Three Immortals Walk Into A Bar...

Clyde

Before we turn around to head back to the Adabelle’s basement, I pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It’s nearly four a.m., and the light of dawn is going to start gradually filling the sky within the next couple of hours. It wouldn’t normally concern me. Sunlight can’t hurt me if I am in my other form, but I can’t plan to randomly dissolve into mist in front of fifty humans. I need to find a way to resolve the situation before sunrise.

Thankfully, I notice something else on my phone. I seem to have one bar in the service icon - do I actually have cell service out here? We’re nearly a mile away from the Adabelle, and it does seem like the destruction is less here than it was there, maybe I’m close enough to a functioning tower.

I hold up my phone with a hopeful expression on my face to the others, dial 911, and wait to see what happens.

“Nine one one,” I hear, “what is your emergency?”

Oh thank goodness!

“I have fifty people trapped in the basement of my demolished hotel, the Adabelle” I quickly explain, “we will need crews to come immediately to help get them out and evacuate them.”

“Are there any injuries?” the operator questions.

“No,” I say, glancing at Gregor who nods his head encouragingly. Wolk would tell him if anyone back there was injured. And Jacob and Fernando now seem perfectly fine. It strikes me how lucky we really are. Fifty people in a destroyed building, and everyone is all right.

“But they are waiting for rescue in the rubble of the hotel,” I go on, “and we will need transportation to a safe location.”

“Please wait there,” the operator says, “we will send road crews to evaluate the route to see if emergency trucks can get through.”

Phew. I think it’s possible this is going to work out all right.

Except for the poor Adabelle, of course. My beautiful hotel, which reminded me so much of where I grew up, so full of elegance and beauty and memories, now blown away.

Before we leave this area, I text Ada to let her know what has happened, and tell her to stay at home, and I’ll get there as soon as I can. I see that Gregor has pulled his phone out as well and is scrolling through something.

As we are walking back, Gregor still staying far enough away from me that I can’t feel him impinging on my shadows, he asks, “You’ll be able to rebuild, right?”

I sigh heavily. “Yeah, I guess. It just makes me sad. I designed the hotel, I put so much thought into it. It’s been my favorite spot for decades.”

“Well,” he suggests, “perhaps with the redesign you might add some improvements or modifications? In my experience, with use over time, it becomes apparent where things might be better designed. You could consider this an opportunity to perfect your beloved Adabelle.”

I look over at him. He is smiling kindly at me, walking on the other side of Fernando and Jacob, who appear to be paying no attention to us. It occurs to me for the first time to wonder about Gregor’s background. I have been fixated on his abilities, but where does he fit into the world? Where is he from? He has an unusual accent, I know he can’t originally be from the States. When he says ‘in my experience’ what exactly is he talking about?”

He meets my eyes with a sideways grin and shrugs slightly.

Oh-ho! I wonder if we’ll get the chance to spend some more time talking. I realize that I have barely scratched the surface, and I’ll bet there is a lot more to learn about him. Learning about something I’ve never heard about before is a great pleasure, and furthermore it might keep me from getting too depressed about the poor Adabelle’s fate.

Gregor

“He is curious about you, speculating about your background. He realizes that he has only questioned you about your abilities, not other aspects of your life. He wonders if he’ll have the chance to learn more.”

I’d like to learn more about Clyde, as well. He’s not the only one who has come across something unique and unexpected tonight. I am just as eager to learn as he is.

“At least you have heard of vampires before,” Wolk points out, “even if mostly through fictional accounts. He has never heard of a Seer like you before. Almost nobody has.”

Well, true. I suppose that the mythology regarding vampires has been based on kernels of truth, and I suppose it makes sense that there would be more vampires than Seers in the world, since there are certainly more stories about them.

“You have often hesitated to share information about yourself with others,” Wolk says. “If you have the opportunity, do you plan to continue sharing with Clyde?”

“I think so. He seems trustworthy enough, and is sharing secrets of his own. He’s been pretty open with me, and I feel like I owe him some explanation after how much I’ve hurt him.” I still feel bad about that. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt anybody. I’ve been forced to do it many times in the past, and I have always hated it. But I have rarely done so by complete accident, and this feels bizarre to me to realize that my very existence is so harmful to his. And Levant’s. I wonder if it would be the same with any vampire. Maybe that’s something I can ask if we do get the chance.

When we make it back to the hotel, the stars overhead have begun to dim. Dawn is approaching. I wonder how long Clyde will be able to linger here. He said that sunlight can harm him in his physical form, so I know that by sunrise he will have to leave, or at least transform into mist.

The four of us make our way back down the ladder that Levant had contrived. I am grateful to him. He wasn’t entirely unhelpful. He made the ladder, and carried Fernando. “And entertained you a great deal,” Wolk points out. It makes me laugh, and Clyde looks over at me curiously. “I’ll tell you later,” I murmur.

He returns to the crowd, who have made some headway in setting things to rights. They have cleared a space near the vault, where they have arranged some of the chairs that remain in the basement. The door to the vault remains open, and people are going in and out. It turns out that the plumbing in the bathroom within is still working, which is convenient since the other bathrooms in the basement were destroyed. Modern humans would find it a real hardship to get along without indoor plumbing for very long. As would I, I consider with a smirk, I’ve certainly gotten used to it.

Once Clyde has quickly examined the situation and found that the humans seem to be unharmed still, he raises his voice. “I was able to call 911. There was cellular service about a mile away. They’ll be trying to get emergency crews here to evacuate everyone after they clear the roads. I’m hoping it’s just a few more hours.”

“Where will we go?” someone asks.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “A Red Cross shelter maybe?”

“What if we have flights to catch?” another person says.

“Actually,” I respond, and heads turn towards me. “I was able to check online while we had cell service, and from what I can tell, the tornadoes didn’t get out to the airport, and it is undamaged. It appears that flights will be resuming today.”

When the hubbub over this information dies down, Clyde sets Fernando and Jacob to doing whatever they can to make the surroundings as safe and comfortable for the guests as possible. We are all busy for about another hour, shifting the piles of rubble in the basement, trying to find bottles of water and any snacks that haven’t been damaged, to serve while waiting for rescue.

The sky has shifted to a pale gray color, and I know that the sunrise will soon force Clyde’s departure. He approaches me while I am trying again to help the parents in the crowd by entertaining the children with stories. They have understandably become cranky and unmanageable after their disrupted and uncomfortable night. “I’ve gotta go for a while, kids,” I tell them, and they moan. I grin at them. “Really, somebody else can tell a story for now, all right?” One of the older kids takes me up on it, and starts telling a story to the other children.

I follow Clyde over to the rebar ladder, which thankfully none of the other humans seem interested in trying to negotiate, and I climb up after him. He wanders back to the little row of rose bushes which miraculously survived the storm. His fingers brush across a remarkably pristine blossom, a spot of incredible beauty in the midst of the destruction.

“I’m going to have to leave you,” he says, looking up at the sky, his eyes narrowed against the approaching dawn.

I nod. “I figured.”

“I’m going to head home,” he says. “Would you like me to send a car for you later, and you can join me there? I would love to talk some more.”

“I appreciate that,” I tell him, “I really do, and I would love to talk as well. However, since the airport is functional as far as I know, I just want to go back there and try to complete my trip. I was only supposed to be away from home for three days, and I hate to extend it very much longer.”

He opens his mouth as though to start asking more questions, but then he looks back up at the sky. He doesn’t have time. “Any idea about your flight?” he asks.

“Not yet, but I’m assuming I’ll find something. I’m heading to New York. If my original flight isn’t rescheduled, there will certainly be something available.”

He nods. We suddenly hear the approach of emergency equipment, and we both look over to see a battalion of vehicles approaching. The cavalry has come to the rescue.

“I have to go before they get here,” he says hurriedly, “once they arrive I couldn’t sneak off. Will you talk to them, help out?”

“Of course,” I say.

“Thank you, he replies. “I really do hope to talk to you later.” He gives me a sort of sad smile. “Sorry I can’t shake your hand.”

I chuckle, and before I can reply, he has done his cute vanishing in a puff of smoke trick. The second vampire that I have seen take off without another word. Although at least this one didn’t make any rude gestures on the way out.

Wolk laughs at me.

“Get his cell phone number!” I ask Wolk. “I’ll send him a text later when I am able.”

I do want to keep in touch with him. There is still a lot I’d like to learn.

But for now, the first police car has arrived, and I approach them to share what information and assistance I can.