Page 21 of Overexposed

Whatever that meant.

“Get that as well,” Auris said.

Charlie nodded. He vanished back into the bathroom, and Auris turned to me, pulled me from the chair, and into a nearly crushing embrace.

“I love you very much, my sweet, so very much. I will protect you with my life, I swear it.”

I hugged him back. “I know,” I said. “I trust you. And I love you too.”

He left me standing there while he collected the bones, and I was left wondering what had upset him so much, what Charlie had said or done.

We were walking down the stairs when I wondered whether it was the fact that Charlie had been waiting here for seven years that troubled Auris. It certainly troubled me.

* * *

We left the Airbnb, and a stranger exodus out of a rented apartment had never happened in Kutna Hora, I was pretty sure: a vampire, a skeleton, a photographer, and whatever Charlie was.

The drive was quiet, and I ended up messing with the radio until I found some classic rock station, which I set to a low volume, just loud enough that there wasn’t a silence that needed filling with words. Even so, driving back felt far longer than driving there had.

Back home, Charlie’s eyes went big when we walked into the apartment.

“It’s all black,” he said. He stood just inside the door, taking everything in.

“Yeah, but it really works.” I took off my parka and put it in the wardrobe in the hallway, then beckoned Charlie for his. He didn’t look like he wanted to take it off. “Uhm, you can keep your jacket on, of course,” I said and closed the door. I could appreciate not wanting to let the clothes on your back out of sight.

“Thanks,” he said. He was holding his plastic bag with both hands.

“Uhm. Are you hungry?” I asked.

Charlie’s eyes darted between Auris and me. I didn’t know what that look meant.

“Go. Have a midnight snack,” Auris said. “I’ll make up the guest room for Charlie.”

“What are you going to do?” Charlie asked when Auris turned. After a pause that was just a touch too long, he pointed at the bundle of bones. “With those?”

Auris looked at the parcel as well. “I hadn’t decided. I thought maybe cremation.”

Charlie nodded. “Sounds about right.”

He gnawed on his bottom lip for a moment. I used that time to make a quick dash to the bedroom to leave my camera there. When I came back, there was still an awkward silence hanging over the hallway.

“Kitchen’s that way,” I said and pointed. “Eva made some peanut sauce that is to die for. I don’t really understand how it works, but it does. You’re not allergic to peanuts, are you?”

“No,” Charlie said. “No allergies.”

He followed me, and we proceeded to have a very awkward meal, which had me pull out several things from the fridge to offer to Charlie while he stoically kept his head down, nodded, and stuffed whatever I put in front of him into his mouth. I still couldn’t decide whether he was scared, angry, desperate, or any combination thereof. He didn’t seem friendly, but maybe that could be excused.

The fact that Auris hadn’t joined us meant he was on his phone, doing whatever magic it was he used when he wanted something organized. I wished he’d been there to break up the awkwardness. Whenever I turned my back, I could feel Charlie stare at me, and it made the hairs on my neck stand up for some reason.

I remembered that Eva had left some homemade muffins in the freezer. “Hey, do you like muffins?” I asked.

Charlie finally looked up, but instead of showing a sweet tooth, he asked, “What exactly is this?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

His eyes darted around. “You and the vampire. What did you take Jonathan’s remains for? Why did you come looking for him in the first place? Did you know him? Why am I here?”

Auris glided into the kitchen from the direction of the living room.

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