Page 11 of Illuminated

After a few minutes, the server who had brought the wine came back to the table. “Would you like something to eat, sir?” he asked.

I was hungry. And I should have food with the wine. I also should be going. “Can I just have,” I remembered the blood in the church, “something vegetarian? And salad?”

The server nodded, smiled, and left me again. I checked my phone. It was just past eleven, not even midnight yet, although it felt as if more time had passed. As if one part of my life had ended and another begun.

Should I call the police? There were bodies in an abandoned church, and my bloody shoe prints right next to a disturbing display by the altar. What would I tell the police had happened exactly? All versions I considered ended with them either laughing or having me looked at by a psychologist or accusing me of killing three armed priests. I had more wine.

Three armed priests, seriously. Everyone had gotten used to the headlines about priests touching children by now, but paramilitary priests with guns were a new one. I giggled. I wouldn’t believe that headline if I read it somewhere.

The server was back with what looked and smelled like homemade rosemary and thyme bread, still warm from the oven, and a big salad. I ate, and the food was good. It felt good, as if my body had been starved and could relax and calm now that I was finally giving it the fuel it needed to function. The bread was divine. I checked my phone. Quarter after.

There was still salad left when the server came back with the main dish, a slice of quiche with golden roasted potatoes, carrots, and green beans dripping with a vinegar and honey glaze. My mouth was watering. He also brought more bread. I concentrated on eating, and about halfway through, my hunger finally became tame enough for me to slow down. It was just a little over half an hour since Auris had left. I could get up now, just leave. Forget, just like he had said, and never see him again.

I could call my father in the morning, let him know I was done with work early, that I would come and stay with him and his boyfriend for a few days. I could call the phone number the woman from the café had given me, and I could join her for the night. Come morning, things would be back to normal.

Time ticked by. I finished all the food, and the server came to take the empty plates away. I checked my phone again. I had another fifteen minutes to leave.

The server came back with a dessert I hadn’t ordered. It made me wonder how much influence Auris had over his mind. A small slice of chocolaty cake was half-covered with berries and caramel sauce. By the time that was gone, I had less than ten minutes left, and no food to make me stay, so if I didn’t leave now, I’d have no excuse. I’d know I simply hadn’t wanted to leave.

Time seemed to stretch, almost like childhood summer days. I looked at Auris’s wine glass on the other side of the table. There were no fingerprints left on the glass, none that I could see.

If it weren’t for the glass, he could have been a figment of my imagination, but the glass was real. Our encounter in the bathroom, that had been real as well. Very real. I could still feel the echoes of his mouth on me, of his hand touching so exquisitely. The memory made my body tremble. Remembering it, remembering those eyes that wanted me and saw me as he pleasured me, that made me blush, made my skin and the back of my head tingle where his hands had held me in place.

When he came back, I only noticed once the dark shape of him brushed into the corners of my vision. He sat down across from me again and threw a smile at me, not a boisterous one.

“You are still here,” he said. “I am glad.”

“You travel light,” I said. He had no bag that I could see. His clothes were slightly different, though. It was still a black suit, a black shirt, and a black tie, but now he was also wearing a vest, and the cut of the other garments was different even if I couldn’t have said exactly how with it all being black on black.

“It’s a skill time teaches you.” Auris shrugged. “You ate. That’s good.”

“It’s unsettling that you can tell I had food.”

“Really? Why?”

It was my turn to shrug. I sipped more of the wine before I answered. “I don’t know. It’s almost voyeuristic. Who pays that much attention to another person?”

“Someone who cares. Unless it’s a matter of politeness, and you find the appearance of ignorance to be more polite.” Perhaps I imagined it, but I thought there was a trace of humor in his voice.

“You are a very strange person. You have the potential to be very annoying, I think.”

He laughed, a melodic sound. “I promise to be as little annoying as inhumanly possible, Ethan.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Huh. Vampire humor?”

“You found me bleeding in an abandoned church, almost killed for being a vampire. What did you expect?”

“I didn’t expect you to be a vampire for one thing. Just some guy who needed help.”

“Hmm. Rushing in and disregarding your surroundings. Is that something you do a lot?”

“I didn’t rush in or disregard anything. That was basically first aid, and I thought you were grateful for it.”

He nodded. “Very. But my gratitude makes me want to see you safe. The world is a dangerous place, Ethan.”

I snorted. “If nothing else, the pandemic taught us that.”

He cocked his head. “It’s not what I mean, but I take your point.”

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