The Blood That Bonds - By Christopher Buecheler Page 0,41

grinned, nodded. “I imagine that’s the case.”

“The vampires I know are sexual creatures, barring Abraham, and they don’t necessarily adhere to traditional sexual values.” Theroen glanced at Melissa, who waved at him, still giggling. “This has... opened my eyes significantly. I would not be bothered at all, at this stage of my life, though I can’t claim to have any particular attraction to men of any age. But then? I was horrified. Here was the man who had taken me under his wing, taught me many things about the good book, solidified in me my belief that I wanted to be ordained and helped me see it through...”

“And there he was trying to cop a feel in the middle of a fucking church!” Melissa rolled backwards in the grass, clutching her knees to her chest, laughter renewed. “It’s not that I care, I just... I can picture Theroen’s face. Oh my god, I’m going to die.”

“I was actually so startled that, in my confusion, I asked him if he was hurt. As absurd as it was, my brain had decided that he was perhaps having a stroke or heart attack, and had simply fallen against me.”

Melissa howled laughter at the moon. “Stop it, Theroen! My stomach hurts!”

Her laughter was contagious, and Two found herself joining, although she did not find the scene that Theroen described to be nearly as amusing as Melissa. Funny, sure, but perhaps the age she had lived in had inured her to these things. She had at first expected Theroen’s story to involve religious boys much younger than he had been.

Finally, Melissa’s laughter died down. She lay on the grass, looking up at the night sky, gasping for air and breaking into giggles here and there.

“May I continue?” There was a half-smile on Theroen’s lips.

“Yes, please.” Two looked back to him.

“I’m sorry, Two. Really. I just... I mean, it’s Theroen. Anyone else, it wouldn’t be that funny. You know?”

Two smiled. Nodded. She knew.

“When I was finally able to accept what had happened --- and no one had moved, mind you. We both seemed frozen after I had stepped away -- I shouted something about God’s wrath and stormed from the church. I could hear Father Leopold stammering, shuffling behind me, calling me back, but it was far too late for that. I was in the London streets, the night was still early, and I let the crowd swallow me.”

“I walked for some time without really thinking of anything other than the punishments God would surely hurl down upon Leopold. Plague, a rain of fire and brimstone... something must occur. And yet, the longer I walked, the more I came to realize that this, of course, could not have been some spontaneous conversion on Leopold’s part. He must have been fighting his urges for quite some time before at last giving in, and for all I knew, I was not the first he had approached.

“How was it possible? How could God permit it? How could He let this man, filled with such impurity, become not only His servant, but the head of a large cathedral. It was impossible. Yet it had happened.”

Theroen was looking at the moon again. He smiled.

“Eventually my wandering led me to a graveyard. Chance? Fate? I don’t know. I could not remember the path I had taken to get there, but it mattered little. I sat with my head bowed on a stone bench for some time, until finally I implored God to deliver me from this confusion, and light my path before me.

“God did not answer, but from the darkness beyond the graves a voice whispered to me. Abraham’s voice.”

Two shuddered. Her brief meeting with Abraham was still crystal-clear in her mind. She wondered if it would ever fade.

“Unlikely,” Theroen said. “He has that affect on people. I remember this first meeting with him like it was yesterday.”

“You remember everything like it was yesterday, and stop reading her mind. That’s not fair.” Melissa was sitting up again, leaning her elbows against her knees, chin resting on her palms, grinning at them.

“My apologies, Melissa.”

“You’re just a big showoff! You know Abraham has to be close to people to do it, and you know I can’t do it much at all.”

Theroen shrugged. “It is a gift I am thankful for. I will be curious to see if I have passed it on to Two.”

“He got all the good genes,” Melissa said. “I’d be jealous, but I don’t have to talk to Abraham, so I