Time ticked away faster than Vasia wanted, so she licked the holes closed and released Maia with a quick word. “We are friends now Maia. I am Dr. Vasia Kddopili, please call me Vasia. We have a little connection, I can feel it. It would be lovely that anytime I arrive, you will take care of me, don’t you think? There is no telling anyone our little secret either. It’s a lovely secret to keep dear to yourself.”

  “Pretty.” Maia opened her eyes and leaned down to kiss Vasia on her cheek. “Pretty Vasia Kddopili. I will attend to your needs when you arrive.” She giggled, “Just our secret, us. I promise not to tell anyone about you, pretty Vasia.”

  “You are such a fine dy, Maia.” Vasia calmly traced the veins in Maia’s hand. “Now then, resume your duties and come back often.” Vasia exhaled once more, sealing the soft charm she’d given Maia and watched the woman walk off with a grin. With her immediate needs taken care of, Vasia turned back to Olympia and dropped her seductive act. “Now then.”

  “Now then?” Olympia shook her head. “Did you pn to come back here? We seldom do more than hunt and go back to the museum.”

  With one of her fingers rubbing her chin in thought, Vasia’s eyebrows slowly raised into near-perfect semi-circles. “You have hidden something from me this evening, my lovely Seraphin.” Vasia used the group name of her five devoted vampires that attended to her needs, advised her and on occasion spent their days in sexual bliss with the senescent vampire. Vasia had coined the name one evening when another of her five, Elisavet, mentioned that her body burned whenever Vasia touched her and thus the Seraphin or ‘Burning Ones’ were born. “Perhaps it is the music still flowing like blood that has me feeling rather…” She paused, “..tranquil. While I am still in this mood, I would appreciate you answering my question. Why are you pressing me to get back home?”

  “Your Highness.” Olympia picked up one of the appetizers and after using her fangs to both get the feeling of skin tearing and to enjoy the well-cooked mb, she continued. “So many tangents are roaming in your head right now.” Olympia finished off the remainder of the stuffed grape leaf. “I sense a touch of apprehension in your majestic voice. Like you are trying to charm me as you did the girl.” Olympia licked her fingers clean of the spices. “You freed me over three hundred years ago, My Queen.” Spotting the unwavering look coming from Vasia’s turbulent eyes, Olympia stopped her little bout of pyfulness. “You haven’t remembered for years, My Liege. As, it is your birthday.”

  Age. One of the few things that Vasia didn’t honestly think about any longer due to her other pressing thoughts and forked visions that danced in her head until she somehow managed to write them out on parchment or vellum. “I hate surprises.” Vasia mumbled and reached into her bck leather satchel and pulled out a leather-bound book and opened it to a free page. “Hold that thought, Olympia.”

  “My Queen…” Olympia tried to speak but knew her words were lost on Vasia in her current state. “...patience is apparently a virtue.” She muttered to herself and drank more of her ouzo.

  Expeditiously, Vasia plucked her well-used calligraphy pen and blood-ced ink from the bag, and after a swift dip, began to methodically cover the page in a blend of letters, words, images and even runes that ultimately meant nothing to anyone else gazing upon her work. “Done.” Vasia blew on the ink slowly and watched the individual pigments dry and permanently affix themselves to the page. “Now what about my birthday, Olympia?”

  Depending on how Vasia felt on a particur night, her seer-like ability was either a blessing or a curse. Upon her resurrection as a creature of the night, Vasia began having fshes of things that sometimes happened, and other times were completely opposite of what appeared. Initially using the images and words that appeared in her mind as a focus to keep her young vampire mind from delving into a blood-frenzy, Vasia had tried to act upon the things she’d seen and more often than not, caused a disaster in the process. Once her frenzied years passed, Vasia had made the decision to record them so they would harmlessly pass into her memory and not pgue her.

  “We all celebrate our Queen’s dark rebirth.” Olympia offered happily, “My fellow Seraphin have a little surprise waiting.” Olympia put her finger to her lips, “I wasn’t supposed to say anything, Highness.” Olympia turned her Cartier rose and diamond Baignoire so she could see the time. “We have a little more time, Highness but not much. I promised to have you back at the museum by eight-thirty.”

  Scanning the images and symbols on the page with her finger and eyes one final time, Vasia looked away from the page and then closed the book, securing it with the leather strap affixed to the outside. “That gives me time to speak with the pianist and convince him to come py for me at the museum.” Vasia reached for her gss and drained more of the maroon wine within. “Olympia.”

  “Yes, My Queen?” Olympia posed her response as a question, although she was pretty sure that the topic had finally gotten back to something she said a few minutes before.

  “Music.” Vaisa offered curtly.

  “Music, Highness.” Olympia sighed and pinched her nose to prepare for the incoming lecture that she knew was coming as soon as she suggested to Vasia that she learn the piano. “I don’t suppose you will forget what I said.”

  Setting down her bck lipstick-stained gss, Vasia leaned back in her seat and folded her arms. “No.” With a look on her face as though she had told a toddler to stop screaming, Vasia addressed the ill-fated suggestion. “Olympia Kaneliade..” Vasia used her eldest Seraphin’s full name to convey the seriousness of the moment. “...You and I have traveled this lovely country together for centuries, so why is it that you keep bringing up a suggestion that you know I will not attempt.”

  “This is going exactly how I thought it would go, My Queen.” Olympia faced Vaisa, “You know the answer as much as I know your response. Which is why I beg you to forget I said anything.”

  Completely unsatisfied with Olympia’s response, Vaisa delved into the old conversation. “I love the piano, I love the music it produces when an expert graces those bck and white keys with enough muscle memory and agility as to make ballerinas dance.”

  “Yes, My Queen.” Olympia offered defeatedly and slouched in her chair.

  “I won’t take the chance that I will do an injustice to its warm keys and metallic harmony with a sudden interruption from one of my phantasms. I respect the music and the piano too much.” Vasia fshed her fangs, “You know what I have done to those who disrespect the music and instrument.” She reached out and ran her finger on the inside of Olympia’s palm lovingly. “Music is the one thing that brings me peace from the sights.”

  “Many men and women have fallen to your unforgiving fangs in response to that disrespect, Highness.” Olympia offered softly, “I’ve only ever wanted you to experience the best unlife you can possess. I’m sorry, My Queen.”