CHAPTER FIVE

Mentor & Sire

The festive season was upon them. Thanksgiving had passed, but Christmas was just around the corner. Though he thought he was far too wicked to rest, Magnus had persuaded Warren to take a few days off - which would allow he and Ellis their Yuletide visit.

The night before their arrival, Warren had barely slept for worrying. The idea of his mentor and Sire meeting the odd, mortal girl he had living with him set his stomach churning. Would they make a big deal of it or ignore her like he often did?

The Compounds communal lounge had become familiar to Karou. Since her arrival, she’d spent several Saturday afternoons there, gathered with the few friends she’d made and hanging out. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t always get to socialise alone.

Warren would usually sit doing what he was doing now, puzzling his way around a crossword on the back page of his newspaper. Whenever she attempted to involve him in conversation, he’d give short, evasive answers or sometimes just grunts which came across as alarmingly rude and left her wide-eyed and red-faced. She’d come to accept that the old, icy, and imperturbable vampire wasn’t what you might call ‘a social butterfly’. It begged belief that he could be less talkative in public than when they were alone at the unit.

Karou couldn’t hold how uncomfortable he made others feel against him because she was stuck with him. Fortunately, she was nothing if not forgiving, but her illusion of freedom was just that. It only lasted while he was tied up working in his office. If he could have afforded to work remotely, he would have so that he could chaperone her about the Compound.

Although Karou had believed him when he insisted it was to keep her out of trouble, it still felt like he was just there to make sure the ‘other kids’ played nice with her. Amusingly, his tactic of being ever-present worked; if anyone said anything to her that might’ve been remotely offensive, all Warren would have to do was clear his throat, and the subject would swiftly be changed.

Indeed, his influence over those he housed in his facility was formidable. Even if no one liked him, they respected or feared him to some degree. Karou still wasn’t one hundred per cent sure how she felt about that, though it didn’t help that she barely knew anything about the man.

Maybe, if the visitor he’s waiting on is chatty, they might spill some tea on him.

Given the time of year they’d chosen to pay a visit and Warren’s demeanour the past few days, Karou had figured they must have been important to him. Warren had been busy preparing the Compound to be at its best and on display. From that, she deduced that he wanted their approval.

Although he was as guarded as ever when answering her questions, she’d figured out that the visitor was his ‘Mentor and Sire’ through her well-placed probing. Furthermore, eavesdropping on one of Warren’s phone calls led her to the knowledge that this person’s name was Magnus.

With her hands wedged under her thighs, legs swinging to and fro, Karou waited on the couch before the blazing fire. It was busy this time of day, but no one had disturbed them for an hour or two. The silence was awkward. Every so often, she’d glance Warren’s way as he sat cross-legged in the highbacked armchair to her left, still focused on his crossword. His guest’s flight from Russia was due to land at ten o’clock. They were expected to arrive at the Compound by eleven-thirty, but it was gone noon, and there was still no sign of them.

Karou huffed a sigh of incipient boredom and writhed in her seat. She had made a small effort to dress nicely in a pair of new jeans and a pretty white top under a simple burgundy, almost festive, cardigan, just in case Warren took it upon himself to introduce her to his guest.

There was never a day Warren didn’t look impeccable, and that day was no different, but Karou supposed, on closer inspection, he’d trimmed his stubble into a neater shape. One thing Karou wouldn’t have known was that he was wearing one of the watches his expected guest had gifted him some years past – he was surprisingly sentimental that way.

The clip-clopping sound of stiletto heels against the hardwood disrupted the homey crackling of the fire and signalled the approach of Ms Finch. The Compound receptionist, who had come to be known as just Isabel to Karou, appeared and announced, “Sir, sorry to disturb you, but I believe they’re here.”

If a man could’ve moved faster, he would’ve taken flight, Karou recalled thinking to herself as Warren flitted passed. Warren’s eagerness took both the women by surprise, and they shared a look of bemusement. Over the last couple of weeks, the two had shared some friendly conversations. Isabel had openly confessed to being a vampire. Though she was a pleasant, mild, and quiet lady, she didn’t seem genuinely friendly to Karou. It was all a charade so that she could probe her about her ‘odd relationship’ with ‘Mr Howard’. All her questions had led Karou to one obvious conclusion; Isabel Finch was infatuated with her boss and entirely unrequitedly.

Inclined to follow, Karou stood watching from the library and saw Warren beam for the first time as the man she presumed was Magnus embraced him. Upon first evaluation, Magnus looked middle-aged, perhaps in his forties. He had a head of long black hair, which he wore slicked back into a low ponytail and was positively Mediterranean looking with a warm sun-kissed skin tone and equally warm and expressive brown eyes. She imagined him to be what a child might call a ‘Papa’ because he exuded fatherliness.

Once the men had finished greeting, Magnus turned to collect their luggage, and a woman stepped to the forefront. She was typically beautiful, with her nearly black hair styled to look like a wholesome 1950s pin-up. Her long eyelashes fluttered over big, round baby-blue eyes, and her deep red lipstick set off her pale skin and delicately blushed cheeks.

While Magnus’ attention was elsewhere, she boldly kissed Warren on the mouth. Although it lingered, which suggested a connection more complex than mere friendship on the face of it, still, the public display appeared unsolicited by Warren.

Soon the friendly trio made their way towards Warren’s unit. Karou felt invisible. Evidently, Warren wasn’t going to make introductions.

Why did you think it would be any different? She wondered.

Rather than sulk, she slinked back into the library to find a book to get lost in instead. She wasn’t the type to wallow in self-pity and filled her day with a few hours of reading and a stroll to the tavern, where she found some friendly company and a bite to eat.

Ten o’clock came around quickly once she was back in the Compounds lounge, and Karou thought that was probably late enough to head back. She’d been curled up on one of the sofas with a book for a while but hadn’t really been reading it. Instead, she stared at the words while getting lost in her imagination.

Magnus’ was nothing if not an avid storyteller. His theatrical monologue had dominated the conversation for most of the day, but as evening drew in, the more wine he drank, the merrier he got, and the more amusing his stories became.

Warren didn’t mind; he’d always been a wallflower compared to his charismatic mentor. While Magnus had begun yet another tale, Warren and Ellis listened with faint smiles, merely enjoying the shared company. Ellis was especially enjoying being close to her fledgeling. Having discarded her shoes to curl her legs beside her, she sat pressed into Warren’s side while he enveloped her there and rested his arm across the back of her shoulders.

Karou entered to find the three of them like that, just as Magnus had finished his tale. Setting her shoes down by the threshold, she planned to sneak past and go directly to her room, where she could disappear for the night, but someone instantly noticed her presence.

“Hola, Nina!” Magnus greeted, confirming her suspicion about him being Mediterranean; he was Hispanic.

At his outburst, Warren and Ellis turned their heads about simultaneously to find Karou standing by the door, looking like a stunned deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

“You must be Karou, no?”

“Uh-... Hello. Yeah, I’m Karou. Nice to meet you.” She managed all whilst nibbling her bottom lip. “You… must be… Magnus?”

“My my, what a sweet thing you are.” The Spaniard flashed Warren a knowing grin, having also noticed how Karou smelled. “Si, I am indeed Magnus. Come! Come and sit with us. Would you like a drink, maybe some wine?” Magnus lifted the bottle from the coffee table and patted the seat between him and Warren with a wide and toothy grin. Karou couldn’t ignore Magnus’ fangs, but they weren’t threatening when he was smiling in such a friendly way. Still, they confirmed her suspicions about Warren were likely true; it was probable that all three of them were vampires.

Although she had hoped to slip away into her room, it would’ve felt rude to reject his invitation. Upon checking Warren’s reaction to Magnus’ invite, it didn’t seem like he minded her joining in, so she took the suggested seat obediently. She only needed to join them for a couple of minutes and then excuse herself, she reasoned.

Karou looked relatively small and ill at ease between the three others. Reservedly, she sat on her hands, but nothing about her shy affront put off Magnus because he was eager for her to be involved in their little party. When she obliged him by taking a seat, he quickly grabbed one of the rock glasses from Warren’s liquor tray and poured her a generous splash of white wine.

“Steady Magnus. She’s not old enough to drink,” Warren warned, “and I don’t want to have to carry her to bed,”

The words of warning fell on deaf ears, and Magnus wafted his hand nonchalantly. “Bah! Ignore him. Drink up and have a good time.” The Spaniard insisted before chugging at his glass of the same. “So, Warren says you’re from Massachusetts?”

Warren flashed Karou an apologetic look because he knew what was coming. For now, Warren had told Magnus just enough to save himself from incessant questioning. Karou, however, had gifted the Spaniard an opportunity. He had the ‘intriguing young girl’ within his grasp, so now he could resume his interrogation.

Somewhere between Karou skilfully dodging the more alarmingly personal questions Magnus flung her way, Ellis had caught her looking at Warren for possibly the third or fourth time. Honestly, she hadn’t realised she was doing it, and it was mostly just for reassurance. Warren wasn’t known well by Karou, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he was still not a complete stranger like she and Magnus were. Warren hadn’t even paid any mind to her glances, he’d continued to drink his wine and smoke his cigarettes, all while casually meeting her eyes every so often, but Ellis flashed the girl a look. A look that meant she was staking her claim, which Karou found odd - as odd as their seating arrangement. Karou had learned that Ellis was Magnus’ wife throughout the conversation, yet she didn’t sit next to him. Instead, she clung to Warren’s side, going so far as to suggestively brush her manicured fingertips through his sideburns and whisper inaudible things into his ear when Magnus was preoccupied. Magnus either didn’t see it or didn’t care. Karou presumed the latter as he had revealed himself to be quite the intellectual; she couldn’t chalk him up to being stupid enough not to see what was going on.

All the wine was consumed by around one-thirty in the morning, and the conversation had wound down too. Karou’s cheeks felt warm, and she’d drunk just enough to fix a contented smile onto her face. When Magnus announced he was ready for bed, she let out a small sigh of relief; the questions would stop now! He’d been friendly enough, if not over-eager, but Karou decided that overall, she liked Magnus. Her first impression had served her right; he was fatherly in that dependable sort of way.

The evening socialising was over, and Karou had watched as Ellis reluctantly peeled herself from Warren’s side and latched herself onto her drunken husband instead. Warren waved the couple off at the unit’s front door and turned with a sigh of relief, all of his own once it was locked behind him. Tonight, he’d had enough of conversation. It was exhausting for him to be sociable. Though the back-and-forth chit-chat he’d held with Magnus had genuinely been of interest, he’d unintentionally shown Karou a different side to him; he could be affable in certain company.

“Well, wasn’t that fun?!” Warren asked in a tone that Karou couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic or not. He wandered back toward the couch, tugged his tie free of his neck and, without reserve, proceeded to completely unbutton his shirt and untuck it from the waistband of his grey dress pants.

“Uhm-... Yeah. I really liked them. Especially your Sire.” Karou uttered. In her awkwardness, she fixed her blue eyes onto the assortment of empty wine bottles that now littered the coffee table when she’d caught a glimpse of Warren undressing. Though it wasn’t something Karou was usually inclined to do, she had been drinking, so internally, Karou prayed she wouldn’t burst into a fit of girlish giggles. She continued to look anywhere but at him as he slumped back onto the couch. This time Warren sat closer to her than usual, and she considered shifting away for a moment.

“Mhmm, Magnus is easy to get along with. He’s probably my favourite person.” He admitted with an honest, if not slightly merry, toothless grin. He’d had his fill of alcohol, making him docile and almost amicable. “... but you liked Ellis too?” To this, he raised a singular eyebrow curiously. What the expression did to his face drew Karou’s undivided attention as if his open shirt hadn’t already. When he was like this, he was as easy to talk to as he was to gaze at.

“Wh- what do you mean?” Karou asked at a loss, or perhaps she was just distracted now that she’d looked at him directly. Inexplicably the room suddenly felt sweltering! Yet, how his chest hair lightly littered his pectorals and thinned to nothing down his torso until a naturally defined line reached up to his naval from beyond the waistband of his pants continued to attract her eyes though she was trying not to stare.

“You said especially, my Sire… Ellis? You liked her?” Warren asked again, making his meaning clearer. “The woman’s notoriously unlikeable. Even I admit to flitting between hating her and finding her tolerable at best.”

“Ellis, is your Sire?” Snatching her eyes from wherever they’d wandered to reinitiate eye contact. Karou expressed her surprise, like all her emotions, plain as the nose on her face. “I thought Magnus was your mentor and Sire and that Ellis was just your girlfriend... Wait, no, I mean wife… Uh, no! I mean Magnus’ wife. Magnus’ wife!” Now she felt stupid and looked into her lap, blushing.

“Ellis isn’t my girlfriend. She was my mistress and Sire before she became his wife, though.” Warren explained. He didn’t find her assumption anything other than an honest mistake.

“I didn’t mean to judge! It’s just; their behaviour didn’t exactly read as ‘married couple’.”

“Ha, I know. If you can even call it a marriage,” Warren smirked. He didn’t mind her judging at all. Afterall, he’d spent the last fifty years trying not to. Try as he might, he couldn’t understand the point of being ‘together’ if fidelity went by the wayside, even if his own reputation for monogamy was historically dicey.

Karou was surprised that he’d agreed with her. The last few weeks living with Warren had been nearly unbearable. She was sure he hated her or found her annoying at the very least, but now he was chatting so cordially that it was confusing. Whether it was just the wine talking or the pleasant company that had lifted his mood, Karou didn’t care; she was basking in effect.

Enjoying the jovial tone of their conversation soon turned bittersweet for Karou; it hadn’t taken her long to realise that these happy moments were fleeting and came in waves that highly depended on Warren’s mood. She sighed while her hands busied themselves with picking at her fingernails.

It seemed that they didn’t often catch each other’s glances, but now that she had stopped looking at him, he focused on her, whereas before, he had been obliviously staring at the ceiling.

“You look smaller when you do that...” He muttered in an uncharacteristically gentle tone of voice.

“When I do what?” She muttered back.

“Hunch your shoulders, look down timidly, and play with your fingers. Why’re you acting shy?”

“Maybe I am shy? At least sometimes I am.” Karou shrugged. The movement caused her cardigan to shift from her shoulder and tumble down her arm. She didn’t seem to notice, but Warren did because it revealed just a little more of her pale, porcelain skin to his already thirsty eyes.

“Everyone here seems to like you and has an easy enough time getting to know you, so you’re not that shy.”

“I don’t mind being friends with people that can be bothered to take an interest in me,” Karou said boldly, with another shrug.

“Is that a dig at me? Have I not been interested enough?” He asked, even though he knew he purposefully ignored her most of the time. Frankly, he didn’t know if he could deliver if she wanted more attention.

“I should go to bed. It’s late.” Karou said unexpectedly. She wanted to avoid answering him if possible. He’d been good to her in many ways, so she didn’t want to seem ungrateful, even though he hadn’t exactly made an effort toward her regarding extending the hand of friendship.

Standing from the couch, she went to walk past and escape the awkward situation forming between them. She’d go to her room where she could shut herself away. However, Warren ambushed her as she tried to wriggle past him by capturing her wrist. His purpose hadn’t been to hurt her; he just wanted to waylay her exit, and his grip was certainly too firm for her to free herself from easily. By his immortal standard, he was being careful to be gentle.

“Do you think I should pay you more attention?”

“You don’t have to. I didn’t mean it like that. You- you’ve done enough for me already. I’m grateful, Warren.” Karou explained as she feebly tried to retrieve her arm from him.

There it was; the truth. Karou had tried to be kind, but all she’d done was confirm his worst fear. He’d done it numerous times before when he’d fallen short emotionally; he’d brought her satisfaction. Defeated by her honesty, Warren let go of her wrist and sighed, “Good night Karou.” Upon his retreat, he sank back down onto the couch and instantly dropped the subject.

Escaping the minor confrontation to go to her room Karou quickly undressed and got ready for bed. The blush her cheeks bore from the amount of wine she’d drunk didn’t disappear when she splashed her face with cool water; it seemed she would wear it to bed. She’d hurried across the hallway to brush her teeth and rid her mouth from the musky aftertaste of the wine before Warren decided it was time for him to make his way to bed too.

Reading a book by dim lamplight, she hadn’t heard Warren wander past her room to his own yet, but she could hear him tidying up. Bottles clinked into the trashcan as he discarded them, and the kitchen sinks faucet gushed to life when he washed up their glasses. Eventually, he turned out all the lights until the only one left on was the one in her room.

Just when he seemed to decide to retire to bed and began walking towards the hallway, Karou heard the familiar sound of the unit’s front door opening. Instantly she flicked off her lamp but strained her eyes to continue spying.

“Ellis, what’re you doing here?” She heard Warren whisper into the darkness. She found it strange that he asked her when he appeared to be anticipating someone’s arrival only moments ago.

“Magnus fell asleep after all that wine. Surely you knew I’d come?” The French American woman tugged at each open side of his shirt, trying to coerce him towards her.

“Not tonight, Ellis; I’m tired.” Warren protested, but she began to unbutton the front of the shirt dress she was wearing regardless.

“Oh, don’t spoil a good thing now, Warren. Don’t you want to see what I’ve put on underneath this for you?”

They’re having an affair! Karou thought, alarmed but jealous of the woman’s ‘go get ‘em’ attitude. She was confident she could never possess that level of confidence towards the opposite sex. She didn’t have the body for it anyway, Karou figured, because she could never hope to be as full-busted and curvaceous as Ellis was. The boys she attended high school with never so much as looked her way, never-mind men. Warren looked at Ellis how she imagined all women wanted to be looked at - to feel desired, irresistible, sexy even. Perhaps she watched too many rom-coms or read too many novels for her assumptions to be accurate, but somewhere inside, it was her truth. She’d hoped to one day meet a great guy and experience that all-consuming love storybooks preached was universally possible. Mostly she dreamed of a happy ending - that her life would turn out fine and, most of all, normal.

With Ellis’ dress just a puddle of fabric on the floor, she revealed the stockings and lingerie ensemble she wore beneath. It flattered her figure. It was plain to see that it pleased Warren. Just enough on show and just enough hidden to tease him.

The temptress quickly found her way to what she wanted, and her lipstick left behind a smudged trail down his neck and torso. Once Ellis’ lips found their way onto his skin, he stopped his rejection of her and submitted to being devoured while he stood there helpless to her advances. He loved to hate his possessive and greedy Sire.

Karou couldn’t tear her eyes away, but when Ellis relieved Warren of his pants and underwear, she quickly buried her face into her pillow. How shameful it would’ve been to spy on him while he was so undressed! Cupping her hands over her mouth to muffle her gasp, she rolled over and stared wide-eyed at the ceiling.

Eventually, she heard two sets of footsteps pad past her door and into Warren’s bedroom, but silence didn’t fall upon the unit; no, she could still hear them. Their antics and the sounds that accompanied them continued until Karou had no choice but to wrap her head in her pillow, hoping to block it all out.

When her eyes flickered open to find it was morning, Karou was relieved that the night was over and rose out of bed, glad to start a new day. That was a unique experience in and of itself; Karou had never been glad of the dawning of a new day while she lived with her parents. A new day only meant fresh hell with new opportunities to be criticised, devalued, and generally neglected. Nowadays, she was mostly just ignored by the person she lived with, which for now, she could endure while keeping in mind that at least he didn’t seem the violent type who was likely to give her a beating over the tiniest mishap. If only she hadn’t been so clumsy by nature, she might not have been so heavily victimised by her parents - there was a twinge of irony in that, she thought.

Karou opened her door to step the short yard across the hall into the bathroom. Half asleep, she heard her name called, so instinctively, she looked in the direction the greeting had come from. With her hand grasping the bathroom door handle, Karou idled and stared up to the door of Warren’s bedroom, where she found Ellis wrapped up in his bedsheets, clearly naked beneath as if it wasn’t already apparent what she had been doing the night before. Karou stuttered and blushed despite the woman having only greeted her good morning. These days she felt like her cheeks might as well have remained permanently rosy for the amount of time she spent blushing. She was ill-equipped to deal with the stunning people surrounding her and the alarmingly unfamiliar situations she found herself in too. Hence, she was easily embarrassed.

Wow, you really kept your cool there, Karou. That reaction was so mature. She sarcastically scolded herself - painfully wanting to fathom why her body betrayed her by acting so childish.

Stumbling from one calamity to the next, Karou felt the door handle tug from her grasp. In a split second, her face and hands collided with a cold, damp surface; someone’s chest. Warren had finished showering and was rubbing a towel over his hair when he distractedly exited the steamy wet room.

“Ah!” Karou shrieked as she recoiled, “Oh my God. I’m sorry!” She exclaimed - her apology spluttered out her lips at the same rate she retreated. Stumbling back to where she’d come from, Karou slammed her bedroom door behind her. With her back pinned to its other side, she sunk onto the floor - a flustered pile of hopeless teenage cliché.

At this rate, I’m going to die of embarrassment.

“Aww, you must have scared the poor thing. Such a sweet little girl.” Karou heard Ellis say to Warren in a ‘coo-chi-coo’, condescending tone that added insult to injury.

“Oh, come on, Ellis, she’s not a kid. She’s nineteen.” Warren groaned, trying to reason with his mistress for Karou’s sake. She could hardly believe he was defending her.

“Exactly, she’s still a child. Barely a woman and still a virgin, I bet.” Ellis continued. It made Karou’s bottom lip quiver, but out of anger or sadness, she didn’t know.

“Her sexual maturity and status hadn’t occurred to me...” Warren lied. He kept his tone level and dry to the point that he seemed disinterested in the topic, making him sound more convincing in his illusion.

“I think it has to her. Didn’t you see how she blushed?”

“She blushes all the time.” He noted casually.

“See! And that’s why it isn’t appropriate that she’s living with you, Warren, and she’s mortal too. It’s irresponsible.”

“Which is it, Ellis? Irresponsible that I live with a female or that she’s mortal?”

Karou couldn’t listen anymore - forget taking a shower or brushing her teeth! She dressed in whatever she found at hand and made a b-line for the front door as soon as she burst out of her bedroom.

“I think she heard you...” Warren muttered, turning to watch Karou flee.

A bone-chilling question dawned on him - if she’d heard them talking just now, what else had she witnessed the night before? He remembered that Karou had only just gone to bed by the time Ellis had shown up. An uncomfortable, overwhelmed feeling of guilt and embarrassment crunched in his stomach at the idea that she’d heard everything.

~*~

Magnus and Ellis had been back in Russia for nearly a month, and still, Karou was scurrying around the unit like a mouse. She’d shrunken into herself, hoping that by doing so, she’d go unnoticed. That tactic hadn’t been effective because Warren had detected Karou’s behavioural changes; it highlighted that there was an issue rather than disguised it. Exactly what was wrong with her; he didn’t know, and he wasn’t going to pry. He was still embarrassed that Karou probably knew what he and Ellis had gotten up to over Christmas.

Warren’s embarrassment manifested as a perpetual annoyance when Karou was present. Though there was no conversation, he’d started to nag at her. Untidiness was one of his pet peeves, and he was getting tired of asking Karou to put her shoes away - she always left her tennis shoes by the door haphazardly. Dirty dishes being left in the sink for more than an hour was unnecessary, he thought. The TV remote was permanently abandoned on the sofa and never placed on the coffee table in its designated spot. Her corner of the couch was consistently cluttered with all the scatter cushions and not one but two blankets! Most mornings, she left toothpaste in the sink and hair in the shower’s plughole. Karou never put anything back where she found it. The list went on, and things infuriated him more as they mounted. Warren wasn’t shy about letting her know, either. All he’d done for weeks was bark orders at her. As a result, Karou’s demeanour around Warren had gotten more avoidant.

Living together would’ve been easier for both of them if they’d cleared the air, but alas, neither was brave enough to approach the other first. Though there would come a point when they’d have to talk, Warren was so relieved that she hadn’t brought up his sexual escapades and that his life was back to normal.

When it came to not breaking the thick silence between them, his stamina was holding up a lot better than Karou’s. Social distance was his forte, whereas Karou felt like she was suffocating. It turned out that being invisible was almost as unbearable as being back in Concord with her shitty parents.

New Year had come and gone. Even though they’d both stayed up until after midnight, watching the worldwide celebrations on TV carry on despite the war, they barely exchanged a word. A few short nights after, the tension would culminate.

As had become usual, Karou was sitting curled up in her pyjamas in the corner of the sofa. She’d been hugging a scatter cushion into her chest with her chin nestled into it. The movie she’d chosen for them to watch had taken a turn, and she’d forgotten that there was a rather graphic sex scene about a third of the way through. With a bright, amber-coloured blush painted across the centre of her face, Karou face-planted into the cushion with an annoyed groan as the two protagonists began to ‘go at it’ at a passionate pace.

Warren had been watching Karou watch the movie; he’d taken to doing it a lot lately. He didn’t know why but she usually amused him more than the film’s plot. If she particularly liked the movie and had seen it numerous times, she’d mouth the words during her favourite parts.

Quite the opposite of himself, Karou never struggled to express her emotions. In fact, her face and eyes were so expressive that sometimes it was a curse. The blush spread across her cheeks hadn’t escaped him. Briefly, he glanced at the screen to see what had set her off and seeing the two naked actors entangled in each other’s limbs made him bristle, too - memories of Christmas were still fresh in his mind. It occurred to him that perhaps Karou couldn’t watch because she was also privy to his recent antics. In reaction, he grabbed the remote from the coffee table and hit pause. Once the audio cut out, Karou peeped up from her hiding place and in Warren’s direction instead.

“Would you like me to skip forward from this part?”

“Yeah, that’d be great, thanks,” Karou replied in a voice not much louder than a whisper, but at least they’d finally broken the silence.

“D’you have a crush on the male lead?” Warren asked with a smirk as he sipped at his scotch. He tried to remain casual and keep his motive for probing her inconspicuous while hoping to attain the reason for her embarrassment.

“No, why?”

“You’re blushing.”

“It’s just embarrassing to watch, that’s all. I mean, it never happens in real life like in the movies...” Karou fumbled through her explanation. She wasn’t speaking from experience, but she didn’t want Warren to know the extent of her naivety.

“Art mimics life, but why compare the real thing to entertainment?”

Her eyes rolled, “it’s not that entertaining.”

“Good thing, we get to do this then,” Warren skipped forward from the scene.

He had been about to press play and resume their silence when Karou lowered the cushion from her chest and angled herself toward him. “Warren…” She started.

Alerted by his name, Warren set down the remote, lounged back into the couch and prepared to listen. For a few stretched moments, there was silence.

While he stared at her, she stared back until Karou admitted bravely; “I- I saw you and Ellis together at Christmas,”

“Really?” He asked calmly, but she had brought up the one thing he wanted to forget but couldn’t shift from his mind. He hoped he hadn’t tarnished her innocence, though he was somewhat annoyed that she’d spied on them and not only heard their antics by accident. Sure, he hadn’t given her a choice other than to live with him, but he still valued his privacy. “How much did you see?”

“Uh, kissing, mostly… I- I stopped looking before anything really happened. I didn’t really see anything.” Her blush grew fiercer as she explained, and her focus on the couch more intense. She only dared to look at Warren sparingly to gauge his reaction, but his expression was always challenging to read.

“Thank you for being so considerate of my modesty. I’m assuming that’s what has made you so timid lately - your embarrassment? I might not be much of a talker, but I’ve noticed your silence.”

“It wasn’t really that that upset me...” Karou said but wasn’t sure upset was the right word to describe how she felt. “I mean, it was embarrassing, but what I overheard the morning after that... bothered me.”

“You shouldn’t pay any mind to what Ellis says,” Warren said dismissively and hoped Karou would infer from his tone how fervently he believed most of what his Sire spewed was horseshit without him having to explain further. “She’s bitter and probably just jealous of your youth.” He couldn’t emphasise his point enough.

“How could she possibly be jealous of me when she looks like she does?” Karou stared down at the cushion in her lap and began to pick at her fingernails; it was a nervous habit she kept, one that he’d questioned her about before. Keeping her eyes as distracted from Warren as possible, she hated the fact that Ellis was right about everything she’d said. “I- I will never look like her - I’m not and never could be in her league…”

“No, you’re not.” Warren agreed.

The snide comment stung Karou. Her brows fell, but she remained silent, expecting no less.

“Why would you want to look like her?” Warren asked, being careful not to give too much away so that the curiously little creature wouldn’t ferret around in his words too much to find the sentiment he was trying to hide. Nothing he said was meant to imply he didn’t find Ellis attractive because he did but what he was suggesting about Karou was another matter entirely. He thought she was pretty, even if it were a pity that she didn’t think the same; he’d long held that opinion but felt that those words from his lips could do more harm than good.

“I don’t know. I guess maybe then I would get noticed. Y’know by boys... I- I mean men.”

“Karou, you get noticed by plenty of men...” Warren grinned and almost chuckled.

It was true. He’d witnessed many of the Compound’s male residents and staff ‘notice’ her on more than one occasion. Some of them weren’t shy about it, either. However, Karou being Karou meant she had never realised. She wasn’t looking for that kind of attention as much as she thought she was, and the fact that she didn’t seem to notice them only made them stare after her more eagerly. Even Warren supposed she could be a tease without realising.

“You don’t have to do that ‘father figure’ thing... y’know, like how dads tell their daughters how lovely and precious and ‘beautiful’ they are to make them feel better,” Karou whined and pulled the scatter cushion into her chest a little tighter. Of course, her dad had never done that, but she knew that loving fathers were supposed to.

“Of course, how stupid of me-...”

Charming, he thought. I guess I’m just a paternal figure to her.

“…-I couldn’t possibly have been saying that as just a member of the opposite sex.” Grabbing his cigarettes from the coffee table, Warren lit up and sighed a plume of blue-hued smoke into the lounge to distract from how he awkwardly cleared his throat.

That only needs to bother you if you want her to recognise you as ‘a man’ and ‘a possibility’.

Thank goodness she couldn’t hear his seedy thoughts. It was probably for the best that Karou didn’t know Ellis was right; they were walking the fine line between what was appropriate and what wasn’t in living together. An older man cohabitating with a much younger and attractive woman, rumours were so easily concocted from that fact alone.

“Well, how are you saying it then? Are you saying that you find me…” Karou paused and chose her words carefully, “Attractive?” Even if she feared he would give her the answer she expected, she was brave enough to ask anyway. In the face of adversity, Karou was always a fighter.

Warren wanted to kick himself. He’d hoped she wouldn’t ask but hadn’t he lured her into it?

“Perhaps a little more than I should. Why?” To answer honestly was inappropriate, but to lie would have been cruel. In the wake of his astonishing answer, he stared hard at Karou, but his eyes gave nothing of his inner turmoil away.

“It would be pretty shitty of you to be saying that just to tease me...” Her eyes narrowed; it was hardly threatening but showed her doubt.

“I think a lot of men find you attractive, Karou; you never pay them any mind. Why does it matter to you what I think anyway?” Warren took a long drag from his cigarette, shifted his legs into a crossed position, and faced her head-on.

“It doesn’t...” She lied, but the blush across her face was unconcealable despite her staring hard into her lap.

“Really?” He grinned deviously. “That being the case, do you find me attractive at all?” Warren pried, leaning forward in his seat closer to her. It was annoying to Warren that he kept wondering, but perhaps Ellis was right about that too. “Maybe that’s why it matters to you what I think.”

“I just said it doesn’t matter, didn’t I?” Karou snapped, her wide, lying eyes finding his. Instantly, from the smug look on his handsome face, she knew she’d fallen into a trap. It took her a few moments to gather herself before quietly she continued: “But uh- yeah, I guess I do... But you already knew that - I think you know a lot of women do.”

“Hmm, well, you tried to lie about it. You’re not a very good liar, Karou.” Warren let go of a sigh, and he wondered how deeply their conversation would get. After another moment of long looks, he cleared his throat to say, “They might find me aesthetically pleasing, but that’s always where it ends; my… ways usually put them off.”

“Oh, for sure. I didn’t say I liked your personality. You can be kinda a jerk, and you’re so grumpy all the time.” Karou didn’t want to flatter Warren’s already enormous ego, so she shot him down with a home truth - one that he knew well enough, but never-the-less it was wounding. “You lack social etiquette.” Karou chirped; it was something she recalled Isabel saying. Somehow the vampiress found his moods endearing; Karou couldn’t see the charm herself.

“Now, who’s lacking in social etiquette?” Warren rolled his eyes. “Some people might not find your brutal honesty charming, y’know... You’re lucky I appreciate it.”

Karou ignored his play at distracting her with mild deprecating humour. “Hmm, you’re not honest, are you.” She wondered rhetorically. There was no time for him to deny it because she continued, “Earlier, you admitted to not always liking Ellis, so why do you sleep with her?”

Disarming words, followed by a jarring question. Warren was under fire, and Karou was on a roll. Her investigation into him was becoming increasingly more personal, and usually, he would mind. If she hadn’t already met Ellis and knew about their affair, he never would’ve entertained a conversation about his personal life with Karou. Speaking earnestly on such an uncomfortable topic didn’t feel natural; Karou’s kind eyes somehow helped him remain candid for now.

“Instinct, I guess. I find it hard to say no to her because she’s my Sire. She has a hold on me, and I’m just a man, after all.” Figuring he could afford to toy with her a little if she were going to be so forward. Warren flicked his cigarette into the ashtray on the coffee table and stared at Karou from under his brow. Would his smouldering eyes fluster her enough to stop asking such intrusive questions? “We’re rather the weaker sex when it comes to physical offerings.”

“Is it always like that with Sire’s and fledgelings then?” Karou asked. She had been reading a lot about vampires lately. Since she’d found herself living with Warren and suspected he was one, she had been using him as a case study.

How she reacted to his gaze was typically unexpected; maybe he should’ve figured as much. If anything, he had had the opposite effect and spurred her on.

Relentless in her curiosity, Karou discarded the cushion at last to venture a little closer. Her eyes were wide, hoping that he would give her some extra tidbit of knowledge to add to her collection of vampiric trivia.

“No. Not always. Most Sire and fledgeling pairings are at least friendly towards one another, though. They undoubtedly share a bond, but it can take on characteristics of any relationship; parental, mentor and student, friends, perhaps something similar to a sibling bond with the complexities of the rivalries...” Warren’s explanation sounded as if he were reading from a textbook. In truth, he knew extraordinarily little about the intricacies of social interactions, including vampiric ones. He’d probably memorised that spiel from Magnus, the walking, talking encyclopaedia. His mentor had written many compendiums on vampirics in his five-hundred-plus years.

“Sometimes it’s romantic, then?”

“Rarely, but yes, it can be. More commonly, it’s about sex and, uh, basal gratification. The excitement that comes with sharing blood can quickly descend into something sexual.”

At this explanation, Karou’s head tipped to the side in her bird-like way. It made Warren smile, and in turn, she smiled back.

“You might find my relationship with Ellis strange, but if I didn’t see her, I probably wouldn’t be getting any at all.” Warren joked as he swept his hand back through his hair.

“I don’t think that’s true. Perhaps you just haven’t noticed who else might be interested.” Karou muttered. Since she’d abandoned the shield that was the cushion she’d been clung onto, Karou had involuntarily inched closer and closer. How she moved along with the suggestiveness of her statement seemed to have also gone over her head. Karou had women such as Isabel Finch in mind; she would have undoubtedly flung herself at Warren if he’d given her a chance. However, in no way did she envision Warren being interested in her.

Across the couch, words had escaped Warren. Unfortunately, because he’d never entertained Ms Finch’s fawning over him or acknowledged any unsolicited female attention, they hadn’t been anywhere in his mind. He foolishly assumed Karou was flirting with him.

In the silences, he saw all the things about her that he would later scold himself for. It didn’t matter that he reminded himself of her tender age; he couldn’t help but notice the way the lace of her bra was visible through the fabric of her pyjama top and how her slender legs beneath the high hemline her sleep shorts curled at her side. He could barely keep the image of them wrapped about his hips from surfacing through the murky depths of his imagination. The choir of imaginary devils were proving difficult to keep at bay again. The deviants outnumbered the voices of reason, and they leered at her from behind his eyes, howling, growling, and baying like ravenous hounds. His body stiffened in his seat as he commanded it not to move an inch further toward her.

Why do people always want what they can’t have? It was a question that a part of him had an answer to. Well, an excuse, at least. A reason to take what he wanted, because why should he limit himself when she was the one that had moved closer?

Yes, take what you want. That’s right, let her come nearer. Yes, closer so that you can touch her. Barely one silent moment passed, but Warren imagined an abundance of scenarios.

Quiet! He screamed internally, muzzling the lecherous beasts so that he could regain composure.

“Did you-” He cleared his throat. “Did you want to watch the end of the movie?” He asked. The finality with which he stubbed out his cigarette was a physical metaphor for how fervently he was trying to stomp out the fire growing inside of him.

“Uh-... Sure.” Karou replied, taken aback. She hadn’t known what she had expected him to say next, but it wasn’t that.

“Right, well, I’ll let you continue. I’m going to bed.” He slid the remote towards Karou and stood from the couch.

Karou nodded and sat up on her knees. Then, hoping to stop him in his tracks, she quietly spoke his name when he walked past her. “Warren.” From that short distance between them, she could see that his eyes were now deep blue.

“Yes, Karou?” With just inches between their bodies, he froze. Warren stared down into her gun-metal blue eyes and noticed the freckles that sprinkled her upper cheeks and nose seemed to twinkle in the dark. The hasty decision he’d made not to breathe while that close to her saved them both.

“Thank you for talking to me tonight. It’s the longest conversation we’ve had in a while.”

“It’s alright.”

If only you knew what I’ve been thinking, you wouldn’t thank me - so many, too many, close calls.

“Goodnight, Karou.” Warren went to bed, chastising himself just as he’d predicted.

Sitting on the edge of his bed with a palm covering his face, he sighed, having to admit that Ellis was right. Damnit, I hate it when she’s right.

Whether or not he knew it, Karou was a catalyst for change in his life, and those changes had already started to sneak up on him. The first time they’d met, his decision to protect her was still in effect. He was resolved to start doing a better job of it.