AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just a glass of water please. It’s a little hot out there. Thank goodness for air conditioning.” She said as she followed me through the house. “Shall I leave my shoes here, Flynn?”
I turned around to her. “No, keep them on. It’s a house, not a museum.”
Serena’s face relaxed slightly and she smiled. “Okay.”
“Are you nervous?” I asked her.
“Yeah. I told you, I hate having my photograph taken. I just can’t relax.”
“Hey, I’m sure you’ll not be that bad. You know me a little so it’ll make it easier.” I didn’t remind her I’d seen her having sex with Smith. How could she be nervous in front of me fully dressed when I’d seen her naked? She’d not been shy when we’d come out of the room then, she was more angry if anything.
“I sent the new brochures for printing. They are going to look amazing.”
“Good.”
“Mainly due to your awesome photography skills.”
“I was happy to help. Like I said, I’ve known Ted a long time.”
I pushed open the door of the studio and Serena looked around.
“Take a seat on the chair there and I’ll take a few snaps, then I’ll adjust the light etc.”
She wasn’t kidding. Serena could not pose for a photograph. Every one looked like she’d been electrocuted, and the more time went on the more fixed in a grimace her face became. It was like photographing a ventriloquist's dummy.
“Okay, let’s stop. Serena, you need wine. Lots and lots of wine.”
“I so do, this is very stressful. I told you I was hopeless.” She hopped off the chair. “All I’ve done is give myself a headache.”
“The wine’s not for the stress. It’s to help you relax. Come on, let's go through to the living room and have a break and a drink. We’ll come back when you’re more relaxed.”
In the living room I opened a bottle of red wine and passed her a glass.
“It’s red wine not blood, right?” She quipped.
“Yeah, this one’s wine.”
“So, just for tonight I’m going to go along with the whole ‘you’re vampires’ thing, okay?”
I huffed a laugh. “Okay.”
“So can I ask you questions about it? My mind’s been racing over the whole thing.”
“Sure, what do you want to know?”
“Well for a start, how did you all become vampires? Were you turned by some evil guy?”
“No. We were born this way. Forget what you see in movies, Serena. We eat, drink, sleep, just like you do. We just need regular drinks of blood to survive. We can compel which you learned about last night—though for some reason it doesn’t seem to work on you—and there are a few other differences. We’re stronger. We don’t physically age past thirty.”
“You don’t age? How on earth will you explain that in later life?”
“We can use glamors. Make people think they’re seeing something other than they are.”
“Could you do one now, or will that not work with me either?”
“Sit back a moment with your wine and we’ll see.”
She sat back, and I emptied my mind of all thoughts and then I imagined myself as looking older than I did now. I pictured wrinkles, dryer skin, salt and pepper hair. I knew it had worked when she lost her grip on her glass.
