DEATH OF AN IMMORTAL 10

CHAPTER  10.

Terrill waited in the car outside the Hardaway residence.  A woman was cooking in the kitchen, an older man had returned home in the last half hour, and the there was a light on in a second story window.  Terrill saw the shadow of someone walking past the window.  They were all home.  What was keeping him rooted to his car seat?

He got out, slammed the door.  The neighborhood was quiet.  Everyone in their place.  Once he would have found it an ideal place to feed -- pick a house at random and slaughter the occupants.  It still amazed him that for hundreds of years he had never questioned it.  Humans were food, and vampires ruled the night.

A cat ran across the sidewalk in front of him, giving him a startled glance as if only seeing him at the last second.  Terrill could stand there, still and quiet, and most people would walk right by him without seeing him.   It had once been one of his favorite techniques -- let his meal come to him.

He took a deep breath.  Walked up the sidewalk, and the three concrete steps to the door.  Still he hesitated, almost turned around.

He was the murderer.  He was the cause of their grief.  He hadn't wanted to do it, he was ashamed, but nonetheless, he was the reason their daughter would never come home.  What right did he have to stand at their door, to enter their home, to talk to them, to offer them condolences?

The door opened before he could knock, and a young girl stood there staring at him.

"Can I help you?" she said.

She looked like Jamie, but then again, she didn't look like Jamie at all.  In fact, she looked like no one he'd ever seen since ancient days.  Her nose was too long, what once would have been described as a Roman nose.  Her eyes were wide set and large.  Her chin was slightly pointed, high cheekbones and wide tall forehead. Thick raven hair.

She looked like she'd come off a Greek urn, he thought.  Every little piece of her was a little off, but the whole was stunning.

"I..."

"What's he want?" the old man's voice was gruff.  He appeared to be in his seventies, which meant he was already near sixty when he'd fathered this girl.  It was 6:00 in the evening, but Terrill could tell he was already drunk.  He pushed the girl out of the way.

"What do you want, buddy?"

Jamie and Sylvie's mother followed, dishrag in hand, looking as though she hadn't stopped crying in days.  It was hard to see either daughter in this beaten-down woman, who was in her mid-fifties, limp brown hair, and heavy jowl.

"Is this the home of Jamie Lee Howe?"

"Not anymore," the man muttered.  "The slut is dead."

"Howard!" the woman pleaded.  He turned and glared at her until she looked away.

"I'll take care of this, Mom," Sylvie said, and the old woman moved away, drifting over to the sink and picking up a dish, taking a few swipes and then not moving, staring out the window.

Sylvie pushed her way to the door again, and stood next to Terrill and waved him down the steps.

"We can talk out here," she said.  "Mom's in no shape to talk about Jamie, and Howard doesn't have anything to say."

"Fuck you," Howard said.  "I'm watching a show..." He stumbled away.

"He actually does care, in his own way," Sylvie said.  "He did everything he could to keep Jamie in town, but she didn't want to stay and she was old enough to make her own decisions."

She didn't say anything else, but stood staring at him frankly. 

"I..." again, his voice faltered.

"You knew her, didn't you?" she said.  "I can see it in your eyes.  You're sad."

"Yes..." he said.  Then realized he hadn't planned on admitting it.  "I mean, I met her a couple of times."

"Met her?"  From her tone, Terrill realized she knew what Jamie had been doing in Portland.

"For business.  She came to me for a life insurance policy.  I represent Prestigious Insurance."

"Oh," she was obviously disappointed.  Then she realized what he'd said.  "Insurance?"

"She wanted to make sure that you were provided for -- a college fund, as it happens."

"We've already got the five thousand from her savings account," the young girl said.  "It came in handy, we were late with the mortgage.  Howard lost his job a couple years ago and the unemployment checks have stopped coming.  His social security isn't enough."

"Well that's just it," Terrill said, more and more sure he was doing the right thing.  "This payment is contingent on your going to college.  It can't be used for anything else."

She didn't look happy or unhappy.  She just stared at the ground for a few moments.  "That's too bad -- because I'm not leaving Mom until she is in good shape.  Which may be never..."

"I'm sorry.  The terms are quite specific -- the money can only be accessed as long as you are in college."

She shrugged, and looked at him with a lopsided smile.  Her goofy demeanor and classic good looks were irresistible.  Jamie was right.  She needed to get out of this small town.

"You can't live their lives for them," he said.

"That's what Jamie always said.  And yet, that's exactly what she did for me, despite me telling her not to."

She would have had every right to ask him what business of it was of his, but instead she again got that curious look in her face.

"You knew her for more than business, didn't you?"

He didn't say anything, but the answer must have been written in his face.  She laughed, and it was as if she didn't have a care in the world.  A delighted laugh.

"I knew it!  You're just her type, all doomed and gloomy."

He tried to think of what to say.  ‘Yes, I was screwing your sister.  For money?’ That wouldn’t do.

"Don't worry.  I know what Jamie was doing -- but knowing her, she was trying to be more than just...a..."

"She was more," he said.  "To me."

"Yeah, that's Jamie.  Making every job the most important job in the world, whether it's babysitting or flipping hamburgers or being a...being a whore."

He stared at her wonderingly. 

"You're wondering how I can say that.  You're wondering why I'm not crying, why I can still laugh.  Well, Mister, someday I'll cry.  Maybe I'll never stop crying, but not now. "

"She talked about you," he said. 

"Oh, let me guess.  Her brainy sister?  Her amazing sister?  Well, Jamie always was a little starry eyed.  I'm not like that.   Jamie just got unlucky, that's all.  She met the wrong guy at the wrong time.  It happened, and now I have to take care of Mom.  And Howard, even Howard.  He isn't a bad guy, just sort of pathetic."

He could see she wasn't going to change her mind.   Time for a change of plans.  "She made me executor of the policy.  It says that you have to stay in school, but doesn't say where or for how long.  I'm sure we can find a way."

"You sure you can't just give me the money?"

If I have to, I will, Terrill thought.  But having gotten a good look at her parents, he suspected that Sylvie would end up seeing very little of it.

"Why don't we meet for lunch tomorrow," he said.

"O.K.  We can meet at Black Bear restaurant at 1:30.  That's my lunch break."

"I thought you were going to the community college?"

For the first time, she looked troubled.  It was as if the frown didn't fit her face, as if she was pressing the lines into her perfect skin.  The expression disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"I had to drop out.  We can talk about that."

"Yes," he said.  "We will.  I can’t meet you until the evening, however.  How about after your shift?”

“O.K.  Come by at 5:00.”

He nodded.

She stuck her hand out.  "Thank you, Mr...?"

"Terrill," he said, amazed at the sound of his own name.  He hadn't used it in hundreds of years. 

He shook her hand.  It was warm and dry and a charge seemed to go up his arm.  She was looking at him with wide eyes. 

"Until tomorrow evening," he said, and walked away without another word, now certain he was doing the right thing.

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