Rachel opened the door and headed down, determined to find her host. She was leaving. Now. Her footsteps slowed as she reached the bottom of the stairs, though, and recollections of her previous encounters with the man struck. Her earlier behavior left her squirming inside. How could she face him? She briefly considered leaving but couldn't move herself to be that rude. The man had saved her life, after all. Rachel wasn't yet sure she cared much for how he had saved her life, but save her he had. She owed it to him to at least offer thanks and let him know she was going.
Having convinced herself she could not in good conscience just flee, Rachel forced herself to continue on. The door was unlocked, and as she swung it open, Rachel noted that it was constructed wholly of metal and at least six inches thick. It made her think of a bank vault. High-tech security, she thought with distraction, then noticed Etienne sitting at the desk. He was rolling his wheeled chair between monitors, making adjustments then rolling back. He wasn't sleeping in the coffin tonight.
Her gaze shifted to that long box and she frowned at it, wondering if she would have to sleep in one as well. The idea wasn't appealing. Rachel had a touch of claustrophobia.
"Oh, you're up."
She glanced at her host. He swung his chair around to face her and was smiling brightly. He seemed to smile a lot, she noticed. He was obviously a happy kind of guy. But then, why not? He was wealthy, good-looking, forever young, and apparently with few cares to burden him. Realizing that she was simply standing there staring, Rachel forced herself to smile and move forward. "What are you doing?"
"Working." He turned back to his monitors and tapped a keyboard, changing the image. Rachel's eyes widened incredulously as she recognized the screen he brought up.
"Blood Lust?" she asked softly. Her eyes widened as the image finished forming. The title was made up of red letters which dripped away like blood. "Blood Lust Two!" she exclaimed. "I love the first version. I didn't know the second was out."
"It isn't. Yet."
"Yet?" Her gaze fixed to the monitor as the title page gave way to the production company logo; then her eyes shot to Etienne. "You aren't saying you're the creator?"
He nodded, his lips splitting in another grin.
"Wow." She looked back at the monitor. "I had heard it was a Torontonian who designed it, but..." But she was rather shocked to find it was a vampire. The game was about vampires: bad ones and a lone female hunter out to destroy them.
"I've pretty much finished Blood Lust Two, except for the final battle," he answered. "I was just about to test play it for flaws or tweaks. Care to join me?"
Rachel hesitated, but not for long. She'd thank him and leave later. The opportunity to play an unreleased prototype to the second version of her favorite game was just too tempting.
"Well, if you designed Blood Lust, I suppose you can't be all bad," she said half-teasing. Settling in the chair he rolled across the room, she watched him sit back in his own again.
"Gee, thanks." He sounded amused. Working his keyboard, he brought up the game.
"So, is this how Pokey figured out you were a vampire?" Rachel asked. His fingers danced across the keyboard. He was very fast. She was impressed. She herself was a hunt-and-pecker when it came to typing.
"Not exactly," he answered. "Though it might have given him some help. What really gave me away was the coffin, my habit of staying out of daylight, and the fact that I never seemed to eat."
Rachel stared at him blankly, then asked in confusion, "But how did he know all that?"
Etienne shrugged, concentrating on what he was doing. "Pudge is a techie. I think he was jealous of my success. He kind of fixated on me and tried to get me to hire him, but I prefer working alone." He grimaced. "The fellow hounded me for over a year. He even offered to work for free. When I still refused, he started following me about, breaking into the house when I was away and so on. I think he was trying to gather information, but I'm pretty sure what he learned isn't at all what he expected." His words were a dry understatement. "It was apparently enough to convince him that he had to kill me and finish me off the traditional way."
He was referring to Pudge's attempt to cut off his head, Rachel supposed. "Isn't staking the traditional way to kill a vampire?"
"Staking and cutting off the head," Etienne agreed. "I suppose he decided the stake wasn't really necessary."
"Jeez." Rachel grimaced. What would have happened had she not jumped between Etienne and the ax-wielding Pudge? In her mind, she visualized the man holding Etienne's dangling head from one hand, and she was glad she had prevented that. "This Pudge is a bit sick."
"Yes. I think he needs mental help," Etienne agreed. "Actually, I know he does."
"How? I mean, aside from the fact that he's tried to kill you countless times?" she asked in wry tones.
"I can't get into his mind to wipe his memory clean or control his actions." When Rachel's gaze narrowed with sudden suspicion, he added, "No, I can't read your mind or control your behavior either, but in your case I'm sure it has nothing to do with insanity."
Despite herself, Rachel smiled at his teasing tone. "So, there are some people you just can't read?" When he nodded, she suggested, "Then perhaps he's just like me, one of those people."
Etienne shook his head. "I explained it wrong. I can get into his mind, but it's such a painful procedure." He looked away and shrugged. "His thoughts are confused and murky. Fragmented is probably the best description. I couldn't make enough sense of his thoughts to do anything with them. Whereas with you, I simply can't read your thoughts."
"Hmm." Rachel considered, not sure she believed him. "Your mother doesn't seem to have any problem."
"Don't remind me." He sounded irritated.
"Why is it that she can and you can't?" Rachel asked, though she wasn't sure that was the case. It would be less embarrassing to believe her earlier behavior was due to his mind control. Unfortunately, she couldn't convince herself.