PART 1
ALONE
Katrina Barnhart climbed off the bus. The sky was cold gray and it was pouring down rain. Katie pushed her copper-red hair out of her face. She could feel water running down her back.
My first glimpse of New York and the theater district, and all I seem to be able to think about is how wet I am. I went to college, trained as a dancer and stage actor to get a job here, and I can't even bother to look around, Katie thought, squinting through the blinding rain. The bright lights of Times Square glowed dimly through the falling sheets of water.
"Miss? You lost?" A kind male voice asked behind her.
Katie whirled, stuffing the stone into her pocket. A man stood behind her. His hair was a deep brown, cut in soft bangs and the back trailed onto his collar in waves. His eyes were a rich brown that matched his hair. The nose was long and aristocratic, but his gentle smile countered that.
He had a big red and white umbrella. Instead of a coat, he wore a dark blue midieval-style cape. For a moment his clothes confused her. Then she recognized the face as the actor she'd had a teenage crush on, even though he had been long past his teen idol days. Daniel Perth was small and muscular, with an amazingly handsome face. Several groups had voted him the sexiest man in show business. He was an acclaimed Broadway actor and he had won several awards for his movies.
And Katie was standing face to face with him.
"Mr. Perth?" she asked, her voice quivering.
"Yes. Daniel Perth. And you are?" he asked, extending his hand.
Katie took Daniel's hand. It was big and strong. There was a ring with a huge aquamarine on one of the fingers. "Katrina Barnhart. I guess you can call me Katie."
Daniel laughed, his tenor voice ringing with merriment. "Then I guess you can call me Dan. But right now what you seem to be in need of is a place to stay and a hot meal," he said, holding his umbrella over their heads.
Katie shivered violently and sneezed.
"Come with me. I know a place whare you can stay for awhile," Daniel said, picking up one of Katie's duffel bags. Katie hefted the other bag and followed her beloved actor.
Dan Perth led Katie to an old theater. The front of the building was ornate, with once-gilt statues of angels and mideval knights standing in huge Gothic arches. Behind the arches were huge stained-glass windows.
Once the building must have been grand. Now the statues were flaking and the windows were grimy. One of the angels had lost a wing. The gold-framed doors were chained shut with huge, rusty chains and padlocks. From the outside, the theater appeared abandoned.
Dan walked to one of the doors. In a quick slight of hand, the seemingly imposssibly rusty chain and lock were gone and the door opened. Dan walked inside and gestured for Katie to follow. Katie ran a skeptical eye over the condemned-looking building, thn with a decided look of disgust, followed Dan inside. She expected total decripitude.
At least this place has a roof, Katie thought, but it's got to be in terrible shape inside. I remember coming here one summer to help restore an abandoned theater. Katie shivered at that memory. The only one of Dan's shows that she had ever missed had been because it had been at that theater. She didn't ever want to see a mess like that again. A careless step had landed her ankle deep in a giant fungus growing out of the floor. She'd only survived one day of that. Her involvement had drastically waned the instant she stepped in that fungus and ended when she'd been told to scrape decades worth of paint off a huge relief statue of a woman with twenty or so arms that was part of one wall. While scraping, her scraper, and hand, had gone through the thin plaster surface of the statue and into its hollow inside. Years of darkness and leaking water had filled the inside of the statue with slime mold. That was it. Katie was never going to do that kind of stuff again. And now she seemed to be headed for it, full steam ahead.
Daniel vanished into the darkness ahead. Katie hung back, shaking and in deadly fear of being alone. Abandoned theaters always seemed to her to call out for the actors and audiences that had once filled their walls.
There was the sound of a large switch being thrown, and light flooded the cavernous building. Katie stepped forward in wonder. The building had indeed once been a theater. But it had been totally changed. Now it was a comfortable residence; if one was comfortable with the usual gold and carving that went with the more elaborate theaters. Huge potted trees inhabited the plushly carpeted room. Dan tossed his cape on the coat rack and flopped into the couch. He fished a TV remote out of the cushions and tossed it onto the table.
"I remembered what happened to the remote," Dan said, laughing a little at Katie's state of shock. "I wanted to get it before I forgot again."
Katie managed to stammer out, "This was not what I was expecting..."
Dan looked at her. "You were expecting a mess like the Figaro Theater was whan they went to restore that?"
Katie nodded.
"This place wasn't in that bad shape," Dan said, looking up to the skylights two stories overhead. "The Luna had a solid roof. It just needed some paint and I had it altered into a place for me to live when I'm in New York. The outside is being left unrestored until I can do more research as to what it looked like during different time periods and I decide how it should look."
"So you're going to give me a spare room?" Katie asked, still a little unnerved by her surroundings.
"Put your mind at ease. No ghosts here that I've seen, and no messy stuff inside the walls like that thing at the Figaro where they had to scrape the mold out of the walls after someone put their hand through the wall and discovered it. That person must have had a thrill, getting a big handful of slime mold..." Dan said, trailing off at the look on Katie's face. "What is it?"
Katie laughed, the first time she'd ever been able to laugh about her experiences at the Figaro. "It wasn't a wall that the person put their hand through, it was a rather ugly relief statue and I was the one who got a handful of slime mold."
"You?" Dan said, laughing. "Was it a thrill?"
Dan Perth's laughter was contagious. Katie was laughing now too. "It was a thrill all right. They had to carry me out. That was the end of my working on the Figaro."
"I had a show at the Figaro after it was restored. Was it that hideous relief statue of an eighteen-armed goddess sitting on a flower that ornaments the wall opposite the auditorium doors?" Dan asked.
Katie sneezed.
Dan stood up. "We'll continue this later. Why don't you get a shower? Come on, and bring your clothing."
Dan led Katie up the broad steps to the level of the balcony that ran around the open living room that had once been the lobby. Katie passed the huge doors that obviously led into what had once been the auditorium. Then she followd Dan to a pair of French doors in a wall. Dan flung open the doors. Inside, the room was spectacular.
It was obviously Dan's bedroom. The room was rectangular, and there were murals of columns supporting Gothic arches on the walls within. Over the doors they entered by was painted a bigger arch, and across was a door into a bathroom. But Katie looked around in wonderment.
The ceiling was domed in an oval shape. Ath the very top was a spectacularly carved blue and crimson dragon in an oval frame studded with lights. Around it was a painting of angels carrying swords, flutes and harps. A big canopied bed occupied one end of the room. A chair and floor lamp occupied the other end of the room. There were bookshelves built into the outer walls, within the painted arches. Then a thought crossed Katie's mind.
"Where will you sleep?" she asked Dan.
"On the sofa downstairs. There's a furnished apartment on the third floor that you can have later, but it still needs a bed. It was supposed to come tomorrow," Dan said.
"I don't know how to thank you," Katie said. "I don't even know you beyond that you're my favorite actor."
Dan raised an eyebrow at her, then pointed
to the bathroom. "There's the shower. Go take one before you get
sick."
Katie obeyed.
PART II
AN IDEA OFFERED
Dan smiled and went to his closet and changed. Then he went downstairs and entered the kitchen. When Katie came downstairs, Dan was standing by the table. He wore a slightly open white shirt with tan pants. Katie looked down at herself. She was wearing a T-shirt and jeans.
"I don't think that I'm dressed appropriately for this dinner," she said, laughing a little.
Dan laughed too. "It's only soup. You like my outfit?"
"Let's just say that seeing you in that brought back a teenage crush of mine full force."
"On me?" Dan asked, giving her an intense look out of his brown eyes, with their fringe of long black eyelashes that still captivated Katie.
Katie could only nod as Daniel dished out two bowls of soup. He placed one in front of her and the other at his place, then sat down. He met her eyes.
"Given how you idolize me, I'd say you're here for a theater job. What do you have lined up?" Dan asked.
"Um... I had planned to audition for a small production..." Katie said.
"A lead or just a nobody part?"
"What is this? Am I being interrogated?" Katie said, joking.
With perfect deadpan seriousness, Dan turned to her. "Well, I expect something in return for my hospitality," he responded.
For an instant, Katie thought that Daniel Perth was serious. Then she saw that Dan's eyes were laughing, and realized that he was joking.
"Is there a real reason?" Katie asked.
Dan sighed, his twinkling eyes dulling, the lines in his face drawing tight. "I'm lonely. I have everything, except for love, or real friends."
"Why?" Katie asked. "You're fun to be around."
"I don't know. The right woman for me never came along," Dan quickly lied. "But what part are you going to audition for?"
"Um, have you heard of the musical Shipwrecked?" Katie said.
"Yes," Dan said. "What part?"
"I think I might get one of the medium parts. Not a lead, not really little. The character is one of the shipwrecked ones," Katie told Dan.
"What if I told you that you were wasted in the part of Marie?" Dan said.
"Marie?" Katie said. "When did you see Shipwrecked?"
"I didn't. I read the script, and the part you want is Marie," Dan said. "They wanted me to take one of the male leads."
"Will you?" Katie asked, getting excited at the prospect of working with her favorite actor.
"I don't think so. They're holding auditions for a play called Dead Shakespeare and I'm going for the lead in that," Dan said. "And you are wasted in Shipwrecked. You have amazing ability. I can see it."
"But if I skip out on Marie, then what do you suggest that I do instead? It's the only part I have a chance at!" Katie said, getting angry at Dan. "What do you want me to do? Be a stage hand? I won't give up my dreams!"
"I never asked you to," Dan said. "What I am saying is that even for your first, Marie is too little of a part for you. You need to believe in yourself. Come with me tomorrow. I know you can get the part of Alice in Dead Shakespeare."
"I read that play once. Alice is the lead character's mistress. That's a big part," Katie said.
"Yes," Dan said. "Bigger than Marie. Pays better too."
"You're going to use your name and money to get me the part," Katie complained to Dan. "I want to work my way into the big shows fairly, without your help or anyone else's help."
"I'm not going to get the part for you. You are going to try out for the part of Alice same as you would have for Marie," Dan said.
"You seem pretty sure," Katie said.
"I am sure," Dan responded. "You could get the part of Marie sleepwalking. If you put in some effort, you can nail Alice."
"Thanks for that. I guess so. I like the soup," Katie said, corraling a chunk of beef with her spoon.
"Thank you. My mother taught me how to make it when I was little. I still like a hot bowl of it on a cold day," Dan said, fidgeting a little.
Katie finished her bowl. She felt comfortably warm and sleepy. As Dan watched, she began to nod off. Dan smiled and picked her up to carrry her up to bed.
Dan laid Katie down on the huge canopied bed. She was beautiful, her hair long and bright. He skin was a creamy color. Best of all, Katie showed an open willingness to be his friend.
Doubts attacked Dan Perth's mind. If she knew my secrets, would she still like me as a person? Would she even still like me as an actor? Dan thought. He picked up a blanket and headed down to the couch.
Katie woke after Dan was gone. She got up and put on a nightgown, fingering the mysterious jewel she had found, and lay back down in the bed. The old building seemed to whisper to her, but not in an unfriendly or creepy way. It only seemed to want to tell tales of days gone by to any ear that would listen. Katie's mind wandered elsewhere.
When I was thirteen, Katie thought, I wanted a man to love me for the first time. And that man was Dan Perth. I loved him. Every story of him made him kind and nice as could be. He is so handsome too. I love his long hair. I wonder what it would be like to touch them. I wonder what his kisses are like...
PART III
NIGHTMARE'S AUDITION
Katie woke up the next morning to the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. When she walked downstairs, Dan had a plate of pancakes waiting for her. He was wearing a loose T-shirt and and very tight jeans that looked utterly wonderful.
Dan had his mouth full of pancake, but he gestured for her to sit down. Katie sat down and tried the pancakes. Dan seemed to be a very good cook.
"You're a good cook," Katie said, "but I still don't know how to repay you for all that you've done for me."
"All I ask is some companionship. I'm very lonely," Dan said with a sigh. He picked up his dishes and carried them to the kitchen.
Dan reappeared and glanced at his watch. "We need to go. Come on, I'll take you with me in my car."
Katie was shaking. She was all nerves. How had she ever let Dan talk her into auditioning for this part? Then Dan smiled at her with his faintly pouting lips as she climbed into the car, and she remembered why.
Dan pulled the car into traffic, heading down Broadway. Katie looked around, then asked Dan a question.
"What theater is Dead Shakespeare going to be playing at?" she asked.
Dan squirmed. "You're not going to like this," he said.
"Try me. Where?" Katie responded, with a sinking feeling that she knew the answer to her question.
"I was hoping you wouldn't ask," Dan said. Then he finally answered her question, causing the sinking feeling to turn into a tight knot in the pit of her stomach. "The Figaro."
Katie's blood ran cold. "That's it! Let me out now. I'm going to audition for Shipwrecked anyway," Katie said.
"Give it a chance," Dan said. "It's been restored. There's no more lurking slime. Please? For me?"
"No," Katie said. "Dan, you don't understand. That place creeps me out. It's all old and collapsing and dirty. And what happened..."
Dan pulled over to the curb. At first, Katie thought that he had given in to her demands and would just let her there on the sidewalk. Then she realized that thay had stopped in front of the Figaro Theater. She tried to escape as they got out of the car, but Dan grabbed her wrist.
"You're afraid of something in there," Dan said, his voice wise beyond his thirty years. Katie gave up struggling. Dan gazed down at her. His narrowed eyes semed to see into her very mind.
"There's nothing to fear in there," Dan said. "You're reacting to the dump you saw years ago. It's not like that now. You know why you came there in the first place. It's been restored."
Katie twisted away. How could she explain her fear of seeing her hand coated in green slime, the fear of the statues with their leering chipped faces? She couldn't tell Dan about her nightmares in which she had seen the terrible eighteen armed statue with its chipped paint and the wound in its side dripping green slime. The dreams where the statue attacked her, or worse, when it attacked Dan.
"You're afraid. Do you want to be afraid forever?" Dan asked her.
Katie shook her head.
"The simplest way to conquer fear is to face it," Dan told her. "Come on."
Reluctantly, Katie followed him into the building. Inside, the now beautiful interior surrounded her.
Overhead, the ceiling was painted sky blue with white clouds. In the center was a golden sun. The walls bore murals depicting Cleopatra and her bright servants.
The molding above the paintings was gilt and carved with stylized flowering vines. Spaced along it were carved heads. Once chipped and leering, now they smiled. Their feathered headdresses and glass-jeweled crowns bright, they welcomed her.
Katie gazed about in wonder. Where she knew giant water stains had been, Cleopatra's page boy smiled. No longer did the place seem quite so outwardly unfriendly. But a deep undercurrent of malice still seemed to drift toward her.
Dan began leading her up the stairs to the auditorium doors. Katie hung back. What she truly feared, the frightning many armed statue, lay up there. And she could feel the waves of malice intensifying as she neared the stairs.
When she reached the top, Katie gazed down the room. To one side were the massive Egyptian-style carved doors to the auditorium. To the other was the giant wall relief. It was drastically different from how Katie remembered it. Bright Indian princesses danced around their benevolent eighteen armed goddess.
Katie finally managed to smile. She turned toward Dan. Or, where Daniel Perth had been. He must have gone into the auditorium. Katie gasped, feeling as if she had been struck. She knew this feeling. She felt it a lot. Her vision went shadowy, and a ghostly figure of Daniel walked toward the statue.
Katrina wanted to scream a warning. She cold feel a cold flood of hatred coming from the statue. The ghostly figure of Dan only walked closer. The demonical figure freed its hand from the wall and struck Dan, knocking him to the floor.
A voice cut through Katie's mind. "Katie! Katie, wake up! Is something wrong?"
Katie opened her eyes. She couldn't remember closing them, but usually when this happened, she couldn't remember that. There was nothing odd there. But always before, she had been able to forget what she saw in a few seconds after she woke. But this time she remembered the chilling images. Katie couldn't drive them from her mind.
Dan stood over her, shaking her shoulder. "What happened? Are you okay?" he asked.
"I-I don't know...I just...nothing," Katie told Dan. "I'm fine."
"Okay," Dan said worriedly. "Come on. Auditions for Alice begin soon."
By four o'clock they were done. Then came the tedious waiting while the casting director and the producers decided. Katie hung close around Dan the whole time. The whole mob of usually noisy actors were still and hushed. The near silence, only broken by soft spurts of here-and-there conversation seemed unnatural.
At five, the directors finally agreed. One came in with a list of the chosen in his hand. Katie's heart hammered in her chest. Most of the other actors looked apprehensive to some degree. Except for Dan. His midnight blue cape swirled around him, and he looked coolly confident in his ragged T-shirt that stretched across his buff chest.
The man began to read, going by parts. "Ramon will be played by Daniel Perth, Marissa by Terra Smith, Alice by..."
"Please let it be me," Katie whispered.
"Katrina Barnhart, Lauren will be Marta Cassini..." the short man continued, but Katie didn't care. Dan had been right.
When he was done, the actors began stampeding out of the theater like buffalo. The crowd pushed Katie and Dan against the huge statue. Katie felt a sickening feeling, despite the pleasurable sensation of being pressed against Dan's muscular body. The pictures she had seen in her earlier dream presented themselves again. From above, Katie heard a sudden cracking sound. She looked up to see one of the statue's hands hanging at a disjointed angle, the old supporting framework of age-blackened wood showing through the break.
In warning Katie screamed Dan's name. Overhead, the hand seemed to sway menacingly over Dan in slow motion as he turned. Every head in the room turned toward them, and there was a loud gasp as the hand fell.
The old plaster shattered harmlessly on Dan's shoulder, leaving white dust down Dan's blue cape. The remaining actors milled around, unsure of what to do.
Dan brushed himself off. "I'm not damaged,"
he said. "Let's go." He vanished down the stairs with a swirl
of his blue cape.
Katie quickly followed Dan, a little nervous. Had I
really been clairvoyant in that instant of shadowed sight? Was it
just a dream with a wierd parallel to reality? Have I been predicting
the future for years, only forgetting what I saw? Katie wondered.
PART IV
DARE TO DREAM
Outside the theater, Dan caught her in his arms and swung her around in a wild dance. "I knew you could do it!" he said, giving her a dimpled grin.
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," Katie said.
"Let's go home and get changed. Then I'd like to take you out for dinner to celebrate," Dan said.
Katie impulsively flung her arms around Dan. Dan gave her a small squeeze in return before freeing himself. "We have to go. I'd like to take a shower before we leave to eat. I've got plaster dust in my hair," Dan said, patting his dark hair and producing a small white cloud.
"Okay, okay. You've made your point," Katie said. "But I still don't understand why you're doing this."
Dan laughed. "We've been through this. I'm just a lonely old actor who saw a fellow actor in need of help."
The car pulled back into the garage and they got out. Dan headed into the bathroom and started showering. Katie changed out in the bedroom, then went downstairs to wait for Dan.
Katie didn't have to wait long. Dan snuck up on her and grabbed the book that she was reading. Katie looked up at the teasing older actor.
Dan wore a white shirt and black pants. Over that, his blue cape hung. The white plaster dust had been washed out of his hair and now his rich cinnabar mane shone. His eyes sparkled green and his fair skin looked like peach porcelain.
"Let's go, my lady," Dan said, treating her formally.
"Dan!" Katie said. "We aren't on stage. Be yourself. I like you best that way."
Dan smiled at her, his cute lips curling into a warm expression and sending a sparkle into his eyes.
Dan and Katie walked to the car. When they arrived at the restauraunt, they were seated at a small, cozy table. The flickering candlelight accented Dan's face. He looked dazzling, his long lashes suddenly hiding his beautiful eyes. Katie was very aware of those eyes gazing at her from behind the lashes.
"Are you happy?" Dan asked her.
"Happy?" Katie asked, not quite understanding what Dan meant.
"Yes. Is there somewhere else you would rather live? You don't have to live in the apartment on the third floor if you don't want to. There's other places..." Dan said, but his eyes begged her to stay.
"I'm perfectly happy where I am. I like you, and anyway, how many girls get offered an apartment by their favorite actor?" Katie said, laughing softly.
Dan smiled.
Their food came. Katie ate a bowl of soup and a salad. Dan hungrily devoured a disgustingly rare steak. Katie would not have been suprised if Dan's dinner had gotten up and walked off the plate. She could barely stand the sight of the bloody, bright red chunk of meat, so she kept her eyes firmly fixed on Dan's and returned his intense gaze.
When they were done eating, Dan led her out. Katie wanted to snuggle into his side, but ignored the impulse. They rode back to Dan's residence in silence, except for when Dan pointed out notable sights in the city around them.
They walked out of the car and as they were going into Dan's living room, Katie felt it come on her again. This had never happened twice in one day before like this. Would she remember again? Her sight went dark.
No, Katie thought fiercely. I don't want this. I don't want to know!
An overwhelming sense of joy swept over Katie. Dan seemed the only solid thing in the room. A transparent gold band showed on Dan's ring finger. Cradled in Daniel Perth's arms was a ghostly child. Katie gazed in fascination at the tiny baby. The little girl was undeniably Daniel's child. She had his sharp nose and distinctive chin. But the child also had firey copper curls.
Katie opened her eyes to see Dan gesturing for her to sit down beside him on the couch. Katie sat down beside him, not thinking in the least about what she had seen. Dan was watching an awful old Queen of the Nile movie.
When Cleopatra was taken captive by invaders, Katie snuggled into Dan's side. Dan put his arm around her. Katie felt safe and protected in the warm embrace. At the end of the movie, the Queen was saved by a handsome young warrior. The Queen kissed her rescuer.
Dan turned toward Katie, who lay snuggled in his arm. Their eyes met, Katie's green ones and Daniel's brown ones. Katie gazed at Dan's handsome face, sweet and gentle.
Katie's lips met Dan's luscious full ones in a long kiss. They embraced shyly, each unsure of how the other would react.
"Do you really feel that way about me?" Katie asked Dan.
Dan grabbed her and kissed her again on the lips. This time Dan kept her held close to him after he released her lips.
"Oh wow. I guess you do!" Katie said.
"Would I have kissed you like that if I didn't?" Dan asked. "Do you like this?"
"Yes!" Katie gasped as Dan left kisses down her neck. "But this is too fast, too soon! I just met you yesterday!" Katie cried out, suddenly distressed. She had never felt this way before, and wasn't entirely sure that this was good. She also knew that their relationship was moving way too fast.
Dan drew back, looking upset. "But no one ever wanted to cuddle up to me before. No one else ever wanted me to hold them. Every other woman was enchanted by the roles, the face that the camera and stage see. They were unwilling to love the real Daniel Perth-but you were not."
"Um-" Katie said, not having intended to drive Dan away. "I've got no objections to a few light kisses-but could you take this slow?"
"Okay," Dan said, with a good-natured grin, before lowering his head to kiss her again.
His lips were warm and firm. Now Katie knew what Daniel Perth's kisses were like, warm and sweet, with his lips full and firm.
Dan trailed warm kisses across her neck. His ruddy-brown mane gleamed in the light. Katie finally did what she had longed to do for years. She ran her fingers through Dan's glorious hair. It flowed like dark silk between her fingers. The disturbed hair settled into soft curls.
"I don't think that you'll have to be alone again," Katie whispered. "I never want to leave you."
Dan gazed lovingly at her. He took her hand and began kissing each of her fingers. Katie enjoyed the attention.
"You should go to bed," Dan told her, between kisses. "Rehearsals begin tomorrow."
"How am I going to go upstairs to bed when you've got your big butt on top of me?" Katie asked, not wanting to leave the warm embrace of Dan's arms.
"Oh, fine," Dan said, and rolled off her, stretching lazily.
Katie gazed down at Daniel. He was short, barely smaller than she was, but he was slender and delightfully muscled. Sinewy muscles flexed under his shirt. His whole body seemed to glow with love.
Katie lay in bed, happiness filling her. Around her the voices of the building whispered of love and happiness and seemed to offer the best of wishes for the actors' newfound love. I can't believe that Dan and I are falling in love, Katie thought. Now I know. I know that his kisses are wonderful. I know that his shaggy hair is like brown silk. I know that I love him!
In the middle of the night, Katie woke up. Deep inside, she could feel it; something was very wrong. She got up and walked out of the bedroom. The big room outside was soundless.
Katie ran down the stairs to the couch where Dan had been sleeping. The same couch that they had sat on to share their earlier kisses. A blanket and pillow lay on the couch, but that was all. Daniel Perth was gone.
Katie ran into the kitchen, tripping on her
long white nightgown. Maybe Dan had just wanted a midnight snack.
The kitchen was empty.
Katie tried the bathrom. No luck.
Then she investigated a closet and the garage. Daniel Perth was simply
gone.
There was one last place to look. Katie walked back up
the stairs and stopped before the big doors that led into what had once
been the auditorium of the old theater. Katie turned the doorknob
and pulled the carved doors open.
Katie walked forward. The room had ben converted into an enormous ballroom. The ceiling was painted with angels. The old stage still remained in the front of the room. There were chairs, tables, and huge floor standing candelabra along the walls, but the room was otherwise empty.
Katie walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Was Daniel Perth only a dream? Katie asked herself. She was very sure that he was real.
Why do those visions come only when I don't want to know? Katie wondered. I want to know! I love him....don't take him away!
There was a footstep behind her. Katie whirled around. Right into Daniel Perth's arms. He absently wiped a trickle of blood away from the corner of his sensuous mouth.
"What happened to you? Where were you?" Katie began questioning Dan about where he had been.
"I heard a sound out in the alley," Dan said. "I went out to investigate and I tripped over a chunk of concrete. Don't worry. I just cut my lip on my tooth when I fell. I'll be fine. It's already stopped bleeding. You can go back to bed."
"I...I don't think that I can sleep. I'n still nervous from not being able to find you," Katie said.
"You searched for me?"
"Everywhere," Katie answered.
"Come with me," Dan said, lighting a candle.
"Where?" Katie asked, following the blue-caped figure.
"Well," Dan said, "if you searched, then you know about the ballroom."
Katie nodded. Dan led her up to the big doors and he pushed them open. Once inside, Dan began lighting the candles in the big candleholders. Then he blew out his candle and went to a big stereo system sitting to one side.
The music Dan started was a waltz. Dan walked toward her, his hans held out in an invitation to dance. Katie took his hands, and Dan swept her into the waltz.
Dan was an excellent dancer. He seemed to fly over the floor, his blue cape swirling around them both. The brilliant lights of the buildings outside shone in through the skylight, casting a bright square of light on the floor.
As they danced, Katie glided through the glowing patch of light and into the candlelight shadows of the room. Katie remembered, once, in college, she had written a poem about two angels fallen in love. She quoted it softly under her breath.
"Soaring on the wings of the night," she murmured.
"Did you say something? Dan asked her.
"I was just remembering something I wrote once," Katie said, laying her head on Dan's shoulder.
Dan smiled softly, looking down at her from his brown eyes with their long black lashes. "Do you think that you can sleep now?" he asked her.
"Yes," Katie responded. "I know you're safe."
"Good," Dan said, and gave her a kiss. "It's late. Go to bed."
Katie hugged him briefly, then ran to the bed. Dan smiled, and began blowing out the candles.
PART V
REHEARSAL FOR DISASTER
The next morning, Katie woke up to the sound of loud cursing. She got dressed and ran out of the bedroom. Dan and a brawny delivery man were wrestling a double bed up the stairs to the third floor apartment. Dan's muscles strained when he maneuvered the bed. Katie stayed for a moment to enjoy the sight.
When the delivery man was gone, Dan dumped out two bowls of cornflakes and sat down to eat. He looked decidedly sad. Katie could barely bear to see him looking like that.
"Dan?" Katie said. "What's wrong?"
Dan turned toward her. "The bed for your apartment finally came," he said and returned to his cornflakes.
"Why are you all upset?" Katie asked.
"Because," Dan sighed, "now you'll move into the apartment, and I'll only see you at rehearsals and performances. And maybe once in a while when you pass through here."
Katie kissed the top of Dan's dark head. "You're going to miss this, aren't you." It wasn't really a question.
"Of course I am," Dan said sulkily. "You're the first woman to show real interest in me, and a real friend. I get so lonely. I'm tired of being lonely, Katie! So tired of being alone..."
Katie embraced Dan. "Would you like it if I spent more time down here with you?" she asked, knowing very well what the answer would be.
"Would you?" Dan asked, hope brightening his brown eyes.
"Of course," Katie told him. "You're a pleasure to be around."
"I knew you were the right one!" Dan said pulling her into his arms and giving her a big kiss. "Come on, finish your cornflakes and let's go."
Katie ate her cornflakes. Her newfound love led her into his car and they headed toward the theater. Dan led her in by a rear entrance this time. He led her through a winding maze of corridors and dressing rooms. Katie looked around in wonder. She had never seen the inner workings of a big theater up close before now. Dan smiled a little at the open look of wonder on Katie's face as she looked around, investigating everything with her eyes.
Dan led Katie into a small room where a group of other people were. Katie recognized all of them from her audition the day before. As she looked at the other, more experienced actors, Katie became slightly afraid. Would she stick out like a sore thumb in the performances becuse of her inexperience?
Dan gave the other actors a friendly greeting. Since he seemed to know them, Katie hoped that maybe Dan would introduce them to her. Katie was nervous. No matter how well she could act, she was still scared in the presence of the other actors.
Katie walked to Dan's side, not wanting to be alone in a room full of strange people. Dan took the opportunity to introduce the other actors, since they were evidently friends of his.
"Katie, this is Bryan Crystos," Dan said, introducing him to the only other man in the room. Bryan gave her a friendly smile. He had brown hair and a spattering of tan freckles across pale skin. Along one side of his face was a twisted scar. It didn't make him ugly, but it was rather odd.
"Dan tells me this is your first acting job," Bryan said to her, giving her a grin that suggested that he would like to be her friend.
Katie nodded.
"You're good. At the audition yesterday I would never have guessed you to be raw meat. Has Dan been teaching you how to act? It's unfair. He's so good. He needs to start an acting school so the rest of us could have a chance," Bryan said.
"No, Dan wasn't teaching me anything," Katie said.
"Hey!" a loud female voice yelled from across the room. "Quit monopolizing the fresh conversation, Bry!"
Katie turned toward the new voice. It belonged to a big blonde woman, the tallest person in the room. On her way over to where Katie was standing, she gave Dan a friendly slap on the back, causing the small actor to sway a little.
"I'm Terra Smith," the blonde said. "I know that we may seem a little intimidating, but we've worked together on so many different shows that we all know each other really well. When we get stuck together for the umpteenth show, it's nice to have someone new to talk to, so I'm very glad to meet you."
Katie decided right away that she liked Terra. The other woman's attitude was almost the opposite of Katie's shy personality, but it was almost impossible not to like Terra. She almost forced one to like her.
There was one other person in the room. She stood at a distance from Katie and made no attempt to copy the others' enthusiastic greetings. Whoever she was, she was an inch or two taller than Katie with long, wavy black hair and a statuesque figure. Dan seemed to be almost uneasy around her.
Dan introduced them. "Marta Cassini, this is Katrina Barnhart," he said.
"I know who she is," Marta said, with all the warmth of ice, gazing spitefully at Katie out of her strange pale green eyes. Marta's eyes were as unlike Katie's as anyone's could be with the same eye color. Katie's eyes were a brilliant, intense green, with little streaks and speckles of blue and orange in them.
Katie drew bck at the cold hostility in Marta's tone. Did I say something? Katie wondered.
"Why don't you go talk to Bryan? The director won't be here for awhile yet, and I think Bryan would like to talk some more," Marta suggested.
Katie walked over to Bryan, unsure of exactly why she was going, and not liking the sensation. There was something decidedly strange about that woman, Katie decided. Marta shot an ill-concealed vicious look at Katie's back. Daniel would have followed Katie, but Marta grabbed his arm and pulled him back. When Dan turned to complain, Marta gave him a syrupy smile.
Marta reached up and put a hand on Dan's cheek. Dan squirmed uncomfortably. He was in no mood for Marta's advances. Marta interpreted the least amount of kindness from a man as an open declaration of love. Once, Dan had made the mistake of helping her get up when she had fallen. Ever since, Marta had considered him to be her soverign territory.
"What's with the girl?" Marta asked, her tone seemingly innocently curious but full of hidden venom.
Dan knew that he was on thin ice. He'd seen one of Marta's jealous rages before. And he often saw a reminder. Before Dan, Marta had had her sights set on cornering Bryan into holy matrimony. When Bryan had refused dinner with her, Marta had only been mildly irritated. But when Marta saw him coming out of a restauaraunt with the woman who was now Bryan's wife, Marta had flown at Bryan and brutally beat him. Bryan hadn't pressed charges, but he came out of it with the scar that would ornament the side of his face for the rest of his life.
"She's a fellow actor. I found her on a corner in Times Square. She was new in town. What was I supposed to do?" Dan asked, frustrated.
"You could have left her to take care of herself. I think that she's old enough to do that," Marta said, the venom in her voice becoming more obvious. Dan had only dug himself deeper.
"I wasn't going to let her stand in the rain, fresh off the bus," Dan said, responding with some steel of his own.
"Everything was going so well," Marta said, changing tactics. Her eyes filled with crocodile tears.
"No, things were not going well at all!" Dan exploded, finally losing patience with Marta's pleas.
Two tears ran down Marta's face. Only Dan, Terra and Bryan knew that Marta was really angrier than ever, and Terra was close to the exploding point herself. Terra loved Dan, but as a dear friend. She hated seeing Marta abuse Dan.
"What do you mean?" Marta asked, managing to sound hurt.
"I mean that you are annoying me," Dan said. "I have no intentions of ever marrying you."
Marta's eyes blazed. "You love your little street-corner foundling, don't you?" she asked.
Terra grabbed Katie's arm and pulled her behind Marta. Terra whispered to Katie, "Marta's upset. She wanted to be Dan's girlfriend. Then Dan came in with you. Now she's really mad."
"So?" Katie asked. "What's her problem? Lots of Dan's fans are women with crushes on him."
"You don't know what happens when Marta thinks that her chosen man is cheating on her," Terra said grimly. "You see Bryan's scar? Marta did that to him when she saw him with the woman he's married to now."
"Oh," Katie said. "If she lunges at him, we're going to grab her, is that it?"
Terra nodded.
Right then the director chose to walk in the door. All five of the actors froze. The scene presented itself like a paused video of a bad horror movie.
Bryan was sitting as far as was humanly possible from Marta while staying in the room, deliberately ignoring her by reading his script. Katie and Terra were standing ready to tackle Marta from behind. Dan was standing, dignified, his midnight blue cape trailing him in shadowy folds. Marta was glaring, her teeth bared in something like an animal's snarl.
Dan was the first to recover from the shock of the director's sudden advent. He walked to the table and sat down, script in hand. When Dan unclasped his cape and draped it over his chair, Marta made no attempt to conceal that she was looking at Dan. Dan's T-shirt was rather tight, and so easily attracted Marta's notice.
Bryan plunked into the chair to Dan's left. Marta tried to push into the seat to Dan's right, but Katie and Dan stared her down. Marta finally settled between Terra and the director. They began a long, boring morning of reading through the script that they would have to memorize.
Around noon, they were given an hour off for lunch. After lunch they would meet with the rest of the cast in the main auditorium to start on the openeing musical number of the play. Dan urged her swiftly through the halls and out the back door. He practically threw her into the car.
"What was that for?" Katie asked, settling
herself into a more comfortable position than the one Dan had tossed her
into.
Dan hurriedly started the car. After he had pulled into
traffic, he answered Katie's question. Dan pointed back to the curb
in front of the theater, where Marta was standing, obviously in a terrible
mood. If she had been a character in a comic strip, she would have
had a little black stormcloud, complete with miniature lightning bolts,
hovering above her head.
"Do you really want to go out to lunch with Marta?" he asked.
"Good point," Katie said, giving him a grin.
Dan smiled back and drove into the restauraunt parking lot. They enjoyed their lunch, but neither of them looked forward to going back to the theater.
"You know, I never used to believe in love at first sight followed by whirlwind romance," Katie confessed to Dan.
"But I do, and now, so do you," Dan said, with his sweet, almost innocent look, as he kissed Katie on the lips.
PART VI
THE JEWEL IN FEAR'S CROWN
During lunch, Katie embraced Dan, snuggling her head under his chin. Dan stroked her auburn hair and cuddled her. He could feel his heart breaking. Someday, he must trust her enough to tell her his secret, the one thing that kept him from making any close friends. The reason why a gorgeous hunk like him was so lonely.
And then she will fear me, hate me, Dan thought. She might even betray me in her fear and then everything I have will mean nothing. If she betrays me, there will be a hunt and I... I will be the prey. But for love...would I take that risk for love? I am so alone, so lonely...
When they returned to the theater, Marta was still in a terrible mood. Marta clung close to Dan's side when not required to be elsewhere. Dan viewed her constant attention with all the enthusiasm with which he would greet a giant fungus growing out of his side. Marta was obviously fiercely jealous of Katie, both because of Katie's status with Dan and the fact that Katie's part brought her into close contact with Dan.
They managed to work through the first number that afternoon. At the end of the day, everyone seemed exhausted except for Dan. The other actors sprawled in a large, irregular circle on the stage, some sitting, some stretched out. Dan left the cirlce and exited, stage right to return with a very dusty pair of wooden clogs.
The actors stared. Dan responded to their looks. "These must have been left behind after a show," he said, sliding them on over his shoes.
They all looked on, wondering what the blonde-haired man was going to do. Dan strode into the center of the ring of actors and began clog dancing.
Katie laughed. "I didn't know that you were a clog dancer!" she exclaimed, making Dan smile.
The piano player got up and started playing. Dan altered his rhythm slightly to keep with the music. Some of the sprawled actors began to clap with the music. Suddenly, Katie stopped clapping. Her sight went dark.
No, Katie thought fiercely. I will not see this. I don't want to know! She desperately willed her second sight to go away.
For a moment, the shadows grew lighter. Then the darkness slammed down harder than ever before. On the dark stage, Dan stood, still and alone, save for a still body. The clogs were off his feet and lay nearby in a puddle of blood. Blood pooled around Dan's feet. His cape was stained a rusty color from it. Dan raised sorrowful eyes to her as his mouth and chin dripped blood. Now Katie could see that the unmoving body at Dan's feet was Marta. She was bleeding from a wound in her neck that was surrounded by thickened blood.
"Katie?" Terra's voice cut into Katie's vision. There was general laughter and appreciation for Dan's clog-dancing ability. The clapping continued, echoing the sound of Dan's clogs striking the stage.
Two of the producer had been speaking quietly to one side. Now one came forward and announced, "We decided that we'd like to make one of then songs a clog-dance number for Dan. That is, if Dan doesn't object."
The actors all cheered for Dan, and he showed off by doing a hight kick. The cheers and clapping abruptly stopped. Dan had lost a clog when he did his high kick. Katie remembered her vision and called out Marta's name.
Marta whirled toward the voice. The clog fell and struck her on the shoulder and side of her head. Marta collapsed to the stage.
Dan gasped and ran to Marta to check her out. She was okay, only badly bruised. Marta whimpered and opened her eyes. She realized that the figure hovering over her was Dan.
"Dan!" Marta cried. "I knew you really cared!" She flung her arms around his neck and tried to kiss him. Dan picked her up and evaded her lips.
"Are you okay?" Dan asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to hit you. It just happened."
Marta cut him off by planting a big wet kiss on Dan's suprised lips.Dan pulled back in utter disgust.
"What's the matter, Danny?" Marta asked.
Dan looked as though he would have liked to tell her exactly what was the matter but was too polite to actually say it. Ignoring Marta, he walked over to Katie's side.
"Don't worry," Dan whispered. "She's harmless, but he does have a revolting kiss. I'm going to get a drink."
When Dan left the room, Marta stalked over to Katie. Katie felt a little bit scared, even though Dan had told her that Marta was harmless. Katie knew that Marta was not quite sane-or harmless.
"You," Marta hissed. "You stole my man. Do you realize, you little hussy, that Dan and I were like this," she held up crossed fingers, "before you appeared on your street corner and stole him."
"You and Dan were not like that," Katie snapped. "He never even mentioned you to me."
"Really," Marta said.
Dan returned. "Let's go," he said to Katie.
"Gladly," Katie said, returning to Dan's side.
"Danny," Marta wheedled, "take me along too. I heard tons about that house you converted out of an abandoned theater. The architecture magazines had a field day with it. I'd like to see it myself."
Dan rolled his eyes. "Marta, no. Not now and and not ever will I love you. And Katie is living in my apartment on the third floor. Since Katie doesn't seem to like you, I'm not going to make her uncomfortable-"
Marta cut him off. "Oh yes, everything to satisfy a brat you found in Times Square whining for her mommy, but nothing for an old friend."
"Old friend?" Dan laughed at Marta. "Old enemy better describes our relationship."
Marta huffed. "Would you stop being so mean? What did I do to you to get treated this way?"
"Look, Marta, Katie and I would like some time alone together," Dan said. "We're not exactly sure of how we feel about each other."
Marta stomped away as Katie and Dan walked to his car. Dan grumbled under his breath the whole way about husband-hunting women.
PART VII
WRITTEN IN THE HEAVENS' SCROLL
Later, after dinner, Dan had helped Katie get her things settled in the apartment. When they were done, they settled on Katie's bed in front of the television. They absently watched a sitcom out of the corner of their eyes as they talked about how they felt. Dan was stretched lazily on the bed, his body surrounded by his midnight cape. Katie sat up, propped on a stack of pillows.
"Katie, is this what we want?" Dan asked her. "Really, I'm too old for you. I'm thirty-one. You're what? Twenty-three? That's a lot of years. Maybe you should find someone else to share your life with. Someone your age, who can really share your life."
"No," Katie said firmly. "I love you. If I leave you for 'someone my age' I know I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
"Katie, Katie," Dan said, holding her close. "Do you really love me that much? Enough to give up a family?"
"Who couldn't love that face?" Katie asked, daring to run her finger along Dan's chin.
Dan pulled her into his arms. He was warm and strong as he kissed her. Then Dan got up from the bed. Katie gazed up at him through sleepy eyes, as though she wondered where his warmth had gone and why it wasn't near her. Then her green eyes closed in sleep, stilling their confused question.
Dan smiled softly and unclasped his cape. He wrapped the soft midnight hued cloth around Katie, noting that she looked like an angel. A spun-glass angel too fragile to be real or belong to this world. He left Katrina's apartment, treading softly so she wouldn't wake up from his passing.
Later, Katie woke up. She felt something warm and soft wrapped around her. Curious, Katie sat up to see what it was when she heard a distinct thud in the alley behind the building. Katie freed herself from her wrapping and held it up to see what it was. Smiling, Katie realized that Dan had wrapped her in his cape. Katie kept the cape in her hand and trotted downstairs to find Dan.
When Katie reached the landing, she walked to the door to Dan's bedroom. Her knocking got no response from the room's inhabitant. Katie pushed the French doors open. The room was silent and totally dark, and the bed was empty. Nothing stirred save for the soft night voices of the old building as it talked softly to itself and the sounds of traffic that filtered in from the outside.
Katie dashed downstairs. Dan might have heard the thud too and already be out in the alley. She slid on a pair of Dan's shoes over her bare feet and tossed on the cape to shield her from the cold air outside.
The back door squeaked reluctantly open. Katie got the distinct feeling that that particular door somehow didn't like being opened. Outside, the street sounds and the ever-present flashes of light reigned supreme. Katie looked around. There were dumpsters and broken bits of concrete and masonry from the nearby buildings up and down the narrow alley. Then she looked closer down toward the end of the alley that opened out onto Broadway, where much of the light and sound came from.
In the shadows lay a man, probably homeless. He was bleeding from twin puncture wounds on his neck. Then a dark figure rose up from behind the still body. Katie blocked the black figure out long enough to make sure that the homeless man was still breathing, then she fully noticed it.
Katie drew back, slightly afraid. Why had she come out here alone? She should have waited for Dan to come back from wherever he was and had him come out with her. Would the man who had attacked the helpless guy in the street go after her now?
Then the head of the figure caught the light. The long hair reflected a glorious ruddy gleam. Katie heaved a sigh of relief.
"He'll be fine," the shadowy figure said in a leaden voice. "I'm sorry that you had to find out this way."
Katie stumbled forward into the light that had silhouetted Dan's figure. Dan turned to face her. Katie could barely believe her eyes. Dan's mouth was stained with blood and his eyes seemed black.
"Dan?" Katie asked in a quivering voice, not at all sure that she wanted to know the truth. "What happened here?"
Daniel Perth's soft tenor voice was a ghost of itself when he spoke again. "Katie, forgive me..." he said.
"Dan, why is there blood on your mouth?" Katie asked, certain age old legends never coming to mind or being dismissed as fairytales by her subconcious. "You didn't attack this poor guy?"
Dan's sole response was to open his mouth. For the first time, Katie really looked. Dan's teeth were stained red from blood. Then his tongue moved. He licked the tooth that in a human would have been short and pointed. Dan's tooth was long, daggerlike, and looked strangely sharp. It was a fang.
Then the fairytales and legends flooded into Katie's mind. "You're a vampire?" Katie asked, shocked.
Dan turned a miserable face to her. "Born a vampire and destined never to die untill someone comes after me with a stake."
"But I saw you in daylight," Katie said, puzzled. "and I saw you eat garlic bread. You can't be."
Dan chuckled, a low, almost sad sound. "Even if fairytales often can tell truth, they have often been so changed from it that they are hardly recognizable. Everyone has their own view of the story, and that can alter it and become a permanent part of it. I like the sun. You've observed that. My fangs retract. And I can still be a vampire."
"But people hurt, die, because of what you do!" Katie said. "How do you only take enough blood that both you and he survive?"
"Believe me, it took long practice to be able to do that. And no, he won't become a vampire when he regains conciousness. It's hereditary, so any of my children would be vampires too," Dan said softly.
Katie remembered her vision of the child. She had known that it was Dan's daughter. Was that innocent, beautiful baby girl a vampire who would drink blood rather than milk from her bottles?
"People hurt to feed you..." Katie said softly.
Dan gave a soft chuckle. "Only when the moon is dark do I need to have blood to survive. The rest of the time, a rare steak will take care of any...cravings I might have," he said.
Katie looked rather revolted at the entire concept of real vampires.
"I realize that this seems disgusting," Dan said. "That's why I have so few friends, why I'm lonely." He sighed. "I can be killed with a stake."
"It's just your once-a-month eating habits that are revolting," Katie said. "You aren't. In fact, I think it's kind of interesting. I'm going to find out what it's like to be a vampire's girlfriend."
Dan grinned and pulled her to him. Katie snuggled gladly into his warm embrace. Through his shirt, she could feel the sculpted contours of his muscles. They kissed. Dan's lips were warm and covered with powdery dried blood that became liquid again on his lips. Despite the blood, it was the most wonderful kiss that Katie had ever had. Then Dan left warm kisses down her neck. Katie pulled off his cape and clasped it back around his shoulders.
Dan swept Katie off her feet and carried her inside. He laid her down on the couch. Katie gazed up at the dark figure over her. A cold draft swept across Katie in her thin nightgown, and she shivered.
Dan saw Katie shiver and he lay on the couch next to her. He wrapped them both in his cape. Dan ran his hand along her chin and down her white neck, now marked with rusy stains from his lips.
Katie enjoyed the warmth of Dan's hands and his closeness. She fell asleep in his strong, protective embrace. Dan vowed that from that moment on, he would protect his one love no matter what the cost. Dan kissed her once more before wrapping her back in his cape and returning her to her bed.
The next morning, Katie awoke in her new bed for the first time. She was wrapped in Dan's dark cape. She could have sworn that she had wrapped it back about his shoulders. Maybe it was all a dream, Dan's vampire fangs were only a dream...
Katie got out of bed, picked up her clothing, and went to the bathroom to take a shower. She paused in front of the mirror and dropped her clothes in her shock at what she saw.
"It wasn't a dream..." Katie murmured as she looked at the rusty-colored lip marks made in dry blood on her neck.
PART VIII
DEATH'S BLACK BLAZE
She walked out of her apartment and down the spiral steps to the balcony, then down the stairs to the main floor. In the big room, Dan was sitting, waiting for her, with breakfast ready. After her shower, when Katie had gotten dressed, she had put on Dan's cape.
This morning, Dan wore a different cape, this one a brilliant sea-blue. Dan looked good in it. He lost the dark look of the midnight blue one that Katie wore, and now looked angelically handsome.
Katie looked at him and laughed. "I guess it's kind of appropriate that you like to wear a cape," she commented.
Dan chuckled happily. "I like to be able to keep a little bit of the old vampire legends alive, maybe be a little like the vampires in the movies. I guess, really, I'm just keeping the tradition."
Katie sat down next to Dan. "I never dreamed that I would be sitting in a house that used to be a theater, eating breakfast with my boyfriend, who just so happens to be a vampire and also happens to be my favorite actor," Katie said, accompanying the statement with a laugh.
After breakfast, Dan gave her a kiss on the forehead. Then he stepped back to take a look at her. He checked her out thouroughly, from head to foot. Katie wondered what he was looking at.
"Come here," Dan said, unclasping the teal blue cape that hung from his shoulders and sweeping it off.
"What is it?" Katie asked, walking forward to him. She was suddenly acutely concious of Dan's dark cape swirling around her. Somehow, she didn't feel like taking it off, even though it wasn't hers. Katie could now understand why Dan enjoyed wearing a cape so much. She liked the way it felt to have the cape trailing her and swirling about her like dark water.
Dan's strong hands unclasped the cape she wore. Katie made no protest and let him take it, even though she almost felt naked without it. After all, it was Dan's cape. Then, to Katie's surprise, Dan clasped the sea-blue cape around her shoulders and smoothed it to her form.
Dan gave a soft laugh. "It looks good on you. Better than it did on me, at any rate," he said, putting the midnight blue cape back around his shoulders, giving him back some of his mysteriousness. "Keep it."
Katie rushed into Dan's arms and kissed him on the lips. He had seen how much she liked his cape and had given her another one of his. She thought that nowhere else in the world could be quite so much like paradise as Dan's embrace, with his dark cape swirling about them both.
Dan broke off the kiss. "Come on. We've got to leave or we'll be late to rehearsal, and that's the last thing you need."
Katie nodded and walked with Dan to the car. When they reached the theater, there was a car accident blocking the rear entrance. They went in through the main entrance with the other actors, some of whom were grumbling about being forced to look at the gaudy, gilded lobby.
Dan kept a sharp eye out for Marta. She was nowhere to be seen. Katie looked around, still marveling at how the building had changed since when she had been on the restoration team as a volunteer. One of the carved heads on the wall seemed to wink at her. Katie whirled toward it, unsure of what she had seen. Had it actually winked, or was she seeing things?
Katie recognized the beginning of one of her
trances. She simply looked at the carving and let the state come.
First the shadows deepened, then something strange happened. The
room vanished to a black void, save for the carven face.
For the first time, she truly looked at the carved face.
The glass eyes, brilliant blue, looked almost alive. The skin was
smooth peach. The eyelashes and brows were black. The heart-shaped
face was topped by a wood-feathered gilt crown set with teardrop-shaped
glass jewels.
The face suddenly grew a tiny bit larger, and suddenly it became alive. No longer wooden, the feathers of the crown blew in the breeze. Light danced in the eyes, and the cheeks gained a slight flush.
Katie drew back in suprise as the head spoke. "We are resigned to our fate, but you need not be! Help us!"
"If you are resigned to your fate, then why do you need my help?" Katie asked the carved head.
The head was suddenly ringed with fire. Katie stared wide-eyed at the image, now with its flaming halo illuminating the blackness around her. There was still nothing to be seen in the black void. The face changed now to Marta's face, still ringed by flame. Katie drew back at the sudden appearance.
"Help us!" the image of Marta cried desperately, strangely calling on the person who she hated for stealing the man she loved, in time of crisis.
Katie shook her head in an attempt to clear her vision. Marta's face, still with its blazing halo, simply looked at her. Then Dan's voice cut into Katie's moment of second sight, enabling her to clear her mind.
"What's so fascinating about that moulding up there?" Dan asked her, curious about why Katie seemed to be showing such a sudden interest in pieces of architecture that she had been frightened of before.
"Nothing particular," Katie said, lying about what she had seen. "I was just wondering about the person who carved it. I mean, who was he? Why did he choose to carve it like he did?"
Dan shrugged. "We'll never know who he was or why it looks like that," he said. "And maybe it's good to have a few mysteries left in the world for people to wonder about. It brings back a little of the old magic."
Katie breathed a sigh of relief when Dan accepted her story, even seemed to be glad of it. She couldn't tell him about her magical ability, even now that she knew about his abilities.
All the actors regrouped on the stage. Marta was stomping around in a huff because Katie was wearing one of Dan's capes and Dan had never done that for her. They were holding a reading on the stage so that the actors could get an idea of the acoustics of the theater.
Dan gazed into the rafters above the stage. He seemed strangely apprehensive about something. He pulled Katie to his side. Katie could feel Dan's nervousness. His hands were shaking slightly.
"Do you hear something?" Dan whispered to her.
"No," Katie said, puzzled by Dan's tension. "What do you hear?"
"I'm not sure. It's a rather sinister
sound, though. Like low, wicked laughter, or a crackling," Dan said, picking
up his script.
Katie sighed and tried to listen harder. Sometimes being
supernaturally gifted could be wonderful, or it could be horrible, like
when she saw the statue attack Dan. Or it could be downright frustrating,
like now. It didn't work on command. Actually, the more Katie
wanted to see, the less likely she was to see it. Dan's vampire heritage
had probably left him a pretty varied legacy. Enhanced hearing was
probably only one of the gifts he had from it.
Marta walked over to Katie, looking particularly irritable. Katie instantly moved so that she could flee if Marta blew up at her. Marta gave Katie an icy look, even more so than her usual expression, and grabbed her.
"Where did you put my script?" Marta demanded, shaking Katie. Katie only gave back an uncomprehending look.
"I know you took it!" Marta screamed. "You're just trying to get revenge on me because I've known Dan longer than you have. Because I pose a threat to your possession of him! Now where is my script!"
Katie observed Dan and Terra approaching Marta from behind. At least Katie would not be expected to face the insane Marta alone. Facing Marta alone was probably a near-deadly thing, Katie realized.
Terra laughed behind the enraged actress. "Marta, you left your script in the room where we were rehearsing yesterday. Katie never touched it, and I don't blame her for not touching it!"
Realization dawned in Marta's eyes as she realized that Terra was right. Marta turned and walked off the stage, heading for the rooms in the back of the theater where most of the rehearsals were held.
The director arrived, along with a sandy-haired young man with a laptop computer. Several of the actors gave the freckled young man confused looks, wondering who he was. He was introduced to the wary, milling group of actors as Bill, who would be the publicist for the show.
Bill cocked his head to one side. "I hear something- a crackling or a rustling sound," he commented, supporting what Dan had said earlier. "And something around here smells really wierd."
"Now that you mention it, soemthing does smell rather odd," Dan said, sniffing at the air in a critical manner.
Katie became confused. She couldn't hear or smell a thing, and she could tell that most of the other actors were confused as well. Maybe they didn't really sense anything at all and this was just one big hoax.
"Dan?" Katie whispered. "Is this a joke?"
Dan shook his head. "No. I really do smell and hear something. There's something out there making the noise and the smell."
Katie was simply standing there, totally perplexed by the uncanny sounds and smells that not everybody could hear or smell. Katie's thoughts were interrupted by Marta, who dashed onto the stage, shrieking like a banshee and causing general commotion. Everyone turned to look at the source of the screams.
Terra caught Marta, forcing her to stop. Marta had a coughing fit in her frenzy. Her eyes were huge with fear, the pupils dilated to the point that her pale green irises were invisible.
"Let me go!" Marta demanded in a tone of voice just below a scream. "We all have to get out-now! The hallway is filled with smoke and I could feel the heat from the fire! We have to leave!"
When Marta had come onto the stage, an oven-hot blast of heat had accompanied her. Terra left Marta go and headed for the doors. The director left his briefcase and ran for it, waddling all the way. Dan and Katie vanished from the stage in a swirl of their capes. Last of all was Bill who had lovingly packed up his laptop before fleeing and had it tucked under his arm.
As the group reached the big double doors, the room burst into flames behind them. Dan heard the thud behind him, but dismissed it as only part of the old structure collapsing somewhere. The group made it safe into the streeet.
Now Katie realized the significance of what the carved head had tried to tell her. But Marta had been running with the rest of the actors, she had to be out in the street with them. Katie looked around the street, filled with the scattered cast of Dead Shakespeare, for the raven-haired actress. Marta Cassini was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Marta?" Katie screamed at the top of her lungs. Many of the actors turned and stared at her, never expecting Katie to care about the whereabouts or welfare of her rival for Dan's affections. Dan ran over to Katie, wearing a look of concern, as though he thought that she had hurt herself.
"You think that she didn't make it out?" Dan asked her. Katie nodded in response to his question.
Dan turned toward the building. Outwardly, it still looked normal, but he could hear the rush and crackle of the flames. Behind that sound, hidden in it, was the thin, faint sound of a woman's distant scream, coming from inside the building. It had to be Marta, but where had she fallen?
Dan tossed his cape to Katie. It would only get in his way. Then he dashed toward the building, intent on saving Marta.
"Dan! No!" Katie cried, reaching out her hand toward him as he vanished into the building, temporarily forgetting that vampires were immortal.
Tears trickled down Katie's cheeks. Was it her destiny to love and lose? Whay did Dan have to be so heroic? Marta had only caused hurt and annoyance toward other people who knew her.
Katie finally managed to remember that Dan was a vampire. He could only be killed with a wooden stake and she relaxed a little. But only a little. What if the roof collapsed while he ws inside and he got stabbd by a piece of the wreckage? Would that count as a stake? Or did it have to be wielded by a human to kill him? Katie was almost panicking about Dan.
Dan ran into the lobby. The heat blasted him and the room was smoky. He pulled his shirt over his nose and it helped a little. Marta wasn't there. He groped his way to the steps and dashed up. The hall was even smokier, and he could see very little. The smoke was stinging his eyes.
"Marta!" he yelled, his voice rough from the somke that was tearing his eyes. For a moment, he heard nothing. Then Dan heard a vague whimper in response from the auditorium.
The big carved doors were closed. The last out must have closed them in an attempt to keep the fire from spreading further. Dan pushed on one of them. The door creaked and the hinges made a grating sound, but it did not open. The oil that ordinarily lubricated the doors must have evaporated from the heat.
By flinging his body into the door, Dan, finally managed to open it. Inside, the room was full of flame, but there was very little smoke. Dan could hear the odd creaking, cracking noises. The theater was not far from collapse. If he was going to find Marta, he would have to do it quickly. He looked around, almost desperately, driven on by a force that he could not explain.
Marta lay where she had tripped and fallen.
A piece of the ceiling had collapsed on top of her and pinned her to the
floor.
Marta looked up at him. Her strange green eyes were clouded
with pain. They begged Dan to help her. Dan bent down and heaved
the burning chunk of wood and plaster off of Marta's legs. The chunk
of ceiling rolled over to reveal a sculpted plaster head, veiled with cobwebs
and ringed with flames.
The sudden appearance of the head startled Dan. He leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding setting himself alight. Dan settled himself and bent over Marta, picking up her light body with little trouble.
Marta's legs were burnt and hanging at odd angles. Blood dripped down Dan's arm from the assorted places where bone showed through skin in deep gashes and where it had forced itself through. Even though the wounds were serious, Dan had no time to linger and look at them.
Dashing out the doors, he noted that the hall and lobby had caught now. Another few seconds, and they both would have been trapped. He would have survived, but it would have been torture worse than any of the midieval torturemasters ever dreamed of. At least Marta would have died and melted from the heat relatively quickly.
Outside, a firefighter was questioning Katie, who had been crying softly almost the whole time Dan had been inside. The worries and the fears were almost too much for her, and she had simply begun sobbing.
"Is anyone still inside that you know of?" the kind firefighter asked, looking into Katie's tear-reddened eyes.
The kind man's blue eyes reminded Katie too much of Dan, but she bit back her renewed sobs and answered the question. "There were two. My boyfriend went back in to try to get Marta Cassini out after she fell or something."
"Thank you," the firefighter said, informing the other firefighters. "Who is your boyfriend?"
"Daniel Perth," Katie said, and sobbed again, hoping that she would somehow have her Dan back again, unhurt.
"Dan Perth, eh? My wife would be mighty jealous. She drags me out to see all his movies and we have to see every Broadway show he's in. Last thing I saw was 'Dragonslayer'- and that was this morning. My wife talks about nothing but how sexy Dan is for three weeks after every time she sees him onstage," he said with a chuckle. "I have to tell her that I met Dan's girlfriend today."
Dan ran out into the street. Sirens could be heard, still rushing to the blaze. Firefighters had already blocked off the street. Katie gasped and ran toward Dan in joy that he had escaped.
Dan's long hair had been lightly singed in the blaze. The ends were charred a brownish-black. His face and shirt were smeared with soot. Blood dyed his hands and arms a brilliant red.
Dan laid Marta down on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The firefighters turned their hoses on full force and began drenching the building and its neighbors. The ambulance teams noticed them and began to come over. Dan motioned for them to move faster.
Katie bent down and checked Marta's pulse, ignoring the sickening mass of crushed, gouged meat and bone that had been her legs. She felt nothing. Dan had risked extreme pain, probably torture more horrible than any other kind, to rescue someone destined to die anyway.
Dan looked expectantly down at her, wanting her to say that Marta lived. Sorry to upset and disappoint him, Katie looked up into Dan's intense brown eyes and told him.
"She's dead."
Dan closed his eyes and whispered, "She didn't deserve this. Why did this have to happen?"
"You tried," Katie said, looking toward
Dan. He stood silhouetted against the flames. "It wasn't your
fault that she died."
Katie stepped forward, leaving Dan looking down at Marta's still
form while the paramedics treated him. Part of the roof collapsed.
Perhaps related to this and perhaps not, something rolled out of the building,
strangely not alight. It came to rest against Katie's feet.
Bending down to pick it up, Katie wondered what gift the building had given her in its death. She turned the object over, marveling at how it seemed to be totally unscathed by the fire.
Gazing up at Katie out of her hand was the lifesize head that had tried to warn her of this earlier. Katie tucked it under her arm and walked over to where the paramedics were just finishing up with Dan.
"At least one of you survived this day," Katie
whispered to the head. "One died and one continued. There is
a balance."
When Dan finally got away from the paramedics, Katie showed it
to him. Dan laughed and told her to keep it.
"No one will ever know or care that you have it," Dan said. "And any other momentoes of the Figaro Theater just burned along with it. Someday, that carving may be very valuable and you'll be glad that you kept it."
PART IX
IMMORTAL'S GUILT
Dan led Katie away. Neither of them looked back. Katie spent the afternoon watching talk shows. Dan buried himself in a seemingly ever-deepening pile of books. Later that night, Katie went upstairs to get changed. Dan had wanted to take her out to dinner, for no real reason, other than that he wanted to be near her.
After Katie was done getting dressed, she noticed a door in the living room of her apartment. Wondering where it led, she opened it.
The door opened onto the roof of the building and Katie was not alone up there. A single figure sat on the ledge at the edge of the roof. The figure was instantly recognizable with its long blue cape blowing in the wind.
Dan sat on the carved stone ledge, draped in his midnight cape. He rested back against one of the leering gargoyles that inhabited the ledge. Dan looked unbearbly sad and lonely as he watched the flow of traffic below. Katie walked over to him.
"Dan?" Katie called. He turned towards her, causing the lights to glow on his hair. "You're not blaming yourself for Marta's death, are you?"
"How can I not?" Dan asked her in a miserable
tone of voice that indicated his anger at himself.
"You can't. It wasn't your fault that she fell and was struck by debris," Katie said. "There was nothing you could have done."
"Yes, it is. I wasn't fast enough. I doubted. I can't be killed by fire. If I hadn't doubted myself, Marta would be alive," Dan said, yelling at himself, cursing the immortal body that had failed him.
"It's too late for that now," Katie said. "She's gone. You can't change that by blaming yourself. She's finally found happiness after years of futile man-hunting."
Dan sighed and shivered. "I could fling myself off the ledge and not die," he said, his ordinarily cute face grim.
"Dan, no!" Katie said, looking into his face. A suicidal immortal may not have been the best person to be near, but Katie didn't think of that. "You can go on. It's not your fault, and it never was."
Katie suddenly noticed that Dan was shivering badly. She could see that he was deliberately torturing himself as a sort of sick penance for something beyond his control. Katie put her arms around him.
Mute pain showed in Dan's eyes. "Katie, go home. Go back to where you came from and get a secretary job. Marry a local boy. I can gurantee that you'll be happier with him."
"What?" Katie asked, totally puzzled by Dan's somewhat crazed behavior and strange suggestions.
Dan's brown eyes filled with tears. "Just go, before I hurt you just like I let Marta die!"
"Dan, calm down. Come on, let's go inside," Katie said. leading her love in from the cold, windy roof.
Dan laid weakly down on the couch. Katie became worried as time passed and Dan showed no sign of his usual vitality. He also continued his severe shivering.
Katie wrapped his cape and several blankets around him. Dan was still shivering. Katie couldn't quite understand him. If he wasn't cold, then why was he shivering? What was wrong?
"I...I'm not cold," Dan said through his shivering. "The moon is still dark...I need...I need blood..."
Katie understood. Dan was starving. But where could she get human blood? And without it Dan would die. Finally, an idea dawned on Katie. She walked into the kitchen and retrieved a sharp knife. Steeling herself against the pain, she made a small cut in her arm, and held it out to him.
Dan gave her a surprised look, then touched his lips to the red spot. Katie began to feel weak and sat down. Dan released her arm and laid back, no longer shaking.
"I feel strange..." Dan said. "I don't crave blood..."
"Do you mean that you're not a vampire anymore? What?" Katie asked, puzzled. "Open your mouth and show me your fangs."
Dan obeyed. His fangs were gone, replaced by ordinary teeth that anyone might have in their mouth.
"Do you have a magical ability?" Dan asked her. "That could have interacted with the magic inherent in my vampire biochemistry and basically neutralized the need to have blood."
"I do," Katie said reluctantly. "I see the future sometimes. Could that have done it? Could that have made you human?"
"Yes!" Dan said. "I don't need blood to live anymore. I can love you, Katie! I'm free to hold you!"
Katie hugged him and Dan gladly returned the embrace, even though he loosened it somewhat to fish for something in his pocket.
"Katie," he said softly. "I was thinking about this a lot. I was ready. But this just made it a whole lot easier."
"What is it?" Katie said, her eyes sparkling. She was sure that she knew what Dan's question would be.
"I..." Dan said, unsure of exactly how to ask. Then it all tumbled out. "Katie I loved you, I knew that you would have accepted my strange habits even if you hadn't cured me of them. Will you marry me?"
Dan produced a ring with a big, glittering diamond and stood ready to slide it on her finger. Katie flung her arms around Dan's neck.
"Yes! Yes, I will!" Katie cried.
Dan slid the diamond ring onto her finger and asked her. "Would you like to go for dinner now? I have the strangest craving for vegetable soup."
"Sure," Katie responded, and followed Dan out
the door.