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In the Eyes of a Vampire
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Chapter 8
Nazarene returned back to the hotel. His eyes were dry and his heart was heavy. He had been through so much as an immortal and still he was but a child. Who ever had named this a gift had not experienced the trials that he had bore witness too. He would rather refer to it as a curse, for that is what meaning it held for him. He hung his head and could not bring himself to walk with confidence. He had been stripped of everything that he never knew meant anything to him. His mortality, his passive life, his right to grow old and die, and all things he would no longer know. The sunlight on his face, children, grandchildren, all robbed from him by some stranger in the night. One who now held the only guiding light in his darkened world. He had no home, no soul and now, no heart. Had he the courage, he would end his strife this very night. But alas, he was a coward.
He entered the hotel, his slumped shoulders betraying the melancholy that ripped through to his core. He must forget all that he was, all that he had been. He must leave his mortality buried with Aspaisia’s ashes in order to survive. He moved into the elevator like a man who was dead. He did not notice the stranger sitting in the lobby watching his every mood, or the odd stares from the other hotel guests. Perhaps if he had noticed the stranger, he would have recognized the stone white face of a vampire. He may have looked long enough to see the look in his eyes, know that it was no coincidence that he sat in the very hotel lobby that Nazarene was staying in. Perhaps he would have questioned it. But he did not, he continued to his rooms, none the wiser.
He paused again, outside of what had been Aspaisia’s room. He pondered on whether he should gather what little things she may have left. One last time he thought to himself. Then he would let go, forever. Pushing open the door, he instantly regretted the choice as the grief ripped through him like a violent storm. He tried to hold back the flood of emotions, he tried to remain closed, to perform the task and leave. But instead he sunk to the bed, his eyes falling on the spot where a small amount of ashes still dusted the carpet. He remained this way, frozen, unfeeling and slowly closed himself off. He walled up his heart and flushed what remained of his mortality. After hours in his trance like state, he rose and glanced around the room for anything she may have left behind. But all he found where the glass shards of a broken lamp in the corner. Confusion washed over him. Why would there be a broken lamp where there was no table? A lamp that had once rested on the other side of the room. This could not have been a random act of clumsiness. It was impossible that the lamp had simply been carelessly knocked over. He pondered the idea of someone carrying it and accidently dropping it, but this made no sense either. His gaze moved to a dent in the wall, above the broken lamp. Shock ran through him, he knew now the lamp had been thrown at the wall. But why, out of frustration or anger? Or had it been thrown at an intruder.
Fully aware now, his eyes scanned the room more thoroughly. It was in a state of complete disarray. As if there had been a struggle. His heart began to beat wildly. Maybe she had not killed herself. Perhaps she had been murdered. His heart stopped as the possibilities ran through him. Someone tied to the cult must have come for her. Found her, and killed her. Or it had all been staged, what if she was alive out there? What if the ashes were not hers, but strategically placed to make him think she was dead. Breathing heavily he backed slowly out of the room, then turned to run, smashing head first into Lais. He began to speak rapidly, his sentences mingling as words tumbled in no logical order from his mouth.
Lais placed his hands on Nazarene’s shoulders and shock him gently. Getting no response, he gently slapped him across the face, trying to bring him to his senses.
“Please, Nazarene, I cannot understand this nonsense that is spewing forth from your lips. Slow down, breathe and calm yourself.” Nazarene pushed away from Lais’ grip. He paced around and tried to slow his racing heart. Lais watched in confusion. He knew that Nazarene had been devastated, but this was not the act of a man in grief. Lais sat on the edge of the bed and waited patiently for Nazarene to calm himself so that he may recant his story. Finally Nazarene sank into the chair, a look of a deer in headlights across his face, and began to speak in a slow and calculated manner.
"I fear Aspaisia was murdered. At first I thought she had killed herself, but now I am not so sure." Lais looked at Nazarene with a sad face. He felt grief had painted the wrong picture, one that was not allowing Nazarene to move on, part of him was still holding on.
"Nazarene." Lais began to speak but was interrupted.
"No, please, just listen. There was a lamp, smashed against the wall. One that came from the other side of the room. And there is visible signs of a struggle. I had no such struggle nor did you. So by process of elimination, it could only have been Aspaisia. And I do no believe she had been struggling with herself, that does not make sense. Do you agree."
Lais hesitated, he did not want to give hope where they may be none. He had to answering carefully so as not to fan the flames of this absurd story. "Well, I cannot think of any logical reason why she would have thrown the lamp, or why the room would be in disarray. However..." He was cut off before he could finish his disproof of Nazarene's theory.
"A simple yes or no is all I needed. I know her. I know you are going to say i barely knew her, that I just met her. But I feel as if I got to know her better than I could have known someone else, had i spent a lifetime with them." He paused to recollect his thoughts. But continued when he noticed Lais was about to speak.
"She was not crazy, nor did she have anger problems. I know within my heart that she did not cause the room to be in such disaster on purpose. Lais, she was murdered. I do not know why or by whom. But I know it. I feel it. I believe it with everything that I am. I will not rest until I find out the truth. What really happened to her and why. I owe her at least that much."
Lais sighed, he knew there was nothing he could say to discourage this quest. He sighed again, knowing this quest would probably bring more throuble than the ones before had when combined. But how could he deny this of Nazarene? Had he been in Nazarene's place, he would react the same way. The term fool for love did not come from someone's imagination. He knew all too well that a heart in love could acheive anything, even that which bares the mark of the inconceivable.
"Nazarene." Lais began slowly. "Are you sure you are not just seeing things that are not there? Are you positive this is not just a manifestation of the mind? A way to deal with her death? A way to not have to let go and move on?"
"Lais, please. I am not a child. I am not manufacturing this. If it were not true, I wuld be able to move on, get over her. And that is something I am doing, as she is dead. However, I cannot simply stand by and let her murder go unavenged. She suffered enough. I will not have her spirit suffer as well."
Lais sighed again and shock his head. He knew he would have better luck trying to convince a brick wall that it was a bowl of jello.
"Where do you propose we been this seemingly impossible task? Shall we scower the room with a fine tooth comb? Itemize and catagorize every little hair we find? Nazarene, this will not be an easy feat. We have no leads, no place to begin. Not even a clue other than some shards of glass and a messy hotel room. Please, lets just go home. Drop this insane idea and lets move on."
"Lais, that I cannot do. Please do not ask it of me. Please do not abandom me in my time of need. I can not do this without you. Assist me, I can not do it without you. You are stronger, your vampire senses more powerful. You may pick up a trail I would have missed. I promise you. Help me with this and then we will return home. No more silly quests or incessant questioning."
Lais walked towards the window and gazed out. How could he turn his back on Nazarene? Yet, this was a quest that could very well take a thousands lifetimes. He was tired, his immortal bones yearning for less excitement. He had not seen such adventures in all his years if life, both mortal and immortal. Had he notthe unfailing zest of a vampire, he felt he would have collapsed from exhaustion sometime during Nazarene's immortal chaos. He feared that trouble wouyld always seek Nazarene out. There would be no escape, and because of it, no escape for Lais. He could not, no, he would not abandon Nazarene. But he did not know if they would be able to survive such folly.
"Allow me to sleep on it. Daylight is stirring in the east and the sun will soon be upon us. Let us rest and decide with a clear head." With that Lais turned and left the room, leaving Nazarne to staring, saddened, at the light creeping into the horizon. Tempation nearly swayed him to remain there, allow the sun's fiery rays to reunite him with his beloved. But he could not go quietly into the day withou first avenging her death. A warrior for justice he would be, he would stop at nothing until death took her assailant, or until deaths cold grasp embraced him.
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