Darby looked out the window across the front yard of the house as the sun began to set behind the trees and crickets started their nightly song. George walked up next to her and slid his hands into his pockets.
"How long have the three of them been in that room together?" he asked. "And how long before Stephen tries to kill Arthur or the other way around?"
Darby snickered and wiped a smudge off the window.
"Mary won't let them kill each other," she assured George. "But they have been in there for a pretty long time."
"Which one of them do you think she will choose?" George asked. He walked over to the couch and sat down, resting his arm on the back of it. Darby smiled and sat next to him letting her finger run down his thigh.
"Difficult to say honestly. They both have their strong suits but also plenty of flaws."
"Stephen was flawed enough for Mary to literally run away from him," George commented with a smirk.
"You're not wrong. But there are two sides to every story," Darby told him. She paused for a second, then looked up at George.
"You know you still haven't told me the story of what you did after we parted ways thirty years ago and before you showed up here trying to win me back."
George looked down at her with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Is that what I have been doing?"
Darby nodded and leaned back against the arm of the couch lifting her legs and resting her feet on George's lap.
"I think we have a couple more hours of quiet before either Stephen or Arthur storms downstairs in a rage so let's hear it, vampire boy. What have you been up to?"
Bailey found Lee sitting in the backyard under the shade of a tree watching the sunset. She walked up to him nervously, twisting her hair between her fingers.
"Did you come to yell at me some more?" Lee asked.
Bailey sat down next to him in the soft grass and shooed away a fly that was buzzing in her face.
"No I came to let you know that Thomas left," Bailey said.
"Darn. Just as we were becoming good friends," Lee said back, his tone dripping sarcasm.
"And to tell you I'm sorry," Bailey added. "You didn't deserve to be yelled at. I was upset about losing Thomas and I took it out on you."
Bailey sat next to Lee waiting for him to say something be he stayed silent.
"Alright, I get it," Bailey said, pushing herself to her feet with a sigh. "I guess I didn't expect you to forgive me." She brushed the grass off her pants and turned to walk away.
"Sit down," Lee said. Bailey turned around and saw him looking up at her, his brown eyes unreadable.
She sat down next to him readying herself to be scolded. Instead she saw Lee's tan hand reach up to her face and grasp her chin gently, pulling her toward him.
"I forgive you," he whispered as he kissed her.
"So you see, Mary, I was trapped in this monster's dungeon for so many years but I never stopped thinking about you," Arthur told Mary, pointing an accusing finger at Stephen.
"Monster? I was the one protecting the world from the real monster: you," Stephen shot back.
Arthur took a step closer and let his fangs descend, hissing at his brother.
"Call me that one more time," he dared.
"Is this why you called me?" Mary cut in, standing in front of the two vampires with folded arms. "To watch the two of you fight?"
"I called you here to pick one of us," Stephen told her. "Preferably me."
"If you want a boring life of reading and listening to records, go ahead and choose my brother," Arthur said, pacing back and forth.
"But if you wish to live as a true vampire should and hunt the less fortunate, choose me. I can help you satisfy your bloodlust like no one else could."
"Is that so?" Mary asked, her eyes following Arthur back and forth across the room.
"I can offer you a stable home and a comfortable place to sleep all day," Stephen told her, stepping between her and Arthur.
"And despite what my brother claims, there is plenty more to do here than read."
"Oh really?" Arthur asked, shoving Stephen out of the way. "Like what? Dusting? Polishing silver?"
This time, Stephen's fangs came out and he stepped up to Arthur, the two of them hissing at each other.
"Alright, enough of this," Mary declared, pushing the two of them apart.
"You want me to make a decision, right?" she asked. The two vampires looked at her and nodded.
"Sit down," she said, gesturing to the sofa. Stephen and Arthur sat down next to each other with plenty of distance between them.
"Ok then. You wanted my decision," Mary said. "So here it is."
PART TWO: COMING SOON
