A lot occurred in the years after we took down the vampire council and replaced it. Vienne and I had lived on and off down in South America in the years since, and she had managed to embroil herself into their politics as a delegate, although with a far lighter touch than she had used when we retook North America for the humans, or, as she still liked to jokingly call it, the New Republic of Vienne.
I mostly watched her antics from the sidelines, scanning for trouble, which she still liked to instigate from time to time. She was never going to change.
That was fine, because I was used to the way she was, and when she was not deliberately trying to bother me, I even liked it. I loved her in spite of all the flaws she loved to flaunt, and I imagined neither would ever change.
Being an immortal vampire—or as she preferred to refer to it—indefinite, had taken time to get used to even after everything had settled. The things she had told me, the way she had described her existence had begun to make sense to me as the years stretched by without touching me. It was strange, but even strangeness at a certain point began to feel normal.
We were back in New Hollywood, which was the name of our lands because Vienne had gotten renaming it in her mind, and after the battles everyone seemed willing enough to call it whatever she wanted. Drak had shaken his head at her pronouncement but had not commented.
Vienne had insisted that I wear what she called a 'tux' to the 'premiere' we were going to. She was more excited than I had ever seen her, her soft brown eyes sparkling with excitement. She was nearly bouncing, a huge departure from her usual graceful stillness.
As much as I was not a fan of the uncomfortable formal wear she had insisted I wear, I appreciated her outfit. She was wearing a slinky dress—red of course—and it held to her curves in such a manner that my hands itched to follow. It was lower cut and higher up her legs than what she typically wore. My additional height gave me an excellent vantage point for viewing her cleavage, which I also wasn't complaining about.
"Jamie! We've got to get going!" she said, still unusually enthusiastic. "I'm so excited."
I didn't respond to her obvious statement as we walked outside toward the vehicle. I'd learned that sometimes she just spoke for the sake of speaking and really required nothing more than a sentient being present to whom she could announce her thoughts.
Truthfully, I was somewhat excited myself. After hearing her talk about the movies so many times, I was intrigued by the idea, and there was a certain momentous feel to being present to watch the very first showing of the first movie produced since before the human suppression wars.
The chauffeur opened the door for her and she got inside, and I got into the other side. For whatever reason, she had insisted that we would travel like this rather than one of us driving like we usually did after dark, but I did not care enough to argue with her.
Besides the idea of seeing a story play out on a screen, I was looking forward to seeing other old familiar faces. I did not know what this particular movie was going to be about, because she had been incredibly secretive about it. If I'd wanted to, I could have found out easily enough, but I let her have her little secrets since it seemed to make her happy.
"I can't wait for you to see it," she said. I smiled at her, she sounded more like the age she had been when she was turned than she was now.
"Me neither. I'll be something to remember."
"I still remember the first moving picture I ever saw. It was amazing, Jamie. Oooh, you're going to love it, I bet. And this one is going to be great, I think it'll be our movie, kind of like how people would have an 'our song' back in the day. You'll see what I mean when we're there."
She had been throwing out little hints that were either meant to intrigue or irritate me for months now. I also knew that the movie would have some action and adventure, which she assured me I would love, and a thousand other little vague details she dangled in front of me in an obvious attempt to make me curious. I only hoped that this movie had nothing to do with us, and I could only hope that my wife had enough self-restraint not to make this entire thing about herself.
My stomach felt suddenly leaden. Surely she would not start her New Hollywood project off with a movie about us. She did enjoy the attention as much as she still loved to get under my skin, but she tended to only push me so far. I comforted myself with the thought; she would know that I didn't want that sort of attention. Wouldn't she?
But maybe I should have put my foot down about this. If I had to spend an hour watching some actor pretend to be me I wasn't sure I would be able to take it.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
I settled back in the seat. Vienne would dare many things, but she would not do that to me. I smiled at her because I didn't want to dampen her pleasure. She'd waited a really long time for this. "Nothing. Just a stray thought."
"You're still as handsome as the first time I saw you," she commented lightly. "But I definitely prefer you in this outfit."
"What? Slave rags not your thing?"
"You know they're not. You clean up very well."
"You do, too. You look beautiful."
She smirked. "I know. You're not the first person to tell me that."
"Obviously not. Trying to make me jealous?"
"Yes."
I chuckled at her. "Sorry, but I'm not."
She pouted.
"You've told me countless times that you've never met anyone like me before, so what do I have to worry about?"
"Oh, dear. It does appear my arrogance has rubbed off on you."
"Don't worry, I'll never catch up with you. You have too far of a head start."
She laughed and it was infectious, my earlier concerns completely leaving my mind.
We were interrupted as we pulled up at the newly built cinema where the premiere was being held.
"Ooh, the red carpet. This is so exciting. You know, I never got to do anything like this back in old Hollywood because I had to keep such a low profile."
Getting out, I rounded the car and held out my arm to her. There were people taking pictures, and I was certain she had spent hours describing how she remembered things to be in the past. I had no idea how it measured up. Overall it was a bit silly, almost entirely artifice, but it made her happy so I went along with it.
As we were ushered to our seats beside the producer, a human who Vienne had very quickly grown fond of—probably half because he hung on her every word—she began a steady stream of conversation with him. Only half listening, I noticed that his eyes kept straying to her cleavage, and I was debating interrupting their conversation with a handy bit of bloodsucker intimidation, but then I was sidetracked as the seat on my right was filled by my sister, and the seat on the other side by some leech she was dating. I didn't like him.
"Jamie," she said, a wide smile on her face, "I missed you while you were busy running around everywhere."
"You too, Ange." Even after all this time, I still got a rush of contentment that my sister had not been lost to me forever when I saw her.
She grasped my hand. "I'm very excited. I've seen images on screens before, but only security footage and those screens are tiny. I got a peek at the screen earlier, this thing is huge."
"Yeah, so I hear," I agreed. The screen was hidden behind heavy curtains, waiting for the big reveal. I was getting impatient. I wanted to know what the damned movie was about. All Vienne's little hints suddenly coalesced together in my mind and made me nervous all over again. She wouldn't dare to have them make a movie about her...would she?
Was there anything she would not dare to do if it would entertain her? A few things, but I had no idea which side of the line turning my life into a spectacle fell on. I suddenly strongly regretted letting Vienne keep her little secret and not forcing her to tell me months ago. I cursed my own stubbornness. I should have just let her win this one.
The lights dimmed and the curtains pulled back and my heart would have leapt if I had still been alive. The projector turned on, and the title credits began to roll.
"Meeting the Sun?" my sister whispered, apparently as unsure as I was.
"You don't know what this is about either?"
"No. If you don't know, how would I know?" she hissed back.
"Sssh," Vienne said, but she smiled sweetly at me. "I want to savour this. Sit back and enjoy."
That remained to be seen.
The first scene opened into a field, in which some sort of female sun creature and a bull conceived a creature called the Minotaur, which was placed inside an extensive maze.
As I watched, my slight unease that Vienne might have used our time together as inspiration gave way to pure confusion. None of Vienne's little hints made sense in light of what I was watching, as some hero named Theseus ran around slaying monsters and other feats.
Glances at both my sister and Vienne showed that they both seemed engrossed in whatever was happening on the screen. As I relaxed, I began to enjoy myself as well. Watching the hero fighting was the most interesting part, even if a bit unrealistic.
Then the scene switched back to the maze and an inventive father who put wings on the back of his son to help him escape, with warnings not to fly too close to the sun. I was hit by the memory of a long ago night in the capital while Vienne bloviated after losing her bill.
All of her aggravating little hints made complete sense. I glanced at her and she winked at me, as if she had known exactly what I had been thinking. Bloody female.
Of course, the boy did fly too close to the sun, and fell to his death, but Theseus slew the Minotaur and got the girl in the end.
When the final credits rolled, I was forced to admit it had been an incredibly entertaining, if confusing, experience. I would likely always prefer to wander the wilds, but if Vienne wanted to watch these movies from time to time, I would not mind.
"Did you like it?" she asked me, tilting her face up and grasping my hand.
"That was amazing! I've never seen anything like it," my sister said before I had a chance to respond, and the two started talking animatedly. There were many congratulations all around, and then we left for a celebration.
Vienne held what she called the after party at our home, and was enthusiastically greeted by both the vampires and humans as they arrived.
She looked happy, and I liked seeing it. "You're practically shining," I commented.
"As long as I'm not sparkling," she said and laughed to herself, before turning to talk to another guest.
She wandered away, and I let her without complaint. I spotted a familiar couple in the crowd, and I made my way towards my friend. The last time I had seen him had been at Leif's funeral.
Lucas grinned at me, his face wrinkled and his once blond hair grey. It had happened gradually, but it was disturbing how much he had changed while I had stayed stagnant. "So, how are the grandkids?"
Rene grasped onto Lucas's remaining arm and smiled up at him. "They're doing great." I let his descriptions of his family wash over me, until Vienne returned and dragged me away with her through the crowds.
Drak was chatting with Davidson as they came up to us, both wearing similarly stiff outfits as I was. "Congratulations on your premiere," Davidson said. "Is that what I'm supposed to say?"
"Well, I don't remember everything, so we're going to have to make our own traditions on this one I think," Vienne said. "So, thank you. It's all very exciting."
"I really thought you were just bullshitting as you went along," Drak commented.
She smiled. "Even if I was, all my best ideas start that way."
"So, did it measure up?" Davidson asked.
"Well, it was not exactly like the first movie I saw, because we didn't even have sound back then, but our current tech is all out of order so we might as well use what we have. I still regret not turning more tech humans into vampires."
"Mmm, that reminds me that there's a new proposed bill about—"
Drak cut him off. "For the love of mercy, Davidson, please, not to night. Just let me enjoy tonight."
Vienne cocked her head at her friend. "You know, it really is relaxing to be the shiftless bum on the outside. I see why you did it for so long."
"You're never on the outside."
She just grinned wickedly.
The night continued in a whirl of socializing and glitter. Most of the humans were gone a few hours after midnight, one exception being Marcel's latest girlfriend in a long line. Vienne wouldn't admit it, but she worried about him. He seemed to be enjoying himself, as had most of the other guests.
It was nearly dawn when all of the guests either left for their homes or their rooms, if they were staying, and I could feel the sun pulling me towards that black nothingness of the day as Vienne and I walked to our chambers. She had her hands on my arm and seemed pleasantly satisfied with the conclusion of the night.
She looked up at me. "So, did you really like it?"
"I did. Way better than looking at security monitors." She smiled at me widely, showing me a hint of fang. "Honestly I'm just sort of relieved the movie wasn't about us."
"Don't worry, there's still lots of time for that, Jamie."
"Please no."
Her eyes were wide and her expression serious. "I promise I won't tell the humans to make a movie about us."
"Thanks."
"But if they decide to on their own one day...well, I'm not going to stop them. I wish to see what the humans will do."
Well, I'd just have to endure it. It wouldn't be the worst thing I'd lived through. I knocked that irritating smirk off her face by sweeping her into my arms as I pulled her into our lair.
* * * * *
Thanks for reading!