After Elizabeth came, I rolled over and pulled her onto my chest. I moved her hair away from her neck and I licked the wounds I'd left there, healing them. She giggled.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, just a little cleanup," I said, pulling her head under my chin. I kissed her hair.
She nestled close to me. "Am I still cold?" I asked.
"You're warming up nicely,"
I listened to her breathe as we lay together in a comfortable silence.
"You know, this is the first time I've ever slept with someone without knowing his last name,"
I laughed. "There's a lot we don't know about each other,"
"True. But I'm pretty sure you're supposed to know someone's last name before you know what their genitals look like. I mean, in an ideal world,"
"Okay. My name is Stanislav Szymanski. And you are?"
"I'm Elizabeth Black. So nice to meet you, Mr. Szymanski," she said.
"And you as well, Miss Black. I must say your genitals are very attractive,"
Elizabeth snorted. "Well,
that's
an unusual compliment!"
I held her tighter and kissed her hair again.
"I still don't know very much about you,"
"You know my name. You know where I'm from. And you know I'm a fictional creature. What else do you need to know?"
She thought for a moment. "Okay. You keep saying you're an old man. How old are you?"
"We don't count it the same way you do," I said. Then I noticed an annoyed look crossing her face. "If you're asking how long I've been a vampire... well, nearly 600 years,"
Her face softened. "Is that a long time?"
"Yes and no. I guess it makes me middle-aged, for my kind. There are those who are older than me," I smiled at her. "Telling you about myself is not simple. There's a lot of ground to cover and most of it is... unpleasant," I said.
Elizabeth pulled away from me, and her face turned serious. "I don't care. I want to hear about you,"
I looked at her for a long time. Her absolute fearlessness amazed me.
"I don't even know where to start,"
"Why don't you tell me why it's so ridiculous to ask if you knew Vlad the Impaler," she said
I smiled at her and chuckled a little, but she didn't smile.
"You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"Nope,"
I sighed. "I don't talk about myself often. This better not end up in a book,"
"I promise nothing. But, if it helps, I won't describe you as brooding,"
"Just don't tell people I sparkle,"
"Deal!"
I took a deep breath. "Asking if I knew Vlad the Impaler is a silly question. It's true, we were contemporaries, but we lived in different worlds, and not just because of the distance. He was royalty. He was a ruler. I was a peasant,"
Elizabeth was listening closely.
"We were farmers. We didn't have much, but we had good land. My father was skilled at getting the most out of what we had. My mother was amazing. She was always cooking and baking something, and when she wasn't, she was making clothes and finding a way to make our home more pleasant. I never saw either of my parents' rest, except for Sunday. We never went hungry, and we never lacked for anything."
"You had a nice family," she said. I nodded.
"I did have a nice family, but I didn't appreciate them. Even though my family was happy and comfortable, I still wanted more. I loved music and art, what little I was exposed to. I didn't believe the priest, but I loved going to church so I could see the stained-glass windows and hear their chants. I enjoyed going to the pub and listening to the stories the soldiers and merchants told about places I would never see.
My father was a big man who was very practical. He thought I spent too much time dreaming. I was his first son and he expected me to be more down-to-earth, but I always disappointed him in that way. He told me I would find out someday that life was a serious business. I found out the day he told me I would marry Magda in the spring."
"Was she your first love?"
I laughed. "No, not at all. Magda was the only child of our neighbor. She was a nice girl, but she wasn't very bright. She wasn't interested in the world past the village. Trying to talk to her about anything was like talking to a cow. She looked back at me with big, brown eyes that didn't seem to understand anything,"
Elizabeth frowned. "Why did he tell you to marry her?"
"Well, Magda's father had a nice piece of land, and my father thought it would make a good addition. He was very practical, and it made sense to him. When my father told me I would marry her, I didn't complain or argue, but I mourned the death of possibility. My mother didn't say a word against the idea, but she put a hand on my shoulder with tears in her eyes. I realize now that she knew just what father's plans meant for my dreams of the world. I would marry Magda, her father's farm would become ours, and that was that. Our wedding would happen the next spring. I worked hard to not give any hint of my disappointment,"
"So, what happened? Did you marry her?"
I told Elizabeth of how the gypsies came to town at the end of that summer. I told her how they had jugglers and musicians and fortune-tellers and lots of pretty girls. Watching the gypsies, I felt like there was some hope for a different world. I thought maybe my life wasn't over quite yet.
"They were like the people from the old songs and stories come to life. They wore bright colors, they sang new songs, they were interesting and beautiful,"
Elizabeth kissed me. "Please go on,"
I told Elizabeth about how suspicious some of the villagers were. The priest thought the gypsies were thieves. My father thought they were just silly entertainment. But he wasn't surprised by my interest. He allowed me to go see the caravan after my chores were done.
"Didn't you live on a farm? Geez! You must not have had a lot to do!" she teased
I chuckled. "I was a young man, just 18, and I had a lot of energy."
She seemed skeptical on this point. "Still, though -
"Would you like me to continue, or do you actually want to hear more about 15
th
-century farm life?"
She laughed. "No, I'll take your word for it,"
"I went to see the caravan after chores. It was amazing! I heard new stories and songs, I saw new dances. There was one girl, in particular, Vadoma. She was beautiful. She had blue-black hair and dark eyes. She had deep dimples and a beautiful figure,"
"So, THIS girl was your first love!"