The Minotaur

13: The Essence of Life? Play

For very short-lived beings, Regina had to admit that the mortals really did know how to enjoy themselves.

Since the dawn of their existence, mortals had seemed to make enjoyment a very vital concept in their lives. Everything from sports, to literature, architecture, and even war; they all seemed to have an entertainment aspect to them regardless of their primary purpose.

Regina often wondered if the mortal's short lifespan was the driving force behind their incessant need for them to look for every way to enjoy themselves in every second of every day; and she strongly suspected she was correct.

Out of everything the mortals had invented for their enjoyment though, the one that the fascinated vampire loved above all the others were their cars: metal contraptions which were as much an artful beauty in sight as a testament of scientific masterpiece to a creator's ingenuity.

As far back as could be remembered up till date, Regina had followed every car that had ever been manufactured in every part of the world, making sure to procure and test each one of them out before they went out to vogue to be replaced by another. That was how much she loved them.

Now, she owned a red Ferrari 458 spider; the latest in the line. The car was very dear to her heart even as she owned other cars from other manufacturers- and the mortals certainly had a lot of them- But the spider meant more to her than the others.

Riding in that very car on her way home from Charon, Regina sang happily to an hip-hop song playing over the radio.

Just then, she glanced at the dashboard and saw the digital clock flashing 6am. It was just thirty minutes before the day broke and she really had to be out of the light. "Alright, dearie," she said to the car, her formerly relaxed expression taking on a more serious one, "time to show mama what you're made of."

Truth be told, Regina had deliberately overstayed her time at the nightclub in order to cut her departure very close to daybreak; a task which she obviously had succeeded in quite tremendously. It was a daring test she set for her glorious metal speed beast to complete whenever she could; and so far, she hadn't been disappointed.

Regina, accelerating the spider up to a speed that would have rendered it uncontrollable to any driver if not for her vampire senses and reflexes, sped down the highway.

Much to her benefit, the road was deserted; the pros of being out on an out-of-town road where people rarely drove in the early hours of the morning. It allowed her the freedom to push the spider to whatever extent she wanted in order to accomplish the task at hand.

Racing like a speed demon, Regina arrived at her countryside two-storey mansion house just as the sky turned reddish brown in preparation for the oncoming sunrise and she drifted onto the gravel driveway. She pressed down on the accelerator further on the turn just as she pressed the button to open the door to her underground garage and it slid open in front.

The spider reached and sped into the garage just as the first fleck of the morning sun broke through the clouds and Regina pulled on the handbrake, skidding the car to an admirably perfect stop in between her Camaro and Lamborghini.

"There you are, my dear," she said with a satisfied smile and heavy breathes coming out in heaves from the thrill still travelling through her skin like an electrical charge then. "Great job as always." 

She got out of the car, blew it a kiss, and made her way to the garage's indoor elevator.

The elevator deposited Regina on the ground floor of the mansion, she exiting it into her sitting room skipping happily in the excitement of her exhilarating ride.

All of a sudden, the lights came on and Regina halted abruptly in her steps. Michael was seated by the switch, apparently waiting patiently for her arrival in the darkness. 

"You lied to me," he said the moment she laid eyes on him and her shoulders dropped.

"I did," she returned even though it was obvious his words hadn't been posed as a question. She had no point denying it anyway.

"Why?" he asked.

It had to be said that Michael wasn't asking from a place of hurt, or anger, or anything like that; he was clearly none of those things. It was just that the ancient vampire found it curious that the eight hundred-year old vampire nightclub owner would try to deceive him, especially since she of all people should have known how futile it was going to be in the end.

"What can I say, Michael?" she shrugged carelessly. "If I didn't lie to you, how would I have gotten you here, let alone able to invite you to play?"

Now, Michael was very curious. "Play," he repeated like the other vampire had just spoken to him in a foreign language. "What in the world do you mean by that?"

"Well, you want what I have, don't you?" she tapped the side of her head in emphasis. "If you want it, you'll have to come take it yourself."

Before Michael could understand what Regina was driving at, she zoomed up the stairs and out of his presence.

"Come on, Michael," her voice echoed through the house, "don't be a spoilsport."

The ancient vampire sighed in exasperation. It didn't take much to figure that the other vampire wasn't going to let him have the information he wanted unless he gave in to play her ridiculous game, whatever the hell that was.

And so, without another choice in sight, he started off after her.