The Holy Death

Chapter 13

"I forget that vampires don't snore," She replied as she snuggled him, placing her head on his muscular chest.

"Why should snoring concern you?"

"It's not real conducive to a good night's sleep. Once, there was this guy in Bruges..."

"Another lover?"

"Darling, it's been two thousand years. A girl gets lonely! What? Don't tell me you were completely celibate!"

"Not completely. Only for the last century and a half, roughly."

"A hundred years? Now that's one hell of a dry spell!"

"I eschewed all manner of fleshly pleasures as part of my penance for the evils I had committed."

"You're serious about that, aren't you?"

Jeremiah stared up at the ceiling, as though he were trying to look beyond it. "I am."

Cressida rolled off of him and lay on her back. "Yeah, that's my Malek. Always so serious."

"I told you, I am no longer Malek. Malek is dead. And yes, I am serious about my penance. I do not wish to be that being again."

"I dunno, Jeremiah. 'Serious' is boring. Don't you want to have fun, Jeremiah? Just cut loose and have fun?"

"I had 'fun', Cressida. Two thousand years of it, unrestrained by any notions of morality or decency, and many suffered. Many died so I could have 'fun'."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I look at things a little differently, I guess. Growing up, I was bound by the dictates of a paternalistic society. I didn't have a lot of opportunities; becoming a priestess of Hathor was the best option for me. Now I'm free, free to do anything I want. I have lived the last two thousand years, Jeremiah, really lived, and I don't plan on changing that any time soon."

"Yes, but does that necessitate the doing of evil?"

"You gotta do whatever it takes to get by."

"That does not sound like freedom, and it certainly does not sound like fun."

"Whatever. I don't need to justify myself to you."

"I'm sorry. I did not intend to take the tone of judgment. I would certainly be the last person who could judge anyone."

"That's for damn sure."

They lay there silently together, neither one looking at the other. The awkward silence was soon broken by the ring tone from Jeremiah's cellphone. Jeremiah reached over to answer the call.

"Yes, Scott?"

"I tried calling you at Ministry," Scott said, "But Kitty said you never came back to base last night. Are you okay, Jeremiah?"

"Oh, yes, of course I am. Why?"

"Big news. Big, big news. I mean, big news, you know what I'm saying?"

"I understand, I think. Please, get to this big news."

"Oh, yeah. I have a brother."

"You have a what?"

"A brother. A half-brother. I had no idea either! All the sudden he just shows up on the front porch this morning."