Chapter 15: Elaine Reminisces

Elaine pulled the covers up over them and kissed them both on the forehead. “Goodnight Butterfly. Goodnight Oskar.” She turned off the light and closed the door behind her. She was beginning to really enjoy this nightly ritual; it made her feel like she finally belonged to something better than herself—a good feeling, overall.

“What do you think Oskar? Do you think she’ll stay?”

“I hope so. I really like her. She sure has you figured out though.”

“What do you mean?” She raised herself up on one elbow.

“I just don’t think you’ll be able to get away with the things you do with Dad. She’s wise to you.”

“I don’t take advantage of Papa. Take that back!”

“No, no! I didn’t mean that; it’s just that Dad does things for you that seem to be too much, and it’s like you don’t notice or something.” He looked confused for a moment, “No, that’s not what I mean either. If Dad thinks you want something or need something, his first reaction is to get it for you, even if you don’t ask. It’s like you’re precious to him or something. I’m not complaining or anything; you’re precious to me too” he smiled at her shyly. “Anyway, Elaine seems to think a lot about these things. I don’t think you’ll always get what you want from her. And I don’t think she’ll be as forgiving of our mistakes as Dad is.” There! He’d finally figured out how to say it without getting her mad at him.

Eli thought about it for a minute, “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me a bit. I like her and I want her to stay. And Papa wants her to stay too,” she said with conviction. She thought about how much she loved it when Elaine tucked them in. “Oskar, you don’t mind that Elaine says good night to us every night, do you?”

“No. It kind of reminds me of my own mom, but Elaine seems to really mean it. She really cares about us, doesn’t she?” he smiled at the thought. He knew he could read her if he wanted to, but he felt funny about doing it now that she was staying with them. He had quickly learned how to ‘not’ read someone and was so good at it now that he didn’t even have to think about it anymore.

==

Elaine joined Dawson in the living room. “They’re so sweet together! I love tucking them in. I wonder how they really feel about it though; most kids their age would be embarrassed by it.”

“Maybe it’s different when a big sister does it – or a new Mom.”

“If you’re trying to bait me, it won’t work – this time. I learned my lesson and will keep my personal thoughts on the matter to myself.”

“What’s the matter? Are you afraid you’re going to lose another argument?”

“What makes you so sure I lost the last one? One thing I learned during those 40 years was who to blame for my problems.”

“Elaine, would you mind if I asked you a few personal questions? I promise I won’t judge you or lecture you on ‘How to get over it.’” He smiled at her.

“Go for it, Doctor. I don’t mind at all.”

First, however, I would appreciate it if you would call me ‘Richard’ – or ‘Papa’ or ‘Dad,’” he smiled, “Anything but ‘Doctor’ or ‘Professor.’”

“I’ll give it a try, but I don’t promise anything.”

“How did you get involved with the Other One? And how long were you – with him before you discovered that he was a vampire?”

“It’s okay, Doctor – I mean ‘Richard,’ you needn’t worry about offending my sensibilities. I met him at a pub near Cambridge, and I slept with him. I thought he was a real hunk when he cleaned himself up, and I was still in my life-long ridiculous rebellious stage. I was, as it turned out, much younger than he, and his skills and prowess in – all matters sexual, were remarkable, to say the least. Our relationship was essentially lust at first sight.” She paused, “I’m such a shallow child,” she said lightly. She remembered how deeply those words had hurt her when her beloved father attacked her with them after she flaunted her relationship with the Other One.

“Elaine, your frankness and honesty is startling to me. I don’t quite know how to take it. But if you’re telling me all this to convince me that you’re unworthy of all our efforts, you’ve failed miserably. The only victim of your mistakes has been you yourself.” He paused, “What was his name?”

“He had a name once, but I’ve long since forgotten it – deliberately. Eli’s name for him captures his essence perfectly. He was the ultimate Other One: other than compassionate; other than loving; other than sensitive; other than caring, and finally, other than human; These self-delusions were figments of my desperate imagination, born of my naiveté, stubbornness, defiance, and self-righteousness. Traits that torment me to this very day – except for naiveté of course; that one was painfully stripped from me, both by the Other One and unintentionally by my sweet father,” she said grimly. “My father was as loving and caring as you, before I destroyed him. I’ll never, ever forgive myself for that.” She looked at him defiantly.

“I certainly won’t argue with you about it, at least not today.” He smiled at her. “But what happened in your relationship that brought you to where you were when he died?”

“After a few years – you have no idea how long self-delusion can sustain itself when the only person you ever loved is dead, and you have nothing to fall back on – I began to realize what an empty, brain-dead individual he really was. He never told me where he worked, and I never saw him between sunup and sundown. He stayed in my apartment, and I never questioned where the money he gave me for our expenses came from. He was virtually the only person I had contact with after my father died in that first year. And I never even tried to put two and two together. I was already his slave and didn’t know it.

“One night, after I gave him a piece of my mind, embellished with my usual wit and diplomatic charm, he hit me hard and sent me flying across the room. I made the mistake of telling him to get out and never come back. That was when he first…revealed himself to me; and as his true self, raped me over and over again. In a sudden epiphany, I finally understood where his legendary stamina came from, You can’t imagine what was going through my mind as this…thing from my worst nightmares attacked me over and over again. I blacked out several times, and each time, the first thing I saw when I regained consciousness was his smug triumphant grin, and his dirty yellow fangs.” she said coldly. “When he finished, he dragged me out of the apartment, and carried me through the dark streets for over 10 miles to the cemetery and finally to the tomb and into his vault, where I essentially stayed for the rest of my life. But I became his possession during those first unimaginable terror-filled hours. He stopped pretending to be human and I had to endure the most disgusting individual I had ever known demanding intimacy with me whenever he pleased. He got rougher and rougher until one night he became impatient with my human frailties and bit me. I remember feeling elated when I saw him coming for me because I thought he was finally going to kill me. But he didn’t. That’s when my life got even more interesting. Because, you see, he turned me solely because he knew that vampires healed themselves.”

Her voice wavered uncharacteristically for a moment. “I was terrified for weeks; even months, as I tried to deal with the horror of what I had become. I desperately wanted to leave, but I was more afraid of the unknown at that point than I was of him. After all, I was now immortal. What did I have to fear from him? So I stayed – and stayed. But I soon learned that there were things far worse than death. After a few…arguments, He convinced me we should hunt together. I was the ‘bait’ he used to lure unsuspecting men to us. He taught me how to harvest the blood efficiently; consequently I never had to kill anyone for it. He, on the other hand, was more careless. We traveled all over the country feeding. He allowed me my art, because it kept me out of his hair and out of parts of his life he never revealed to me – until later. By this time, I was so used to the abuse, that I considered it an unpleasant but necessary part of my life. And I had no other options. I had truly closed that last door.”

“Late one night, he lost patience during one of our hunts in the country, pulled a man out of his car at a stop sign, and dragged him to the side of the road. He strangled him to unconsciousness, and was inserting the tube, when we heard a child crying in the back seat of the car – a young boy of about 11. I quickly stood between them so the boy wouldn’t see what was happening to his father – a pointless precaution as it turned out. Without a word, he quickly bled the man, then casually broke his neck. I had just barely cried out, when he brushed me aside and went for the child. I stood there in shock while he dragged the boy out of the car, stripped him naked and…he…” she looked away. “Doctor, the fact that Elias somehow lived through his ordeal is amazing to me, since I watched the process first hand. It lasted for hours. Over and over again I tried to stop him, but his obsession was stronger than my will. Finally, I realized that I was the only one still screaming. They were both covered with his blood! When he…finished, he put both bodies in the car and set it on fire. And I couldn’t stop it. I was helpless against him.”

She paused a moment and put her head in her hands. “The next night, I left him; or at least I tried. He caught me quickly and after a fierce battle, chained me up in that room, where I stayed until he found Eli. He fed me just enough to keep me alive, but weak. It was about this time that he began bringing children to the vault. He brought boys AND girls; it was all the same to him. I never saw them, because after my attempted escape, he kept me chained in my room. But I certainly heard them. I heard them crying, screaming, and dying. I knew when they were dead because they stopped screaming. And of course, being a vampire now, and starving, I could smell their blood – and I wanted it.” Dawson saw the tears in her eyes. “I wanted it in the worst way. They screamed, they bled, and foremost in my mind was their blood. These sweet, innocent children being subjected to unbearable pain and unimaginable terror, and I wanted their blood! If he had known what it would have done to me if he had let me in there with him and given one of them to me, he would have done it in a flash, but he was one-dimensional. In the midst of my disgusting bloodlust I was thankful for that one blessing; that he was too stupid to realize how simple it would have been for him to destroy me completely.”

“Elaine, I…” he reached for her hand, but she pulled it away and shrank back in her chair away from him.

“When there were no children, he played with me. He did things to me that…” she looked down at her feet a moment, then, with difficulty looked directly into his eyes. “Suffice it to say that he gave me a real education in human anatomy. Specifically female anatomy. An education I would like most desperately to forget. It was then I realized what he had done to the girls.” She paused for a moment, collecting herself. “As time went by, fewer and fewer children visited with us. The last was a couple of months before your paths crossed his. Fortunately for the child, he died suddenly before the Other One had built up a head of steam. He took it out on me instead, but I was happy to suffer in that poor child’s stead. It was the least I could do.” Her eyes had a hollow look now, as she sat forward in her chair and looked at him with a strange intensity, “I wish I could have done it for all the others. I really wish I could have done it for all the others…” Her voice trailed off, and she closed her eyes for a moment.

“Elaine, you should stop now.” Dawson was worried for her.

She ignored him. “Their deaths are all on me. If I had overcome my fear of him, I could have ended this that night at the stop sign. He would have been easy to dispatch while his attention was on that poor child. I had my full strength, and he was distracted; but I was afraid, and consequently that poor boy died an unimaginably horrible death. When Jesus said ‘blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth’ I don’t believe he had cowards in mind. Every death I witnessed and every drop of their innocent blood I craved was a result of my cowardice. And that, Richard, is why I owe Eli so much. Her awful suffering at his hands is the price she unknowingly paid for my freedom. Everything I am and ever will be from that point forward I owe to her chance encounter with him, and the subsequent hell you all went through to destroy him. I also owe you personally more than I can ever repay. I most humbly thank you for everything you’ve done for me.” She glanced up at him for a moment, then looked down at her feet.

Dawson stood up. “Come with me.” He held out his hand. Reluctantly, she took it and walked with him out into the back yard. The moon’s reflection in the pool danced and changed shape quietly and mingled with the rippling shadows of the trees, “Do you recognize this place? This is where my children play. This place is full of their lives; full of their happiness. Eli has just recently awakened from a 200-year-long nightmare; Oskar from a much shorter, but in his own mind, equally horrible, lonely, loveless one. All this is the very least I can do for them, to keep them safe and comfort their beautiful, sweet, damaged souls.” He gestured toward the house. “And there they are, sound asleep in their bed. And one of the things they are looking forward to in their dreams is another day in which you will be a part of their lives. Why? Because they recognize a soul mate when they see one. I know you don’t believe this, but sometimes things have a way of balancing out. You can do nothing about your past but use its hard lessons to determine your future. It’s in your hands now. You are loved here. It may not seem like enough right now, but I assure you it is. You sometimes don’t realize how much it matters to you until you lose it.”

She smiled at him, “Thank you, Doctor. It has been such a long time since…” her voice trailed off.

“You’re welcome!” He hesitated, then in a lighter tone, said, “And believe me, there’s more to come. So be prepared for holidays, birthday parties, and even fun in the sun. Your life will soon become incredibly boring and normal. Do you think you’re up to the challenge?”

“I hope so, ‘Rich’ but somehow, I can’t believe your lives will be boring for very long. There are too many odd and interesting members of this family including yourself.”

“Even me then? Which am I – odd or interesting?”

“A bit of odd, and a plethora of interesting.” She smiled at him. She was beginning to realize that this man, this highly intelligent, unassuming man, was a godsend to her. The very things about him that grated on her nerves; his quickness to see the best in everyone and, in spite of his keen mind, his naiveté with respect to the ever-present darkness in the real world, were the very things that had given her a second chance at her life. If he weren’t exactly who he was, she would be dead – or worse. She felt as though she needed to stay, if only to protect him from himself. Two precious lives now depended on him for everything. They really depended on him! All could be lost if something happened to him. She made a quiet pact with herself. Nothing would happen to him on her watch.

====

She awoke to the sound of soft purring and felt Eli’s slim arms around her waist. She noticed that the sun was just beginning to shine through the round window as she opened her eyes and stretched. She carefully turned around and wrapped her own arms around Eli, and pressed her cheek against hers. Eli purred even louder as she nestled up against her neck, then suddenly opened her eyes. “Good morning, Elaine.” She yawned.

“Good morning, Butterfly. Where’s Oskar?”

“He went downstairs with Papa. I thought I’d wait for you.” She sat up and dangled her bare legs over the side of the bed, swinging them back and forth. Elaine sat up next to her and put her arm around her.

“Thank you again for giving up your room for me. I love it here! Especially your window.” She reached for her hairbrush on the nightstand.

“Let me do it.” Eli took the brush from Elaine and began gently brushing her hair. Elaine closed her eyes; it felt so relaxing, and since Eli enjoyed doing it so much, she couldn’t refuse her. It reminded Eli of when she used to brush her sister’s hair when her brother or father weren’t around to tease her about it, “back when I was a boy,” Eli had said.

“Elaine, do you like Papa?”

“Yes I do, Eli. Why do you ask?”

“Because you seem to be mad at him a lot.”

“Well, he does try my patience sometimes, but he’s got a good heart, and he always means well. How could I possibly dislike a man like that? Plus, he comes with the highest recommendations from one of my favorite people in the whole world.”

Eli smiled, brushed her hair aside, and kissed her on the back of the neck. “I was worried that maybe you would leave if he got you too mad. I was going to have a talk with him.” Her voice sound very grown-up and serious.

Elaine laughed. “Eli, I didn’t make the decision to stay lightly and I would never leave just because your Papa and I argued. It would take a whole lot more than that, and it would be my fault; not your Papa’s.” She took the brush from Eli. “Now, let me do yours.”

Eli turned around, and pressed her back up against Elaine for a moment, then gently patted her on the legs. Elaine kissed her on top of the head and began brushing. She noticed that Eli’s hair had developed a healthy shine and a gentle wave since they had been brushing each other’s hair regularly for the last couple of weeks. It was actually quite pretty. Oskar had noticed right away.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do if you’re cured?” She leaned forward and smelled her hair. She had always liked the smell of clean hair, but Eli’s seemed special somehow. A very distinct, pleasant odor that had become an inseparable part of her overall impression of Eli. Everything about her smelled good to her; her skin, her hair, her breath. She regretted that she would lose her keen vampire senses if she were ever cured.

“You mean, WHEN I’m cured? And remember, you’ll be cured too! First, I’m going swimming in the daytime, then I’m still going to get the last penny before Jack gets it. Then I’m going to have roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for dinner on Sunday night. I know I’m going to like it because it smells so good.”

“I like your priorities! I think the first thing I would do is sit outside and watch the sunrise. Then I’d spend all day getting a sunburn while I painted a picture of your Papa’s beautiful house, then I’d watch the sunset. But I might take a little break and go swimming with you.” She hugged her tightly. “Well, we’d better get up or they’ll be up here to get us soon.”

They got dressed together and went downstairs to Oskar and Papa, who were waiting for them at the kitchen table.

“It’s about time!” Oskar said.

“Well, it’s your own fault! You kept me awake with your snoring half the night.”

“You know I don’t snore! But you purr.”

“I thought you liked my purring!” she pouted.

“I really do! But…I couldn’t think of anything else to say.” He blushed.

“Good morning, Elaine.” Papa said, smiling.

“Good morning, Rich.”

Eli giggled, “Rich? Who’s that? Is that you, Papa?”

“Apparently Elaine seems to think so.” He sounded a bit annoyed. “My Mother was the last person to call me that, and it ended at my insistence when I was eleven.”

“Well, since I’m almost old enough to be your mother, I guess it’s appropriate then.” She smiled at him.

“I think you need to pick an age and stick to it, rather than picking the one that gives you the upper hand in a given situation.”

“Is that your way of expanding eloquently on the phrase, ‘Make up your mind how old you are’?” she said, sarcastically.

“Now children, stop fighting before someone gets hurt,” Eli parroted.

“Listen to Eli, Rich. Pick on someone your own size.”

“Dad, you have to wait until she’s not looking. Then POW! You catch her off guard.” Oskar said confidently.

“Oh Sure! Like that works for you!” Eli said smugly.

Papa stage-whispered, “Never resort to fisticuffs with a vampire, Oskar. It’s a battle you’ll never ultimately win. You have to keep your wits about you and use your superior mental faculties to beat them.”

“Oh Sure! Like that works for you!” Elaine said smugly.

===

Eli sat at the lab computer, printing out the results of the latest DNA tests. They had so far not been able to find the key to deactivating the strand containing the parasite’s modification of the genetic code. It was turning into one failure after another, and he was running out of possibilities. He was afraid that his basic premise may have been wrong after all. Elaine had picked up on their routine quickly, since she had taken basic Botany and Biology classes at Cambridge for her degree in art, and was analyzing the second strain, in which Dawson was honing in on Oskar’s portion of the altered DNA that halted aging. He felt they were much closer to a breakthrough on this one, since Eli had been so easily able to successfully ‘infect’ him merely by injecting him with Oskar’s blood. But he was determined to eliminate the dormant vampire portion of the strand completely before he would even consider his work a success. He felt uncomfortable just thinking about it lurking in Oskar’s and his body, waiting for God knows what, to activate itself.

However, Elaine working in the lab had freed him up for other work, with which he was going to surprise the two vampires in his life tonight at dinner.

“Papa, this one didn’t work either! She threw the papers down on the desk in frustration.

Elaine stepped up behind her and put her arms around her. “Eli, every time we try and fail, it brings us closer to the answer. It narrows down the possibilities. It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The closer you are to completing it, the faster you go, because the possibilities become fewer. Take heart! We’ll get there.”

Eli kissed her on the arm. “Elaine, do you really think so?” Dawson winked at her. He knew she wasn’t convinced that they would ever succeed, but the fact that she would encourage Eli told him more about Elaine and her new commitment to their family than anything else.

=====

“Okay, Oskar, bring it out.” Oskar stepped into the living room with a dress bag, laid it across the back of the couch and unzipped it. Here’s one for you…” he handed Elaine a couple of hangers with a light turtleneck and pants on them. “And one for you, Eli.” He handed a second, smaller set to Eli. He tossed them each a pair of what looked like thick cotton socks.

“What’s this all about, Rich?”

“Yeah, Papa. We have plenty of clothes.”

“But these are magic clothes, Eli. You can go out in the daytime with these on.”

“But Papa, there’s no MPET.”

“Ah, but there is, Eli. It’s bonded between two layers of cotton. These clothes look normal.”

“You don’t happen to have a set in mauve, do you? White on black is so…yesterday.” Elaine said, disapprovingly.

“Ha, Ha. Very funny!” Dawson said, pretending to be annoyed. “Come on, you two, try them on. I have another surprise.”

They quickly helped each other put on their new sunsuits, making sure everything was tucked in and snapped together properly. “What about boots, Papa?”

“Put on the special socks, but pull them up as high as you can. They should come to just below your knees. Then you can wear any shoes you like.”

“But, what about our heads and faces? Won’t we burn?”

“No, Eli, your hair never burned; it’s made mostly of keratin, just like anyone’s hair. But you’ll need this.” He handed them each fat silver tubes that looked like huge tubes of toothpaste. “Rub this on your neck, making sure it goes on several inches below the top of your turtleneck and cover all the exposed skin on your faces, necks and ears with it. Think of it as Eli’s Liquid Glass. And last, but not least, here are your sunglasses.” He handed them each a set of goggles, but they were designed in such a way that they looked like real sunglasses. They could barely see the transparent material that surrounded the lenses and pressed against their skin. “You’ll still have to wear gloves, because the sunscreen would eventually rub off on contact, but they’re light and modern looking. I don’t think you’ll attract much attention, other than from your incredible cuteness.” He winked at them. “To be on the safe side though, you should both wear hats with as wide a brim as you can. I have several styles here for you to choose from.” He laid several on the table.

“I’ll take this one. It looks like Madeline’s hat,” Eli twisted and turned it until she was satisfied. She shook her head as two black ribbons swung off the left side of the hat and brushed her shoulder. “Oskar, get that goofy look off your face!”

“You’re so cute!” he pinched her cheek and quickly stepped behind dad before Eli could make a move for him.

Papa gave her a stern look. “No funny business in that suit, Eli.”

“Later, Oskar” she glared at him. He defiantly blew her a kiss.

Elaine picked a wide-brimmed sun hat. “I can just see myself planting flowers with Mrs. Anderson in this one.”

These are not as perfectly secure as the old suit, Eli, so no fighting and no pushing bullies into the stream. You’ll have to behave like a young lady.” He turned to Elaine, “And you’ll have no trouble behaving like the old lady you are.”

“Make up your mind how old I am, Rich.” She responded, a bit irritated.

“What age do you prefer; real or ideal?” he grinned at her.

“As long as Eli is twelve, I’m 26,” she fired back,

“Okay, enough of this! Let go out back and see how they work. And I can then check one off my ‘How to make Elaine Happy’ list.”

“What list, Papa?”

“Eli, Elaine has made a list of things she thinks we need to do to keep from being noticed, and I think she’s right – in most cases.

====

“Let me talk to them about friends,” she pleaded later that evening. “I think it’ll be easier for them coming from me.”

“I don’t know, Elaine. They might hold it against you personally. They know it’s your list.”

“Let me give it a try, Richard.” She headed upstairs.

Eli and Oskar were sitting at Eli’s table doing homework when Elaine came in. “We need to talk about something a bit more serious than not being noticed in public.” She sat down at the table with them. “We need to be equally careful closer to home. Remember, anyone who knows you well, will notice within a couple of years that you two are not aging. We need to eliminate that possibility.” Oskar and Eli looked at each other.

“That means you will have to gradually stop seeing Jack and Henry; not right away but over a period of six months or so. We’ll schedule ‘activities’ for you that will give you believable reasons why they can’t come over, and we’ll do it gradually, to make it easier on them. We’ll start next week with...”

“NO!” Eli said firmly. “I won’t! And Oskar won’t either, right Oskar?”

Oskar was clearly upset, but said nothing.

“Elaine, Oskar has friends now for the first time in years. I won’t let you take them away from him! I won’t!”

“I know this will be hard for you, but I think…”

“I’m fine! I’m used to being alone; I’m not going to let Oskar get used to it too.” She gritted her teeth and crossed her arms in front of her.

Oskar smiled at Eli appreciatively. “Elaine, Jack is my very best friend. I’ve never had a best friend before. Isn’t there any other way?” He pleaded softly.

That did it. Elaine melted like a popsicle. “Oskar, I…” She stood up quickly, turned and retreated down the stairs. Dawson was waiting for her on the second floor. “I thought so! You’re a fraud.” He put his arm around her. “I’ve got another idea, but it’ll be a bit difficult to sell. Go back up and tell them we talked and you changed my mind. They can keep their friends, but only these two.”

“I’m not going to let you take the fall for me! This was my idea. And it was a bad one! I own it.” She turned and went back upstairs.

Eli and Oskar were sitting together at the table, deep in thought. Elaine stepped quietly up behind them and put her hands on their shoulders. “I’m sorry. This was completely my idea. Your dad was against it from the start and he was right. We’ll figure something else out. You can keep your friends.” She kissed them each on the cheek and turned to leave, when they both grabbed her and hugged her fiercely. “Thank you Elaine!”

“Don’t thank me, Oskar. Your dad convinced me.” Just a white lie, she thought to herself.

“Eli shook her head and smiled, “I agree with Papa, Elaine, You’re a fraud.”

“There’s one too many vampires in this household.” Elaine said sternly. “And the smallest one needs to mind her own business.” She flashed her a sly smile and headed for the door. Oskar, relieved, started in on his math homework.

“Elaine’s a fraud. Elaine’s a fraud.” Eli taunted in a sing-song voice. “Elaine’s a…”

Oskar heard her gasp suddenly and turned to look, but she was gone! He heard a blood-curdling scream coming from his room and rushed across the hall, but the door slammed in his face. He heard the lock turn. “Dad! Come quick!” He yelled down the stairs, then put his ear to the door. It wasn’t necessary. He heard a loud bone-chilling growl and another scream. He was getting worried. He had never heard Eli scream before. It was awful! The door shook as something heavy slammed into it. He heard his bed slide across the floor and his table banged against the wall. “Elaine! Don’t! Please …!”

Dawson rushed up the stairs, “Oskar, what’s going on?”

“I think Eli got Elaine mad at her! They’re fighting in my room!” They heard a loud thud, then they heard furniture moving and finally, they heard the window to the back yard swing open. Dawson turned the key in the lock, quickly opened the door and glanced around the room. Everything seemed in its proper place; everything looked normal except for the deep gouge in the door. Elaine was standing at the window with her hands behind her back looking down into the back yard.

“Elaine, where’s Eli?”

“Rich, I had to teach her a lesson. She needs to know that certain behavior is not acceptable in a proper English home.” She had an impish gleam in her eye. “And, as you must know from personal experience, it’s hard to discipline a young, spoiled vampire.” She turned and looked out the window. Oskar and Dad followed her gaze into the back yard. Nothing!

Oskar suddenly got a knowing grin on his face and reached under the bed. Nothing there either. “Elaine, what did you do with her?”

“I tried to reason with her, but you know how stubborn she can be sometimes. She just wouldn’t listen…” her voice trailed off. “She’ll be back in a few days after she cools off.” She looked out over the tops of the trees in the backyard. She patted a pile of clothes strewn on the window seat. One shoe was dangling precariously on the edge of the roof just below the window.

Oskar leaned out the window, “Eli!! Where are you?!”

“MMFFF!!”

Oskar spun around and looked up. He felt dizzy at first. It looked like she was standing upside down at the peak of the high ceiling – at the same time she was standing right side up.

“Actually, I can’t take full credit for this. Oskar’s own experience was my inspiration, and Eli’s agility and considerable strength forced me to be more innovative and creative than usual.”

Eli was hanging head first from a large old metal chandelier hook in the ceiling, but since her clothes were reversed exactly as she had done to Oskar, and her Madeline hat placed carefully on a soccer ball wedged between her legs complete with a smiley face, it took Papa a second or two to realize it. Elaine had tied her hands together with her shoelaces, but had placed Oskar’s Rubik’s Cube in her hands so she couldn’t free herself without dropping the cube. Fear of damaging her hat kept her from moving her legs. Her socks were in her mouth and secured with a piece of duct tape and her beautiful shiny, wavy black hair was almost obscuring her face. The package was complete and everyone roared with laughter. Eli’s eyes were golden.

“Uh, Oh,” Oskar said turning to Elaine. “I think she’s mad.”

“Impossible! Our even-tempered, calm, contemplative Eli never loses her cool.” Elaine mocked.

Oskar quickly slid his table under her, climbed aboard, reached up, and peeled the duct tape off her face. The socks came with it, along with a bit of skin. “Oouuch!! Oskar, be careful, you…”

He stood on his tiptoes, gave her a big wet kiss, then jumped down off the table. “Ptooey! Eli, your breath smells like dirty socks. You need to work on your oral hygiene.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits, and became even more sinister looking. “I’ve got plenty of time to get even, Oskar. Maybe tonight when you’re asleep…”

“What makes you think you’ll be sleeping with Oskar tonight? You look comfortable where you are.” Elaine said, with her hands on her hips.

Papa turned to Oskar, “Another life lesson Oskar. Never try to mediate a conflict between two vampires. People afterwards will always remember what a bloody idiot you were.”

Eli giggled, completely undermining her valiant attempts to look dangerous.

“Aha! The Butterfly is back.” Elaine leaped gracefully up on the table, grabbed Eli around the waist, lifted her feet off the hook, spun her around, and dropped to the floor, grabbing her Madeline hat as it fluttered to the ground. The soccer ball bounced across the room. Eli curtly handed the cube to Oskar.

“Now would someone untie me? I don’t want to break my new shoelaces.” She quickly redressed herself, then jumped up into Elaine’s arms. “That was fun! Let’s do it again!”

“I heard you screaming, Eli. It didn’t sound fun to me.” Oskar was concerned.

“Well, that part wasn’t fun. Elaine, you’re really scary; especially when you growled at me! Is that how I looked when I came in the window, Oskar?”

“Well, yeah! You did! I almost…” he blushed.

“I’m sorry Oskar, I won’t do it again, I promise!”

“Don’t do that Eli, it was kind of …fun. Kind of like a rollercoaster ride.” he blushed again.