revealed my father working out in the greenhouse across the yard. I sat up and cupped my hands over my eyes trying to block out the day. I thought back to last night and to my encounter with Julia in the auditorium. She seemed guarded and… scared. It seemed as if she had sensed that there was something very different about me. Rightly so, I suppose. She should be cautious. The disease wasn’t totally under control, and I was still toying with the idea that there might be something else. My chest ached at the thought, and I decided that a drink should ease the pain. I rolled out of bed and sauntered down to the kitchen. This donated blood thing wasn’t bad, but it didn’t take the place of fresh blood, which felt more real in my veins. Perhaps I could sneak out and find something else.
My thoughts drifted back to Julia sitting at that piano, playing. She intrigued me. Her music was enchanting and I could tell that there was something behind it. Something more behind her, which only made her all the more interesting to me. For a strange moment, I had a vision of us sitting under the trellis in the yard. We were laughing together and talking, and she was confiding in me all of her secrets. I shook the scene away, startled by the appearance of such normalcy and the fact that I didn’t know what it meant. Before I had heard her play, I had only thought of people as a way to satisfy a need. With her, perhaps I was considering more.
I shook my head to empty these strange new thoughts. I was so confused now. For years, I had thought that I knew what and who I was and what kind of life someone like me could live. I was a soulless creature who lived off others… thrived off them, actually. Or was I? This would be so much easier if I had someone to talk to. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I grabbed it, thinking instantly of Chris. I could talk to him, couldn’t I? Maybe he knew these feelings and would know what to do. The caller ID flashed his number and I answered immediately.
“Chris! What’s up?” I greeted cheerfully.
“Oh, you finally decided to pick up the phone,” he snapped. “I have been calling you for a few days now. When are you coming back, Will? Haven’t you had enough of your old man yet?” There was music in the background, and I was guessing that they had brought the party back to the brownstone and were continuing into today.
“Coming back?” I questioned. The memories were all crashing around me now as I remembered the events of my last night in Chicago. The one that made me hop on my bike and head back here. Did I really want to go back to that now? And now this thing with Julia, whatever it was. Things had become so complicated. “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “Ahhh… I actually had something come up here. Something I want to talk to you about. Some things have been happening here in the last few days and I have been talking to my sister and I think…”
“Oh, come on, Will. Don’t tell me you’re actually buying into your family’s bullshit! What could you have possibly found there that you can’t have in Chicago? All those two do is blather on about being human and having a soul. They are delusional. You know this is where you belong. We both know who you really are. Besides, I need you here. I’ll come back there and get you,” Chris interrupted before I could even begin to tell him about Julia. I shifted slightly and found myself gazing out the window at the lake, not sure of how to continue.
“Yeah, I know. Well… it’s not that. It’s just… something else,” I tried again, but something told me to stop. He was never going to understand. He was annoying me and I wanted nothing more than to get off the phone. Perhaps it was the fact that he spoke a bit of the truth as well. “You know what, never mind. I’ll be back in a few days.” I hung up abruptly and turned my phone off, pushing Chris and my life in Chicago to the back of my mind. I could
My thoughts drifted back to Julia sitting at that piano, playing. She intrigued me. Her music was enchanting and I could tell that there was something behind it. Something more behind her, which only made her all the more interesting to me. For a strange moment, I had a vision of us sitting under the trellis in the yard. We were laughing together and talking, and she was confiding in me all of her secrets. I shook the scene away, startled by the appearance of such normalcy and the fact that I didn’t know what it meant. Before I had heard her play, I had only thought of people as a way to satisfy a need. With her, perhaps I was considering more.
I shook my head to empty these strange new thoughts. I was so confused now. For years, I had thought that I knew what and who I was and what kind of life someone like me could live. I was a soulless creature who lived off others… thrived off them, actually. Or was I? This would be so much easier if I had someone to talk to. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I grabbed it, thinking instantly of Chris. I could talk to him, couldn’t I? Maybe he knew these feelings and would know what to do. The caller ID flashed his number and I answered immediately.
“Chris! What’s up?” I greeted cheerfully.
“Oh, you finally decided to pick up the phone,” he snapped. “I have been calling you for a few days now. When are you coming back, Will? Haven’t you had enough of your old man yet?” There was music in the background, and I was guessing that they had brought the party back to the brownstone and were continuing into today.
“Coming back?” I questioned. The memories were all crashing around me now as I remembered the events of my last night in Chicago. The one that made me hop on my bike and head back here. Did I really want to go back to that now? And now this thing with Julia, whatever it was. Things had become so complicated. “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “Ahhh… I actually had something come up here. Something I want to talk to you about. Some things have been happening here in the last few days and I have been talking to my sister and I think…”
“Oh, come on, Will. Don’t tell me you’re actually buying into your family’s bullshit! What could you have possibly found there that you can’t have in Chicago? All those two do is blather on about being human and having a soul. They are delusional. You know this is where you belong. We both know who you really are. Besides, I need you here. I’ll come back there and get you,” Chris interrupted before I could even begin to tell him about Julia. I shifted slightly and found myself gazing out the window at the lake, not sure of how to continue.
“Yeah, I know. Well… it’s not that. It’s just… something else,” I tried again, but something told me to stop. He was never going to understand. He was annoying me and I wanted nothing more than to get off the phone. Perhaps it was the fact that he spoke a bit of the truth as well. “You know what, never mind. I’ll be back in a few days.” I hung up abruptly and turned my phone off, pushing Chris and my life in Chicago to the back of my mind. I could
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