Loopholes - Part 2

She entered her apartment just as the sun began to brighten the sky. She hung her trench coat in the closet and tossed the bag of potato chips on the kitchen counter. Her counter remained bare, but for a block of knives, a blender and a coffee pot. A sunny yellow tea kettle sat at the ready on her gas stove.

Still feeling a little thirsty, Leda opened her refrigerator in search of something more satisfying than mineral water. Besides many more bottles of water, Leda also had a pitcher of lemonade, left over fruit smoothie, left over tomato soup and various bottles of salad dressing. She poured herself an eight ounce glass of raspberry vinaigrette and savored it as she went through her mail.

Her thirst finally quenched, Leda ran a steaming hot bath with lots of bubbles and scented oil. As she soaked, her skin regained some of its original color and felt warm to the touch. Closing her eyes, she sank deeper into the tub, her lips curved up in a contented smile. She soaked for nearly an hour before the water began to lose its luxurious warmth. As Leda began drying herself off, her skin cooled almost immediately and returned to the taupe color Misty had earlier described to her friend.

After putting on a pair of flannel pajamas, Leda checked the blackout drapes hanging in her bedroom to ensure that no stray rays of sunlight could sneak through. Soon after she settled under the heavy bed clothes, she drifted into something like a meditative fugue state. There she remained for the rest of the day.

Shortly after sunset, the soft rustle of clothing disrupted Leda’s rest. She heard the furtive footsteps of someone trying hard not to disturb, like a teenager trying to sneak his sleeping dad's car keys from the bedside table.

He perched on the foot of her bed like some kind of hybrid frog, blond hair dusting his forehead, large brown eyes filled with sorrow and dread.

"Leda, I'm in trouble."

She didn't worry about how he'd gotten into her apartment. She'd given him a key. He'd been her protégé and one of her best friends for the past fifty years since she'd turned him.

He'd met Leda while he was in prison for stealing a car and driving to Atlantic City with his girlfriend ... just for fun. While in prison, he noticed and enjoyed the way people stepped aside for Leda whenever they saw her coming. They all called her Miss Sidney. When he found out why, he made plans to approach her after he got out.
Leda had tried to dissuade him until he told her what had happened during his time in prison. His slight build and movie star good looks made him an easy and likely target. All he wanted, he'd said, was to never be vulnerable again. So, Leda made him a vampire and mentored him as he grew more aware of the realities of his situation.

"What is it, Sebastian? What's the matter?" Leda sat up and turned on the bedside lamp.

"I killed two humans last night."

"How?"

"I met a woman. I only wanted her for sex. Then her boyfriend called me outside to fight. I broke his neck. That's when she started screaming. The place was in a really bad neighborhood so nobody really listened. But I had to shut her up, so I bit her. And once I started, I couldn't stop. I had to finish her."

Leda adjusted her position. "Were you trying to kill the boyfriend?"

"No," Sebastian sighed, shaking his head, "I just punched him."

Leda sighed, too. Sebastian never learned how to control his strength when dealing with humans. When she'd turned him fifty years ago, Sebastian had only been twenty-six, just three years older than Leda had been when she had become a vampire more than two hundred years before. He’d been reckless as a human and he was a reckless vampire. With all that he'd seen and experienced, she thought he'd, at least, have better control over his impulses.

"What did you do with their bodies?"

"I put them in the boyfriend's car, drove it out to an abandoned warehouse and burned it."

"Does anyone else know?"

Sebastian shook his head, running his finger over the pattern in Leda's bedspread. She knew he’d lied.

"You're going to have to go before the council and tell them what happened before somebody finds that car," she advised.

"Why?"

"Because the police will investigate, and they'll find out that you were the last one seen with them. I'll take you before the council tonight before I go to work. In the mean time, stay out of sight. Stay here."

"All right," Sebastian agreed.

He climbed into the bed beside Leda. She gathered him into her arms maternally, gently stroking his hair until his head collapsed against her shoulder and his body settled against hers like a weighted blanket.

Later, Leda rose, without disturbing Sebastian, and took a steamy shower. Afterward, she drank the remainder of her fruit smoothie as she went back into her bedroom to get dressed. She tried on several different outfits before her full-length mirror before deciding a pair of brown corduroy slacks with a cream cable knit pullover.

"He'll like you no matter what you wear," Sebastian said from the bed.

Leda flinched before glancing at him in the mirror - vampires could cast reflections at will. Sebastian had been watching her the whole time with an amused smirk spread across his lips.

"Who are you talking about?"

"You didn't stop being a woman just because you stopped being human, Leda Sidney. Only a man could make a woman obsess that much over what she's gonna wear."

"Don't be silly. I just want to be sure I'm dressed appropriately for work, that's all."

"Right."

"It's true."

"I believe you.”

Leda leaned over to give Sebastian a chaste kiss on the forehead. "I’m meeting someone before I go in tonight,” she explained. “He’s a detective. Maybe he can help."

"I know who you're going to meet." Sebastian smirked again as he stretched out in Leda’s bed. She ignored him.

With a quick wave, Leda was out the door and on her way to meet Tariq. She knew she should have canceled her meeting with him and taken Sebastian before the council, but Tariq really might be able to help Sebastian. She had to try.