I actually feared the answer to that. All I could see was literature and text and videos of reality T.V. stars being taught as a real history in a classroom one day, and that was a horror I didn’t want to see.
“History, as you will see, is often what survives and not what actually was,” he muttered a bit disappointed by it.
“Either way,” I said, trying to pull us back on track. “How can you be so sure about me?”
“I have seen the strength of my mother’s gift. I have seen you, and I have never before spoken so long with a woman about so much of nothing and everything.” The smile he had on his face was as if he’d never been happier in his life, and it left me a bit stunned for words.
“You said you needed my help to get out of my hair, but now I see, you were saying that just to get me to come with you. Do you really remember
nothing for the last century or was that a trick, too?”
His smile faded a bit. “I do apologize. I did lie about wanting your help to leave you, but I swear, I truly do not remember past 1920.”
“Right before you came to look for me?”
He nodded. “My mother’s gift was not perfect. It does not simply come by seeing another person. For her to see someone’s soulmate, they must already be alive or close to being born. I’d watched her help countless other vampires for centuries, even my siblings; however, when she looked at me, her vision was dark. To me it was merely days ago, the look upon her face as she entered our dining room as she normally did, humming to herself, about to ask my siblings and I what was happening in the world of mortals today. As we all sat around our large dining table with nothing but a glass of blood for dinner, her blue eyes stopped on me. She—who also walked as if she were on air—stumbled a bit, her eyes wide, and a smile I hadn’t seen since the day she had first met my new father crossed her lips. She said only one thing, finally. I knew exactly what she meant.”
He reached up and brushed away my stubborn curl that kept falling forward. “Do you know how difficult it was for me to maintain my composure? I could not bear to have my siblings tease and mock me. But at the same time, I wanted to know badly. It was like a jamboree in our home. Everyone gathered around the salon as I sat in front of my canvas, waiting for her to describe who I would spend my life with. And then, there you were. I stared at the painting, making plans to come to wherever you were. We knew by the trees in her vision, it was not in Europe, nor was it Africa. It was most likely America. My sisters began to look for tickets immediately. And still, I stared at your image, wondering what kind of woman you were. How your voice would sound. Your skin and hair feel. I drew you over and over again, until it became much too late, and I finally retired to bed. Next thing I remember, I woke up in a strange land, and there you were, running toward me, eyes wide and in the strangest clothes. Then you told me it is 2020 before trying to escape.”
“How…” My voice came out heavy, and I didn’t know what to make it of it, so I tried to just push by it as if it never happened. “What are you going to do about your memory? Something must have happened?”
He bowed in agreement. “It is not my pressing concern.”
“Losing a hundred years of memories is a huge concern.” If it were me, I’d be panicking and a bit terrified, but he was completely relaxed.
“Not when it is pit against finding your soulmate and winning her affection,” he said before beginning to yawn, and it was only then that I noticed the sun had started to rise.
What? I felt like we had only been talking for an hour. Maybe be two. How was the sun already coming up?
“Forgive me, but I am no longer young enough to deny sleep.” He yawned once more. “Do you mind if I rest before we continue?”
“What if you wake up and find yourself in 2120 next?” I joked, rising from the balcony floor. I even offered him my hand as he was an old man.
“Then I must find you again.”
“If I recall, I found you.”
“Brilliant.” He smiled with that mischievous look in his eyes. “I shall count on you finding me again in 2120, my dear.”
Why did I have a feeling he wanted me to say that?
This was madness, and yet here I was, going back into my apartment with him, my mind racing with more questions I wanted to ask, more things I wanted to know, instead of thinking of how to get him back home.
Home. That was right. He would have a home.
“Do you have people you want to call? To let them know you are alright?”
He paused and looked at me strangely. “Why would I not be alright?”
“Because…” I thought for a moment. “You’re in a strange place, in a stranger’s apartment.”
“Lands are never strange. It is the people upon them who are, and though I do not know much about you yet, you are no stranger,” he mused and tapped my nose. “Besides, I do not know whom or how to call.”
“Right, your family wouldn’t have any of the same numbers that you remember,” I muttered, thinking about how else we would contact his family.
“Druella.” He cupped my cheek, and I glanced up to him a bit stunned. “Do not fret much over me; I am not a child. Instead, tell me what you shall be doing while I sleep, so I do not fret much over you.”
“I am not a child, either,” I shot back.