously falls in the un-desired category.

“I think you handled that well,” Alain chuckles as he taps on the driver side window of the car.

“What?” Allira jumps in surprise. He can sneak up on anyone, but how the hell didn’t she notice him standing there? Wearing black on black motorcycle gear, Alain blends in with the shadows falling from the garage. The all black 1950 Indian Chief Black Hawk motorcycle practically shines in the low light. Did he take his baby out for a ride? She thought that bike never leaves its stand.

“Oh, you can effectively lose that loser in the traffic, but you never saw me,” Alain steps out into the light that comes from the garage. The system is set to turn on the lights when you press the garage door opener. “I am proud of you for giving him a piece of your mind.”

“Thank you, I guess…” Allira sighs. “I never wanted you to find out. I’m so ashamed of myself that I ever dated Mark.”

“When did you break up with him?” Alain inquires. He is remarkably calm about this, she thinks. She was worried that he’d yell at her.

“About four months ago, but he just doesn’t get it,” she confesses.

“Shall I talk to him?” Alain offers. The look on his face says murder, so she better decline.

“No. He’s my problem,” she shakes her head.

A thought creeps into her mind. Alain looks mighty fine in that gear. Whatever did she see in Mark? He’s a wanna-be, opposed to Alain who is the real deal. Mark drives a scooter and pretends to be a biker. Alain has a collection of vintage bikes and he wears the gear like it’s been painted on his sculpted body. He is a perfection she can never find in another man, but lusting for her mother’s boss is bad. Alain practically raised her. It would be too weird to even think about him in that way, but damn, that man is fine.

Allira parks the Audi in its designated spot. She is glad her mother let her take the car. Getting away fast on public transport is impossible. The thing she missed was Alain following her. What was he doing at the gallery? How did she miss him there? He stands out like a sore thumb. Taller than most, he stands a good 25 centimetres over her little frame. Add the biker boots and her flats, and the difference is even greater. She has to stop thinking about him. Lucky for her, he can’t read minds, but he can pick up feelings.

“You ran away again?” Her mother asks when she returns the keys to the rack in the kitchen. Alain must still be in the garage, or her mother would have said something.

“I’m not a people person. It was too crowded for me,” Allira tells her mother.

“Then help me set the table. Alain should be home soon. I don’t want him to wait for dinner to be served,” her mother orders. Should she tell her mother that Alain is already home?

Allira shrugs it off and sets the table. It’s the same setup for all of them, even though Alain only eats the soup. He says liquids are fine, but he can’t stomach other food. As a vampire he has no need to eat human food, he just likes the smell of it. She stopped thinking it’s weird and just accepted his quirks as a child. Her mother and father drink red wine with dinner and Alain has his glass filled with blood. Allira doesn’t like the taste of wine so she gets a juice. Beer is not allowed in this house. It’s too mundane, her mother says. Maybe mom hasn’t tasted good beer, but there is no convincing her to change her mind.

“I bought another painting. Irene, can you go pick it up tomorrow?” Alain asks her mother over dinner.

“At August’s?” Her mother asks. “My schedule is pretty tight tomorrow, but I think I can slide it in somewhere.”

“I can go,” Allira offers. She always loved August’s gallery. Any excuse to visit it comes in handy. The man has some great artists displayed there.

“Well, I guess you could go,” her mother muses. “It’s about time you get more responsibility around here.”

“Thanks, mom,” Allira smiles. The tone of her mother’s words was hinting at her lack of chores at the mansion. She knows she can’t use her studies as an excuse forever. Her mother expects her to take over her job. Allira will one day become Alain’s primary consort.