Seaside, California May 1994
Scott
SEASIDE was nothing like I had remembered it. What was once a small coastal town now grew into a noisy, bustling city.
To my ears at least.
I drove my Camaro through the streets of Seaside. Despite the thing sitting in storage for almost two decades, it ran just as it did the day I got it. Adelaide sat to my right in the passenger seat.
On the way, she started to tell me about her family that also lived in Seaside. Distant relatives that she would check up on from time to time.
I had only visited Seaside a few times during my childhood, my mother's family had lived here for years. My grandfather moved to Seaside in the late 1920s and later had my mother and uncle Nathan.
It was hard to believe that my mother married a man like my father. They were complete opposites. A carefree woman who spent all her younger years roaming the world only to end up marrying an uptight doctor from Boston. He was stern but my father was a good man, especially to my mother. If they ever quarreled over something, they were good at hiding it.
I wonder what my life would have turned out if I had never met Seana. Perhaps I would've become a doctor and opened my practice or stayed the drunk I had become after the accident.
I was just as lost right now as I was then. Just as the woman beside me was, despite all her talk of coming here and helping me find some meaning in life. Whatever that may be.
As we approached the road I remembered from my childhood, Adelaide leaned forward, gazing out of her window.
"Is that it?" she asked.
Following her gaze, I saw the sight of the house.
In the middle of all the sprawling bright beach houses was an old dark wooden one that was long neglected. I'm surprised it hadn't been torn down; that was how bad it was. Years ago, it was the only house that was here. Acres of land that were nothing but dunes and one beach house that was built long before I was ever born. Now it was in the middle of a goddamn subdivision.
"It hasn't changed a bit," I murmured to myself quietly as I pulled into the driveway and cut the engine off.
Adelaide smiled over at me as she got out of the car. She walked up towards the front porch; the wood was dry rotted from hell.
"It is so, uh," Adelaide paused. Turning her head, she grinned at me.
"A complete shit hole?" I retorted as I walked up onto the porch steps, the wood creaking with each step I took. I could hear the wood cracking under my weight, but it was slight. Eventually, the whole porch was going to collapse with continued usage.
"I would not say that," Adelaide beamed. "Just think of it as walking into the past; a time capsule."
She quickly sped to my side and went to open the door. But right when she grabbed it, the damn thing broke off.
"Sorry," she chuckled, holding out the door handle to me.
I took it from her and chucked it out into the yard. "Like I said, a shit hole."
I had hoped that someone I knew lived here, my uncle or maybe one of his children. But after my grandfather died, they just let this place go to hell. You would think after 20 years it would be demolished or remodeled to match the houses surrounding it.
Adelaide just frowned. "Do not be so pessimistic about it! The house needs some paint and perhaps—" she paused and smiled. "A new porch."
A new porch? No, the entire house needed to be burned down. Adelaide pursed her lips and gave me a pointed look.
"Hey," I said raising my hands. "I'm just saying, whatever poor soul owns this place is going to need all the luck they can get."
The front door creaked in protest as I pushed it open, everything in the house was coated in dust. The living room was off to the left, and the stairs leading up to the second story looked to be in rough shape. The sunlight streaming through the living room windows barely lit up the place, but I could easily see everything even in the darkest corners. I wondered if I could even walk into the house, if it was still in my grandfather's name, I would be able to as would Adelaide.
Since he was dead.
I took a step into the house without anything happening. Well, at least now I could look through the place and find out some information about my family. I walked over to a box that had been left on the coffee table in the living room, it was full of nothing but photos and papers. I could already imagine my uncle and his wife going through the house and packing things and not knowing what to do with all this crap.
I reached into the box and pulled out a photo of my mother before she left California. She couldn't have been older than 20 when it was taken. She looked happy and alive.
"Your mother was very beautiful," I heard Adelaide murmur from the doorway.
"Yes, she was," I sighed then set the photo back into the box. Then I realized Adelaide had not yet walked into the house, she was just standing there awkwardly in the doorway. "You can come in you know," I suggested.
Adelaide took a step inside. "I know. I was just simply waiting for my invitation," she replied.
"What?" I gawked. "You can't possibly mean that this is my house."
How the hell was that even possible, why would my grandfather leave his house to me? Also, technically I was dead so how could a barrier keeping vampires out of homes not repel me? What logic—
"There is no logic; we are freaks of nature Scott," Adelaide burst out and proclaimed happily, "You are the poor soul who owns this treasure."
"Could you for once not pry into my mind?" I muttered, looking into more boxes that were filled with more junk.
"I cannot help myself, your internal ramblings always amuse me," Adelaide mused. She walked over to me and rested her hand on my arm. "I know you don't want to be reminded of the past but this place. Despite its many shortcomings, you can make a life here."
A purpose. Perhaps I could start over, I just didn't know how yet.
"You know all I have to do is light a match and this whole place—"
"You are not burning the house down," Adelaide interrupted, "In fact, I know some people who would love to help remodel the place."
I'm sure Adelaide was referring to one of her distant relatives, she had mentioned them often during our trip here. One, in particular, Laura. Adelaide had gone into detail about how close she was to her.
"You are happier than me at the prospect of living here," I sighed. "Adelaide you don't have to stay here; you've done enough for me."
Adelaide gave me a sad smile. "I do not feel obligated to stay," then added, "I want to be here."
I felt something go through me after I heard those words. Ever since she had popped into my life those few days ago it felt like she had always been there. Something I had been lacking these last two decades of my life. That warm feeling of being loved by someone even though I didn't understand why. But all that mattered was now.
Without hesitation I pulled her closer to me and gently pressed my lips to hers, I felt her entire body tense up. But before I pulled away, she returned the kiss and leaned her body against mine, wrapping her arms around my neck. She pulled back and put both of her hands on the sides of my face.
Adelaide's green eyes poured into mine, both of us at a loss for words. I closed my eyes and sighed. A sense of guilt welled up inside me, why would I feel that? I wanted to do this.
I heard Adelaide chuckle softly, then let her hands drop down to her sides. "It is difficult to control emotions since as vampires they are heightened. Especially for you, it has been a long time for you to feel anything other than nothingness."
"In other words, I am fucked," I remarked, "Also I'm sorry—"
"I am not. I would like to very much finish what we started later," Adelaide reassured me. "We have another problem though. Do you hear that?"
I turned towards the front door and heard splintering wood, lots of it. Then a loud bang resonated through the house, I heard the awning above the porch collapse too.
I sighed. "The porch just caved in didn't it?"
"I'm afraid so."