Totally a Vampire Thing || ONC 2024 ||

Chapter 7. Dark Secrets of Room 11

Bartolome De Triana burst into the lobby of the Eternal Acres and made a beeline to the reception desk. I followed in his shadow, moving his handkerchief around my face morosely, still shell-shocked to hear I was a sacrifice.

Luckily, Bartolome had enough vivacity for a dozen people. "Lilian, you look ravishing!" the vampire cried out. "I don't know how you do it! What's your secret?"

The pants bunched in a thousand folds over his decrepit butt; his mane was unkempt, and he looked centuries old, but somehow he pulled off a believable ladies' man. I was happy Cruz didn't take after his grandpa, but Lilian blushed. "Ageless beauty, Monsignor, that's all it is to it."

"No, no!" He shielded his eyes, leaning on the desk and beaming at her with admiration. "Whoever bestowed agelessness upon you, must have cheated! You were given a much more precious gift, that of forever growing loveliness."

"If only there was such a thing!" She giggled and tacked a perfect spiral curl behind her ear.

Bartolome licked his lips.

"I have an arduous task of explaining to my guest how special my grandson is." He waved in my approximate direction, not taking his smoldering gaze off Lilian. "Of course, to meet Cruz is to love him, but it is paramount she understands the obligations of dating one of our kind as well. So...I need some liquid inspiration, Lilian, and since your beauty only rivals your kindness—"

"Aha, that is what you are really after, old rascal! The elixir! It's always elixir with you."

Lilian rolled in her chair to a bar fridge behind her and extracted a plastic bottle, the kind they use for liquid yogurt drinks. She shook it in the air, and Bartolome's neck stretched, his gaze following the bottle like a magnet.

"Take it, take it Monsignor." She extended the bottle, but snatched it away when Bartolome reached for it with a dizzying speed.

Bartolome pouted. "You should be ashamed of yourself for teasing a poor, frail old man."

Lilian laughed, like he made a joke. "So frail, you're ready to flirt all day long."

"In my youth, paying courtship to a lady was a sign of good manners. Would you judge me for it?"

"I guess not," Lilian sighed. "And I'll give the elixir to you..." Bartolome's smile became triumphant, but she froze it off with a tat-tat-tat. "I'll give it to you, if you stop pestering me for more until the end of the month. My stores are for emergencies only."

"I swear on my beloved Clarissa's grave." Bartolome pressed his hand to his heart and his eyes watered. Which didn't interfere with his reflexes at all when he caught the bottle out of the air. "Thank you, kind Lilian!"

The speed of this transaction was unbelievable, however I didn't have time to ask if Lilian was also a vampire.

Bartolome charged down the hall. It goes without saying that he pulled me along, like I was some barge. We turned the corner, zipped up the stairs to the second floor so fast wind plugged my mouth, and we didn't stop going until we were in front of Room 11.

There, he dropped me, chugged back the thick red liquid from the bottle, then bent over the door lock. His fingers traced inch-sized patterns in the air. Each one glowed blue, stretched to ten times that, then popped into a shower of sparks and dissipated, creating room for the next one.

Save for the crackling of Bartolome's runes, the hall was deathly quiet.

"Do you think Cruz is inside Freida's room?" I asked, trying and failing to keep the quiver from my voice.