Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Gray Sky ❯ Chapter 10

It took another half hour to get the fire out and it had become nighttime. The trio went back to the firehouse and Trace told her to go home and she gratefully obeyed.

 

She pulled up into the driveway and went inside the house. When she entered the house, she saw Damian lying on the couch, watching TV. He looked up and smiled. She smiled back. Wait! How did she look?

 

Carrie rubbed a hand on her face and sure enough, she could feel soot. Her face flushed.

 

“I'm going to take a shower,” she said as she headed toward the bathroom. She stripped off her clothes and took a long, hot shower. She washed her hair with honey shampoo and conditioner and lathered her body with ginseng shower gel.

 

She shut the water off and wrapped her body in a fuzzy towel and her hair into a turban with another tower. Carrie opened the door and peeked out to make sure that the coast was clear. It was and she made a beeline for her bedroom. When she turned around, she saw a black dress lying on her bed.

 

Carrie walked toward it and touched it. It was silkier than a spider's web. She heard a voice from the other side of the door.

 

“I would like you to meet someone tonight. I brought that dress with me from Britain and I thought that you would like it. Take your time, darling.”

 

She picked the dress up. It was strapless and there were blood red sequins that went from the hem of the dress around and around until it finished at the waistline. At the back, it was bare halfway down and once she put the dress on, she realized that there was a slit that went up to the knee.

 

Her fair complexion pulled it off easily. She slipped on a pair of velvet black, low-heeled shoes. She had her hair wavy and applied charcoal gray eye shadow.

 

She entered the room and saw that Damian was wearing a black tux, a black silk shirt and a black tie. His hair was down.

 

“You look magnificent,” he said as he held his hand. She took it and he led her outside and into his car. Then they pulled off.

 

“So, we're going to your house then? I can't wait! Who am I going to meet, your mom?” asked Carrie.

 

Damian chuckled. “No, my mother has been long dead. You are going to meet a friend of mine.”

 

A friend? Carrie thought as she looked at him. Then she turned her head to stare out the window.

 

He turned into a wooded area. Carrie was puzzled. She didn't see a driveway or a road...and it was bumpy! They were both bouncing in their seats until they hit something smooth.

 

They arrived at a house and Carrie was awestruck. It was a massive mansion. It had French door and windows. Damian drove up around the circle and parked at the front. He turned the engine off and got out to open the door for Carrie. She got out and Damian offered his arm, which Carrie gratefully accepted.

 

The couple walked up the stairs that led to the inside of the house. The inside was big, but airy. There was a huge, crystal chandelier that gave off a dim light. Damian led her outside. Just before they went out the door that led to the outside, Carrie saw a beautiful girl that had black ringlets and what seemed to be wearing a black slip dress with a pearl necklace.

 

“Ashling, this is Carrie. Carrie this is Ashling,” Damian introduced. Ashling turned her head. Carrie saw that her eyes were brown with a tint of red.

 

“Hello Carrie. I am so pleased to have finally met you. Damian told me a lot about you. Ah, you do smell delectable. No wonder he is so attracted to you,” she said.

 

Carrie started to sweat. She stepped a few feet back. “Delectable? What is this? A `Let's-Suck-Carrie's-Blood-Party'?” she said.

 

Damian rolled his eyes and Ashling giggled. This was getting even Carrie more frustrated. “I don't see what's so funny!”

 

“I am only joking Carrie, but you do smell nice. We don't even suck human blood anymore. We gave that up a century ago,” said Ashling.

 

Carrie let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Then she asked, “How did the both of you come across each other?”

 

Damian and Ashling looked at each other and then Damian said, “Why don't we sit down? It is a long story.”

 

Damian led her to a chair and he sat down next to her.

 

“Where shall we begin?” he thought out loud. Then he continued, “Ashling and I are from the United Kingdom. But I was born thirty-eight years before her. I was born in 1863 in London. My mother was a good woman. She worked for Queen Victoria as a cook. My father worked as a stable hand. But he died from an accident when I was very young. It broke my mother's heart since she loved him very much.

 

“While growing up, I helped my mother and the other cooks in the kitchen. When I was twenty-two years old, which was in the year 1885, I fell in love with a girl named Rebecca, who worked as a maid.”

 

When Damian said that he fell in love with another girl, Carrie felt a pang of jealousy.

 

He went on, “She was quite extraordinary. She laughed at the smallest thing. Well, whenever I wasn't working, I was drawing. I became quite an artist. I drew some pictures of her and I would show them to her. She loved them. Then one day, I took her aside and told her how I felt. Alas, she did not feel the same to me. She only thought me as a friend and none else. That shattered my heart and I went into town.

 

“Back then, London was full of vampires and people knew about them. I went into a nest and had a vampire bite me. I was hoping it would kill me since I was so depressed, but the vampire didn't. It let me turn into one of them. Who would have known that it would be the last time I would know humanity.

 

“When I woke up, I felt a burning feeling. I realized that my foot was starting to burn since it was in the sunlight. I learned many things from them. What would kill and would not kill me. But the only thing that occurred to me was that I couldn't face my mother. The last time I saw her was at her funeral a few years later when she died from the pox.”

 

There was a moment of silence. Carrie laid her hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze.

 

“Would you like me to go on Damian?” asked Ashling, giving him a loving look. Damian nodded.

 

She said, “I was born in 1891. My mother was a prostitute, so I never knew who my true father was. I had other siblings that had different fathers. We all got along and helped each other. Our mother was good to us and provided food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads. Her friends would pitch in.

 

“In 1907, when I was sixteen, I caught a disease that had no cure in its day. It was polio, a mild case. Men took me away from my home. My mother was struggling to get me back, but the other men pulled her back. I can still see her face. It was wretched with a mother's heartbreak.

 

“They dumped me in a house that had other people with other diseases. One night, I broke out. I couldn't stand the stench or the painful moans. I was just in my nightgown and the rain was pouring. The only thought on my mind was to go home and see my family again. I could still walk, but it was a bit painful.

 

“I was on the road and I slipped and fell. I heard rustling in the bushes and was starting to get scared. I thought that it was the men from the house. A dark figure appeared and started walking towards me. I didn't have the strength to scream. My eyes were starting to get heavy and the only thing I saw before they shut, were Damian's eyes. And thus I became a vampire. He saved me...in a way.”

 

After Ashling was finished, Carrie looked at the both of them. Their history was very unique.

 

“So, what made you stop drinking human blood?” she asked them.

 

Damian answered, “It was starting to sicken us both, murdering innocent people. We started to drink chicken blood in red wine.”

 

Carrie was silent. Then she asked, “What made you move to America?”

 

“There's a man from a long line of vampire hunters. Vampires are starting to be extinct because of them. That's why we moved, but Damian calls it a change of scenery and that we should see more of the world. But I do miss London,” Ashling answered.

 

Carrie looked at Damian, who took a sip of red wine and licked his lips. Then she looked at Ashling. There was a small voice in the back in her head that asked what in the hell she got herself into?

 

But she pushed that aside.

 

“So, I heard that you're a fire fighter. That's must be amazing,” said Ashling with a smile.

 

“Yeah, I am. It's a very rewarding job,” Carrie answered.

 

“Aren't you hungry? Even though we are vampires, we still know about human necessities,” said Ashling.

 

Carrie's stomach growled and gave Ashling a shy smile. Ashling giggled and went into the house to cook something for her, leaving Damian and Carrie alone.

 

There was a moment of silence. Carrie looked around.

 

“So, what do you think?” Damian asked, breaking the silence.

 

“About what?”

 

“About what we told you.”

 

“I don't know. I have nothing to say. It's in the past, isn't it?”

 

Damian smiled. Ashling came back out carrying a tray of shrimp and cocktail sauce. Carrie's mouth started to water. She loved shrimp.

 

Ashling and Damian watched Carrie eat the shrimp while drinking the wine. Carrie wondered if they missed eating food. Then she yawned.

 

“I guess it's getting late. Carrie has to work tomorrow morning. I'll see you later, Ashling,” said Damian, grabbing Carrie's hand.

 

“It was very nice meeting you, Ashling. I hope we'll see each other again soon,” said Carrie, giving her a hug.

 

“I think we will and it was nice to meet you too,” replied Ashling, returning the hug.

 

Damian was driving Carrie home. She laid her head on his shoulder, asleep. Damian smiled. He had not felt so happy in such a long time. What he felt for Carrie was so much stronger than he had felt towards Rebecca all that long ago. Maybe he wasn't truly in love with Rebecca. Maybe it was just puppy love.

 

He pulled into the driveway and turned the engine off. He got out of the car and went to open the door on Carrie's side. He undid the seatbelt she was wearing and carried Carrie into her house bridal-style.

 

When he was in her room, he laid her down gently. Damian didn't want to undress Carrie and put her into her nightgown in case she woke up and got the wrong idea.

 

Instead, he tucked her in and kissed her on her forehead. “Good night, my love,” he whispered.