irrevocably?"
"More or less. There are ways to break the bond, but it is painful for both parties. That's why it's frowned upon unless sanctioned."
"Let me guess, The Council is supposed to do the sanctioning," she said sarcastically.
"Yes. Often, the petitions are approved. However, if a vampire is found to be already bound it could have consequences."
"Of course it does," she spat.
"What's the matter?"
"The Council gets on my nerves more and more each time we talk about it. They have all this power to stop people from doing the most mundane things, but they can't catch Josiah in the ac t . Doesn't that piss you off?" s he started pacing the floor. Tiny sparks of irritation danced from her skin, charging the room with a hum.
"I understand the dangers in some of these things because I've lived with it for so long. In time, you'll see why they impose these rules. I do think they're out of their minds for letting Josiah go. Although I can't hate them too much because you wouldn't be here if they hadn't," I said quickly.
She stopped pacing and looked at me curiously, "I suppose that's true, but it doesn't mean it was right."
"Whether they were right or wrong doesn't really matter now," I watched as she did whatever it was to calm herself down. It was quite spectacular to see her demeanor change so drastically in a matter of seconds.
"I'm better now, you can go on. What else did you need to know?" she sat heavily on the bed.
"There were a lot of little things, but perhaps the most important was to live among humans instead of running from them. I'd been on the run for so long , that was probably one of the most difficult.
"I stayed with a small group of vampires here for a while . Following by example, I began to adopt my human habits again. When I'd remember something, I always wrote it down. I've got hundreds of journals on those shelves."
"Wait, how old are you exactly?" she mused.
"I was born in 1890," her smile faltered slightly and I laughed.
"I didn't expect you to say that," she laughed as well.
"I'm an old man by standards you've never imagined . One hundred and twenty two is nothing to joke about. Actually, I'm pretty young. You don't reach old age as a vampire until you start getting closer to a thousand. I don't think I've ever met any that old, but then again we don't really talk about our age. The years tend to blend together after a while.
"That's partly why I kept the journals. I didn't want to take the chance of forgetting again. A hundred years of recording thoughts makes for a lot of noteb ooks. Why do you think I have so many bookshelves?"
"That's pretty cool actually. Would I be able to read them sometime? ”
“Maybe,” I looked from the corner of my eye and she frowned.
I laughed, “I’m kidding. You can read anything you want. There’s nothing in those journals I haven’t already explained. Of course, I’m skipping through time here, but a hundred years of struggle would probably take just as long to tell.”
“Have you ever written anything since we met?” she asked shyly. Not wanting to spill the beans quite so easily, I smirked.
“A journal like that wouldn’t be among the others. And, no, you couldn’t read it, even if it did exist.”
“Uh huh,” she pursed her lips. “We’ll see.”
Chapter 12
Colorado, 1980
I was finally alone again, after another twenty years of babysitting. Not that I minded the company of Desi and Luthor, but I hated having to account for every second of my day. I knew they were reporting to The Council, so I bit my tongue and went along with it.
Occasionally, I was struck with the urge to kill again, but it was short lived. Now that I knew how to feed without killing, it was senseless. Unless I was threatened, which never happened, killing a human was a sure way to die. Austin might be my friend, but he works for The Council first.
I liked being home. Wandering between states and countries was tiring, even for a vampire. I was lonely,
"More or less. There are ways to break the bond, but it is painful for both parties. That's why it's frowned upon unless sanctioned."
"Let me guess, The Council is supposed to do the sanctioning," she said sarcastically.
"Yes. Often, the petitions are approved. However, if a vampire is found to be already bound it could have consequences."
"Of course it does," she spat.
"What's the matter?"
"The Council gets on my nerves more and more each time we talk about it. They have all this power to stop people from doing the most mundane things, but they can't catch Josiah in the ac t . Doesn't that piss you off?" s he started pacing the floor. Tiny sparks of irritation danced from her skin, charging the room with a hum.
"I understand the dangers in some of these things because I've lived with it for so long. In time, you'll see why they impose these rules. I do think they're out of their minds for letting Josiah go. Although I can't hate them too much because you wouldn't be here if they hadn't," I said quickly.
She stopped pacing and looked at me curiously, "I suppose that's true, but it doesn't mean it was right."
"Whether they were right or wrong doesn't really matter now," I watched as she did whatever it was to calm herself down. It was quite spectacular to see her demeanor change so drastically in a matter of seconds.
"I'm better now, you can go on. What else did you need to know?" she sat heavily on the bed.
"There were a lot of little things, but perhaps the most important was to live among humans instead of running from them. I'd been on the run for so long , that was probably one of the most difficult.
"I stayed with a small group of vampires here for a while . Following by example, I began to adopt my human habits again. When I'd remember something, I always wrote it down. I've got hundreds of journals on those shelves."
"Wait, how old are you exactly?" she mused.
"I was born in 1890," her smile faltered slightly and I laughed.
"I didn't expect you to say that," she laughed as well.
"I'm an old man by standards you've never imagined . One hundred and twenty two is nothing to joke about. Actually, I'm pretty young. You don't reach old age as a vampire until you start getting closer to a thousand. I don't think I've ever met any that old, but then again we don't really talk about our age. The years tend to blend together after a while.
"That's partly why I kept the journals. I didn't want to take the chance of forgetting again. A hundred years of recording thoughts makes for a lot of noteb ooks. Why do you think I have so many bookshelves?"
"That's pretty cool actually. Would I be able to read them sometime? ”
“Maybe,” I looked from the corner of my eye and she frowned.
I laughed, “I’m kidding. You can read anything you want. There’s nothing in those journals I haven’t already explained. Of course, I’m skipping through time here, but a hundred years of struggle would probably take just as long to tell.”
“Have you ever written anything since we met?” she asked shyly. Not wanting to spill the beans quite so easily, I smirked.
“A journal like that wouldn’t be among the others. And, no, you couldn’t read it, even if it did exist.”
“Uh huh,” she pursed her lips. “We’ll see.”
Chapter 12
Colorado, 1980
I was finally alone again, after another twenty years of babysitting. Not that I minded the company of Desi and Luthor, but I hated having to account for every second of my day. I knew they were reporting to The Council, so I bit my tongue and went along with it.
Occasionally, I was struck with the urge to kill again, but it was short lived. Now that I knew how to feed without killing, it was senseless. Unless I was threatened, which never happened, killing a human was a sure way to die. Austin might be my friend, but he works for The Council first.
I liked being home. Wandering between states and countries was tiring, even for a vampire. I was lonely,
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