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9
Sage
Harper had barely said a word to Sage that evening. The following day was Mark’s funeral. Possessing no energy to cook, Sage had ordered a pizza, thinking it would be a nice treat for the two of them. Harper had sullenly picked at the pepperoni, avoiding most of Sage’s questions or answering them with one word responses. She’d stared at her plate, refusing to make eye contact. The avoidant behavior worried Sage. She hoped that after the service, Harper would eventually open up and share her feelings. For the time being, however, there was nothing more Sage could do. Harper was grieving the loss of her father. Grief presented itself differently in people, and for Harper, she expressed it by not expressing it.
Having slept poorly, Sage dressed herself in black and knocked on Harper’s door to wake her. “Do you want breakfast at all?” she called, after hearing no response.
“I already ate.” Sage spun around to find Harper standing behind her. The girl was dressed in a long black silk slip and shrug. She looked stunning. There was a hint of a smile on Harper’s face when Sage expressed the compliment. It gave her hope.
The pair arrived at the Church and Chapel funeral home half an hour before the visiting hour was scheduled. This time was meant for them to have a private moment with Mark’s body. Typically, people arranged to have visiting hours on a day separate to the funeral, but Sage wasn’t interested in dragging things out. She wanted it all over and done with on the same day.
As they made their way up the stone steps to the baroque building Harper commented that the funeral home resembled the sort of place where Dracula would live. Up until then, Sage had been burying her memory of Irving, and the fact that he was a vampire. Sage forced a chuckle in response to Harper’s words. “You have no idea,” she muttered.
Inside, Cameron greeted them amicably by the door. “Who is this scrumptious thing?” he said, in reference to Harper. Now knowing that Irving and his brothers were creatures who drank human blood, Sage didn’t appreciate him using the term ‘scrumptious’ to describe her daughter. Judging by the look on Harper’s face, she didn’t appreciate it either.
“I’m Harper,” she stated, monotonously.
“Lovely to meet you.” Cameron bowed his head in greeting. “I’m just going to steal your mother away for a moment to discuss a few things. Feel free to help yourself to coffee.” He flourished his hand toward the reception desk, which now displayed a new single serve coffee machine. “All you have to do is feed the machine one of those little plastic cups and it instantly makes coffee,” Cameron explained. He was far too enthusiastic about the device.
Harper raised an eyebrow. “I’m a college student. I know how to use a Keurig.”
“Keurig? So that’s it’s name. I didn’t realize machines had names,” Cameron remarked. He then forcibly took Sage by the arm and pulled her into a nearby arrangement office.
“What is this about?” Sage asked, wearily. She had a feeling she knew. Cameron was going to give her some speech about Irving.
He began by apologizing. “Listen, darling, I’m sorry about the vampire mix-up. It was all my fault. I thought you knew this place was operated by us fanged immortals. But, judging by that debacle at the restaurant, you were clearly uninformed. I run a service here that matches vampires with humans. It’s intended to help us integrate better with your kind.”
Sage wanted to be angry at Cameron. She wanted to shake him and slap him and kick him between the legs, but she couldn’t. The entire thing hadn’t been anybody’s fault. It had been a misunderstanding, and a mind-bending one at that. “This is too much for me to handle right now,” she said, making a move for the door. In the blink of an eye, Cameron was barring the way. He had a desperate look in his eye. It wasn’t a look she’d previously seen him wear.
“Please, you must speak with Irving,” he begged. “I swear on my youngest brother’s grave he didn’t intend to fool you.”
The lengths at which Cameron seemed to go on Irving’s behalf was puzzling to Sage. “Why do you care?” she questioned.
“Because, my dear woman, for the first time my brother has found love. You’re the antidote to his mental suffering. While courting you, I saw him brush by an After Eight chocolate dispenser without trying to tear it from the ground! Granted, he’s a crackpot, but he is deeply loyal to those he cares for.”
The amount of passion Cameron seemed to have for his brother’s well-being moved Sage. What moved her more was his statement about Irving being in love.How could I be his first love?Sage questioned.He’s been alive for centuries.When she posed this question to Cameron, he shrugged.
“Being in love as a vampire is no easy feat,” he explained. “It can’t last. Humans have a habit of dying. Irving knows this. After the trauma he sustained from losing Aiken, I don’t think he ever allowed himself to love mortals. He feels loss deeply and is dangerously protective. I still recall the brutality with which he delivered his revenge.”
“Revenge?” The way Cameron had used the word was as casual as the mentioning of the weather.
“Oh, yes. Irving hunted down the savage vampires that killed Aiken; the same vampires who took a bite out of us, damning us to a life of eternal hunger. He mercilessly tore them to pieces.” Cameron shivered. “I still get goosebumps thinking about how he looked covered in blood with that rabid glint in his eye.”
It upset Sage to think a seemingly gentle man like Irving would partake in such a hideous act. “News of this bloody massacre doesn’t exactly inspire faith of a lasting relationship with a vampire,” Sage remarked. “Besides, I never saw any indication that Irving spent time with me for any other reason than to pass as human,” she added.
Deep down, Sage didn’t believe this. The way Irving had looked at her was unmistakable. He desired her. Additionally, he hadn’t shown any signs of deception while they’d been together. He’d told her personal truths about himself, including his struggle with OCD. If all he’d wanted was someone to help him maintain a human facade, he wouldn’t have been so intimate with her.
Cameron looked as though he was about to protest, when suddenly the sound of people entering the funeral home distracted him. Flustered, he glanced at his watch. “I suppose guests are starting to arrive. Forgive me for taking up your time. I’ll inform the guests to stay out of Mark’s room until you’ve had time to say good-bye.” He swiftly left the room. Sage followed him at a much slower pace.
What worried Sage the most about entering a relationship with Irving was exactly what Cameron had mentioned: she would age. He was immortal, while she was not. She would grow old and die, and he would have no choice but to watch. Sage was approaching the mid-way point of her life as well, which made the contrast to Irving’s eternal youth even more prominent.
Sage’s rumination was interrupted when she treaded past the reception room to see Cameron shaming a group of men for helping themselves to the refreshments that were intended to be eaten during the visiting hour. “Seriously,” he muttered to himself after leaving the room, “some people have no sense of dignity.”
The brief period Sage and Harper spent next to Mark’s casket was a tense one. Being that he’d suffered a traumatic death, Mark’s body hadn’t been in good shape. Even so, lying in his casket, he appeared at peace. Initially, Sage hadn’t wanted to see her husband, but seeing as Cameron had offered her embalming and restoration, along with all the other services, free of charge, she’d agreed to an open casket viewing.
Seeing Mark dead and dressed nicely in a glamorous mahogany casket upset Sage more than she’d expected it to. She was angry she hadn’t taken the opportunity to stand up to him more while he was alive. Sage wanted him to know what a waste of wood his casket was. What was the point of fashioning an ornate box that was meant to be crushed beneath tonnes of earth? Although he’d been a tool of a man, Mark had died horribly, and he hadn’t deserved that.
While Sage blotted the tears from her eyes, Harper stared incomprehensibly at her father’s corpse. Her expression indicated that she was having trouble processing the shock of seeing her dad’s dead body. It wasn’t until the visitation that the dark reality of her father’s demise settled in.
