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Authors: Phillipa Bornikova
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wide-brimmed panama hat. Placing firm but gentle hands on my shoulders, he sat me down on the sofa.
Bainbridge wasn’t what people picture when they think vampire . Movies push the image of tall, brooding, slender, smoky, sexy vampires, and indeed they often are. Vampires are attracted to attractive people just like people are attracted to attractive people. Bainbridge, however, was more like Mr. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol , and jolly was the only word that applied. He had twinkling blue eyes, a short, rotund frame, and curly nut-brown hair. Rather than downplay his belly, he wore loud vests as if trying to draw attention to it.
He pulled over a chair from the dinette table and sat down in front of me. “All right, now tell me what happened,” he ordered.
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Yes, yes, you really do. Freud and I had some long conversations about the dangers of repression. Horrific events lose power if they’re acknowledged.”
The casual way he threw out the name of the father of modern psychoanalysis made me snort with laughter. “That’s better,” he said gently, and wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb.
So, haltingly, I recounted the events of the night before while my stupid phone rang and buzzed and danced on the table. I ended the tale by saying, “And I got in trouble with the partners for mentioning a case. But the police asked me what might have been behind the killing, and it was a werewolf that killed him, and Securitech is owned by a werewolf and employs lots of werewolves.… Oh God, I did it again.”
He patted me as if I were a terrified puppy. “It’s all right. If there’s one thing a vampire knows how to be, it’s discreet. Is that infernal thing never going to shut up?” he asked, referring to the cell phone.
“Let me turn it off.” I went to the table and shut down the phone. Then I slowly turned back to face him. “Mr. Bainbridge. I know you put your prestige behind me to get me this job, but I just don’t know if I can go back into that office.”
He waved it off, then asked, “If you don’t go back, what will you do?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s important to you right now?”
I remembered Chip’s screams of terror and agony. “Seeing that Chip gets justice.”
“Then do that.” Meredith gave the tight vampire smile. “And you truly have absorbed the vampiric code.”
“Grasshopper,” I added.
This time Meredith didn’t bother with the polite vampire smirk. He grinned at me. “Yes, I have taught you well, young Skywalker.”
“Let’s not confuse our pop culture references,” I said, and we shared a laugh.
“Keep that sense of humor, Linnet—it’s going to get you through this,” Meredith said as he stood and put his hat and glasses back on.
“Or get me fired,” I said as I walked him to the door.
“If you need a bolt-hole for a few days, you know you can come home.”
“I know that, and thank you. I just want to stay close so Dad can find me.”
“There are these things called phones, much as I hate them,” Meredith said.
“I know, but he hasn’t been answering, and I just want…” But I wasn’t sure what I wanted, so my voice trailed away.
“I understand. You want human contact. Nothing wrong with that. I’ll be in touch, and don’t worry about Gold. The day I can’t intimidate that youngster…” He kissed me on the forehead, his lips cold but comforting. “Now go take a walk. It will make you feel better. It’s a beautiful day and you’re not dead.”
“Yeah, the not dead thing. That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yes, it’s a good thing.”
He left and I turned the phone back on. It rang. It was the New York Post again. I donned a big straw hat and Greta Garbo sunglasses and, looking like a vampire myself, I fled the apartment. Central Park on a holiday weekend would be crawling with people, and I could lose myself among them.
* * *
I was sitting by the carousel,
Bainbridge wasn’t what people picture when they think vampire . Movies push the image of tall, brooding, slender, smoky, sexy vampires, and indeed they often are. Vampires are attracted to attractive people just like people are attracted to attractive people. Bainbridge, however, was more like Mr. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol , and jolly was the only word that applied. He had twinkling blue eyes, a short, rotund frame, and curly nut-brown hair. Rather than downplay his belly, he wore loud vests as if trying to draw attention to it.
He pulled over a chair from the dinette table and sat down in front of me. “All right, now tell me what happened,” he ordered.
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Yes, yes, you really do. Freud and I had some long conversations about the dangers of repression. Horrific events lose power if they’re acknowledged.”
The casual way he threw out the name of the father of modern psychoanalysis made me snort with laughter. “That’s better,” he said gently, and wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb.
So, haltingly, I recounted the events of the night before while my stupid phone rang and buzzed and danced on the table. I ended the tale by saying, “And I got in trouble with the partners for mentioning a case. But the police asked me what might have been behind the killing, and it was a werewolf that killed him, and Securitech is owned by a werewolf and employs lots of werewolves.… Oh God, I did it again.”
He patted me as if I were a terrified puppy. “It’s all right. If there’s one thing a vampire knows how to be, it’s discreet. Is that infernal thing never going to shut up?” he asked, referring to the cell phone.
“Let me turn it off.” I went to the table and shut down the phone. Then I slowly turned back to face him. “Mr. Bainbridge. I know you put your prestige behind me to get me this job, but I just don’t know if I can go back into that office.”
He waved it off, then asked, “If you don’t go back, what will you do?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s important to you right now?”
I remembered Chip’s screams of terror and agony. “Seeing that Chip gets justice.”
“Then do that.” Meredith gave the tight vampire smile. “And you truly have absorbed the vampiric code.”
“Grasshopper,” I added.
This time Meredith didn’t bother with the polite vampire smirk. He grinned at me. “Yes, I have taught you well, young Skywalker.”
“Let’s not confuse our pop culture references,” I said, and we shared a laugh.
“Keep that sense of humor, Linnet—it’s going to get you through this,” Meredith said as he stood and put his hat and glasses back on.
“Or get me fired,” I said as I walked him to the door.
“If you need a bolt-hole for a few days, you know you can come home.”
“I know that, and thank you. I just want to stay close so Dad can find me.”
“There are these things called phones, much as I hate them,” Meredith said.
“I know, but he hasn’t been answering, and I just want…” But I wasn’t sure what I wanted, so my voice trailed away.
“I understand. You want human contact. Nothing wrong with that. I’ll be in touch, and don’t worry about Gold. The day I can’t intimidate that youngster…” He kissed me on the forehead, his lips cold but comforting. “Now go take a walk. It will make you feel better. It’s a beautiful day and you’re not dead.”
“Yeah, the not dead thing. That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yes, it’s a good thing.”
He left and I turned the phone back on. It rang. It was the New York Post again. I donned a big straw hat and Greta Garbo sunglasses and, looking like a vampire myself, I fled the apartment. Central Park on a holiday weekend would be crawling with people, and I could lose myself among them.
* * *
I was sitting by the carousel,
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