Helsinki, 10.

Wednesday.

I’m not sure which woke me up first: the first rays of the rising sun, making my head feel like it was about to burst as I opened my eyes a fraction of an inch, or the incessant ringing of my cellphone somewhere nearby. Thinking that I was in my bed I reached out with my hand, trying to find the offending object and silence it. But it wasn’t where it was supposed to be, and my mattress was feeling a bit too rough. Like I was lying on asphalt.

Recollection crept upon me, and like the morning, it dawned on me as well that I most likely was lying on asphalt. Right, time to open the eyes again. Oh yes, there’s the bloody sun. I groaned, swore as one only can when one has had a few centuries to collect nasty words in, and quickly covered aching eyes with my arm.

That’s right, I had been waylaid on my way to—

Kielo!

I sat up so suddenly the world wouldn’t stop spinning for a long while. But I managed to locate my cellphone, just as it stopped ringing. Ninety eight new calls, all from Kielo.

I had been out of it for a while.

…why the hell was I still alive?

That’s right, this was just a friendly warning.

Friendly? Since when were concussions considered ’friendly’? Well, I guess it’s better than being dead. But why… thinking just hurt too much right then. I managed a look around me, and realized I was just outside my apartment building, behind some bushes, out of general view. They must have tossed me off the street. How nice. Thoughtful.

Assholes.

Right, better call Kielo and tell her I was all right. Or at least alive.

She answered immediately, sounding almost hysterical.

“Where are you? Are you all right? Oh my God, I’ve been so worried, I’ve tried to call you all night!”

I managed to get a few words in to tell her that I was mostly all right, but hadn’t gotten far from home. She told me that she was coming right over. Before I could object, she was already on her way. Great. That gave me about twenty minutes to get out of the bush and home.

Easier said than done.

At least the sun was coming up, so Kielo should be able to get here safely. The thought was a comforting one as the world spun enough to make me throw up whatever was in my stomach.

There was no way I could get up and walk to the door. Squeezing my eyes shut, I swallowed my pride and crawled towards the heavy iron gate. I suspected that the time was around five in the morning, judging by the amount of daylight and lack of life around me. A couple of people walked past me, but no one stopped to ask whether I was all right. They must have taken me for a drunk, crawling, smelling of vomit, muttering to myself. Swearing, of course.

All the more when I reached the gate and kept dropping my keys every time I tried to reach up and open the lock. No matter. Kielo would soon be over to rescue me, so I gave up after about a dozen attempts and just sat on the ground, nursing my aching head.

It didn’t take long until I heard footsteps approaching in a hurry, and managed to lift my head and open my eyes to greet her. The sunlight playing on her blond curls almost blinded me.

“You look like an angel…” I muttered smartly as she crouched down in front of me and caught my face in her hands. When I managed to focus I saw that her eyes were red with crying and a lack of sleep, but otherwise she seemed to be unharmed. And without her usual layer of make-up.

She gave me a smile and carefully ran her hands along my aching head. “What did they do to you? Can you stand? Where are your keys?”

I answered her the best I could, and once she located my keys from the ground and helped me up, we managed to get in through the gate. I shamelessly leaned my head against her breasts as we ascended the stairs slowly to my door. Buttercup was waiting behind it, and this time didn’t run and hide when she saw Kielo. Instead she weaved around our feet, purring a little and brushing herself against us. Her odd behavior made me laugh a little.

“Don’t tell me you missed us…” I muttered, deciding not to lean down and pet her when just looking at her made everything else spin. Kielo didn’t allow for it, anyway, as she took me to the sofa almost roughly, and sat me down.

“Do you need a doctor?” she was carefully examining the bloody bump at the back of my head and staring deep into my eyes as she spoke, all worry and fear and despair and tired eyes. I shook my head a little, regretting it immediately.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be all right. Just give me an hour or two.”

She gave me a glance that didn’t really radiate trust for my judgment.

“I heal quite fast.” I assured her and leaned back, careful not to stain the sofa with my bloody head.

“If you say so.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek and went to get me some water. Buttercup jumped onto the sofa as soon as Kielo was gone, and came to push her furry little face against mine.

“My, but you both are so concerned…” I muttered, stroking her soft fur. “But I’m not that easy to kill.”

Kielo returned in a minute with a glass of water and her purse. From there she produced some painkillers, and made me take two. I obeyed, and started to feel better after a few minutes.

“Thank you. Do you want to tell me what happened last night?” I had my eyes closed again, and intended to keep them so. She had sat beside me on the sofa when she had come back, and I could feel her stiffen a little at my question.

“Like I told you on the phone. My friends dropped me off right at the door. As I was going in, the door already open, these two vampires came out of nowhere and dragged me aside. They… one of them was holding me by the throat and the other one was speaking. I thought they’d kill me, he was choking me so hard.”

I opened my eyes against my better judgment to see Kielo lift her own fingers to her throat. The pale skin was bruised dark all around. I felt my blood start to boil with rage.

“I barely heard what the other one was saying. Another friend of Dorian’s. I could make out that he wanted to kill me, and all that was stopping him and his friend was that they had promised Dorian not to touch me. But he said that after Dorian is done with me…” she left the sentence hanging, but there was no need to finish. I could imagine the rest for myself.

“Shit.” I muttered, finally lifting a careful hand to rub at the back of my head. There was still a throbbing pain there, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been just fifteen minutes ago. I knew that come that evening, there would be no sign of the beating left. Maybe a headache, but nothing more.

“At this rate, I won’t be able to go out after dark anymore, no matter what happens.” Kielo was saying, staring at her hands in anger and frustration. “I don’t want to stop living my life just because of a few bloodsucking fuckers.”

I chuckled at her choice of words. Suck language! She gave me a questioning look, and I leaned over carefully to plant a small kiss on her lips, free of any lipstick or lip balm. Just the taste of her on them, just their natural colour. “Don’t worry. We’ll finish this, one way or another. I love you.”

I hadn’t exactly meant for that last bit to slip out, but I didn’t regret it. Not when a small, real smile appeared on her face and grew to light up her whole face.

“My heroine.” She whispered and leaned closer for a deeper kiss. “I’ll hold you to your word.”

“I’ll just hold you, then.” I said and wrapped my arm around her. She laughed quietly. “Give me a break, I’ve been concussed. You can’t expect top grade material right now.” That made her laugh more, and she pulled me to her, to lean my head on her chest.

Oh yes, life is good.

I must have dozed off soon after that, for the next thing I knew was that the pain in my head had receded to a dull ache, and my warm, soft pillows have been replaced with the ones on my sofa. There was music playing quietly, and I could hear Kielo in the kitchen. I was more or less on my stomach, and there was a blanket and a heavy, purring weight on top of me.

I moved a little and Buttercup stopped purring, but only for a moment. I lifted my head from the pillow and opened my eyes a little. The room was mostly dark, but Kielo had opened the curtains of one window slightly, and warm rays of sunshine flooded in, giving the room a gentle glow. The music… the music and the sunshine and the few dark colours I could see immediately took me back in time a few decades, to when the music was new and I was in love the last time. Last time before this.

Of course Kielo couldn’t have known that I used to listen to this music with my previous lover, but I still wished she would have chosen something else from my collection.

“Night and day, you are the one,

“Only you beneath the moon or under the sun…”

“You’re awake. How’s your head?”

Kielo’s words startled me from my musings, and I looked up to find her smiling, swinging her hips slightly to the music. I just blinked at her for a moment before answering.

“Head’s all right, just a bit achy. What time is it?”

“Half past ten in the morning. I was just making coffee, want some?”

“Hell yes.”

Kielo laughed and went back into the kitchen, only to return a minute later with two steaming cups of coffee. She set them on the table, settled herself back on the sofa, and made me lean my head on her lap.

“I’m not going to be able to drink coffee like this, you know.”

“You can wait a few minutes. It’s too hot to drink anyway.” She said and stroked my hair. The bruises on her neck didn’t look as bad anymore as they did when I first saw them. She noticed me staring and lifted a conscious hand to her throat.

“Does it hurt?” I asked, and she shook her head.

“They just wanted to scare me.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But it’s what you’re paying me for.”

I could feel her shake with laughter now.

“What, I still have to pay you? All the sex isn’t enough?”

“Well, maybe I’ll give you a discount.”

“You’re soooo generous.”

“How does five percent sound?”

“If you weren’t injured I’d push you off the sofa.”

“All right. We’ll make it seven. Just ‘cause I like you, kiddo.”

She pushed me off the sofa anyway.

The music eventually ended, and Kielo got up to start it again. Once she reached the stereos, I asked her to change the record into something else.

“Why? I thought you’d like it, considering it’s one of your cd’s. I like it.” She turned to me as she spoke, smiling. I hesitated with my answer, and, I don’t know how, but she seemed to read my mind. “Or does it remind you of someone?”

“…yes.”

“Someone special?” Now she was curious. I could tell there was a hint of jealousy in her voice, but it was overrun by curiosity as she pressed Play, ignoring my wish, and came to sit on the sofa again. “Tell me all about it!”

“It’s… a long time ago.” I started quietly when the first notes of the first song floated through the air. If I closed my eyes I could easily imagine myself as the woman of decades past, dancing slowly to the scratchy tune on the radio. Dancing with someone.

“Soon after the war.”

So much was destroyed during those years that shook Europe to its core. But this was later on, when people were working together to start life anew.

“I was living in London then. The beginning of 1950’s. He—“

“He?!” My head still on her lap, Kielo leaned over to look at my face, her breasts pressing against the side of my face.

“Yes, he. So I bat for both teams. You’re one to talk.”

”I date them, I don’t love them. But never mind that. Go on.”

“He was Polish, and like many of his countrymen, he had come to England during the war, to fight the Germans. His country was invaded at the beginning of the war, as you must know. But that didn’t stop the Polish from wanting to fight. France, England, where ever they could.

“After the war, he was also living in London. We met one night, as we both happened to be walking on the outskirts of Regent’s Park. We recognized each other immediately.”

“What do you mean? You had met before?”

“No. He, uh.” I hesitated, but Kielo literally prodded me on. ”He was a vampire.” I had expected her to gasp in horror, and gasp in horror she did.

“You mean… you, a vampire hunter, and he, a vampire?” she was covering her mouth with her hands, so I didn’t see whether she was smiling or truly horrified. All I could do was nod. “Why didn’t you kill him?”

I shrugged. “He posed no danger to me, or anyone. He’s one of those vampires, he just wants to be left in peace. He’s not a killer.”

“Is? Wants? He’s still alive?” Kielo paused for a moment. ”I mean, alive?”

“I’d think so.”

We stared at each other for a long moment as the song changed, her head still upside down. Eventually Kielo opened her sweet, sweet mouth.

“That’s… like from a TV-series.”

“I know.”

“You loved him?”

“Yes. And he loved me. These songs, they were new then. We used to listen to them on the radio, buy the records. Our songs.”

Kielo turned to look at the stereos, a pondering look on her face. “Tell me more about him. What’s his name? What does he look like?”

”Why do you want to know?”

“He obviously meant a lot to you.”

I let my mind drift back to those long-gone days, let my head fill itself with memories, feelings, scents, noises and how it felt to catch his cold hand in mine as we sat on the roof of the house we lived in, in the night, watching the stars high above.

“His name was Ignacy when he lived, and he still went by that name those days. I don’t know what he’s called now, if he still lives. Everyone used to call him Iggy, though. He was tall, lanky, with dark, brownish gray hair. He looked perfectly normal. And no matter how much he tried, he never could shake off this accent from his speech. Not completely. You could always tell he was from Eastern Europe, even though his English got to be near perfect.

“We lived together for years, all the way to the sixties. That’s when people around us, neighbours and friends, started to show signs of aging. Everyone but us. So we told everyone that we were moving away. Leaving, for good. Leaving before they got onto us, realized we weren’t human. A friend of mine in London came up with new names, identities and lives for us. By then I was ready to leave and start another life in another country. But Iggy, he wasn’t like me. He didn’t want to leave. He was always content to stay still, grow his roots into the soil and just watch the world pass by. So we agreed to split up. To stay as friends, and stay in touch. And we did, at least for a while. I hate to admit it, but I stopped writing to him.”

“Didn’t people recognize him, if he stayed there?” Kielo asked quietly. I shook my head.

“He stayed in London, but not where we used to live.” I said with a shrug. “London is a big place.”

“How did he become a vampire?”

“He was turned during the war. Once he had a night off, decided to go for a walk in the countryside, and never came back. After the war he settled in London, and that’s where we met.”

“Wow.” Kielo said thoughtfully. “Looking at you, it’s so hard to believe you’ve lived for so long already.”

“I know. It doesn’t feel so long.” I muttered and fell deep into my thoughts until Kielo almost jumped a moment later.

”Do you have a photo of him?” she asked, looking around.

“Somewhere, I guess.”

“So you can take a photo of a vampire?”

“Of course. I told you that they’re everywhere, even famous. It would be kind of odd if they didn’t show up in any of the photos taken of them.”

“I want to see what he looked like!” Kielo said, got up and went to my bookshelves. “Where do you keep your photos?”

I groaned and lowered my head on the warm sofa, not wanting to get up. The ache in my head was almost gone, I didn’t want to call it back by getting up and searching through all those drawers.

“I honestly have no idea where the picture could be,” I tried to discourage her, but Kielo was determined. She got down on her knees onto the floor, and pulled open a drawer from the lower part of my bookshelves.

“Just books in here.”

“Why do you want to see him so badly?” I asked as I gave in and sat up. She threw me a smile over her shoulder.

“I’m just curious! Besides, I have to check out the competition…” the last bit she mumbled as she turned back to the drawers, pushing the first one closed and opening another.

I rolled my eyes and got up from the comfort of the sofa. Kielo stopped to look up at me –that was a change!- as I reached up and pulled out a wooden box from one of the shelves.

“You said you didn’t know where the photo is.” She pouted at me and stood up as I opened the box.

“I don’t…” I muttered and rummaged through a bunch of old, yellowed photos. Kielo peeked in and tried to pick one or two of them up, but I turned away from her and walked to the sofa. I don’t know why I didn’t want her to see the photos; she wouldn’t recognize anyone anyway, and I was in no way obliged to tell her anything if I didn’t want to. Still, she decided to respect my privacy, and just came to sit down next to me, waiting patiently as I went through the memories.

Of course I had more than one picture of Iggy; he and I had thought we’d spend the rest of our existences with each other. I still cared for him, even thought the years had taken their toll on my emotions. I had been hurt when he had wanted to stay, even when I hadn’t, when it had made more sense to start another life somewhere else. But our disagreement had not been enough to make me want to forget everything about him, and my heart did beat a little bit faster when I saw that familiar, smiling face at the bottom of the box.

I pulled the photo out carefully: it had already torn a little from one corner, and passed it to Kielo. She was smiling as she took it, but the expression soon turned to surprise. A horrified surprise, to be specific.

“Are you… are you sure this is him?” she asked of me. I blinked a few times and leaned over to check the photo.

“Yes.” I couldn’t understand what had made her react so.

“You’re certain?”

“Kielo, I woke up next to the man each evening for a decade and a half. I’m sure that’s him. Why?”

It must have been the concussion. I’m not usually this dense. But when she told me, waving the picture of Ignacy Wit in front of me, that this was ‘him’, I had no idea what she was talking about. I was still completely lost when she stood up, holding the photo, staring at it as if she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Who? What are you talking about?” I felt like I had missed something quite important here. I must have. Well, one of us had. Kielo was not making any sense to me.

”It’s him!” Kielo waved the picture at me again, near hysterical. ”I’m sure of it!”

“Who?” I asked again, exasperated.

“Dorian!”

The vampires last nigh must have used the dumb stick on me. Kielo wasn’t using big words, but I still couldn’t comprehend what she was trying to say. The look on my face must have said as much, for she groaned and shoved the photo to my face.

“That’s Dorian. He’s bleached his hair, but other than that, that’s how he looked like.”

I took the photo back, frowning. “You’re wrong.”

“I’m sure of it! Why would I lie to you?” Kielo sat down next to me, gnawing on her thumbnail.

“No. What you’ve told me of him, it’s not like Iggy. He’s not like that. And he never wanted to have a posse of vampires running after him, not like this Dorian does.”

“People change.” Kielo said and put her hand on my arm. “How long has it been since you last met him? Thirty years? Forty? Maybe he got bored. I don’t know.”

”Well I do. I know him. And I’m telling you, you’ve mistaken. Alby agreed, Dorian is some new vampire. They all end up bleached and pompous and spouting bad poetry at some point before they get their act together.” I was rambling, but I couldn’t help it. Hate to admit it, but I was angry.

Kielo was clearly hurt by my disbelief. “I know what I saw. I have no reason to lie about it. I don’t want to fight with you because of this.”

“Me neither.” I barked and glared at her far too ferociously. She shrank back, and I forced myself to calm down. “I’m sorry. But I just can’t believe it, or understand why you think Iggy is Dorian.”

“Because he is!” Kielo tore the photo from my fingers and stared hard at it. “I’m sure of it.”

I wanted to get up and call Iggy, just to prove that she was wrong. But it was daytime: he would be asleep. Also, not knowing his number was a bit of a problem. Kielo was right in that I had not seen or heard of him in decades. Last I’d heard of him he had lived in London, but would he still be there?

I simply didn’t know. But there were people who might.

I got up, leaving Kielo holding the photo on the sofa. She opened her mouth but didn’t say anything as I picked up my cellphone, and rummaged through a drawer in the bookshelves until I found a small red address book. Kielo opened her mouth again, but I lifted up a finger while dialing a number for London.

“I’m just going to check with a friend whether he knows about Iggy.” I told her. She was absolutely twitching with nervousness on the sofa, as restless as if there were vampires lurking in every corner.

“You don’t have to, I believe you…” she said quietly, twisting the photo in her hands. “Maybe they just look alike.”

I gave her a small smile, feeling a bit guilty over my outburst. The last thing I wanted was to hurt her feelings.

The phone in my hand beeped monotonously into my ear, far more patient than I was. I knew I had the right number for this friend, and daytime was no problem either, but there still was no answer. When Kielo sighed and lowered the photo back into its box, my conscience gave me a hard kick and I closed the phone.

“I’m sorry...” I muttered and tossed both the phone and the address book onto the side table. “I still won’t believe it’s him until I see it with my own eyes.”

“You won’t have to wait long, then.” Kielo said quietly and tried to smile. “It’s already Wednesday.”

”I know.” I sat beside her and pulled her into my arms.

“Can we just forget the whole thing and… I don’t know. Just be for a while?” she muttered into my shirt, and I nodded, leaning my head on hers.

“I’d like that.”

We spent the rest of the day together, me nursing my head and Kielo her nerves. We didn’t mention vampires or Friday once, but I could still feel the rift between us created by Iggy and our disagreement. Exactly why one shouldn’t discuss one’s exes with one’s new sweetheart. Although I doubt the ex usually comes into the picture like this.

That’s not to say that I had any intention of believing Dorian and Iggy could possibly be the same person. The things I knew of Dorian were just too unlike the man I knew. The man I used to love.

Kielo went home in the early evening, while the sun was still up. I wanted to walk her home, but she insisted she would be all right, and she would call me as soon as she made it home. Which she did.

No matter that we had parted with a kiss, I still felt cold and lonely after we said goodbye on the phone. She would have to go to work tomorrow, she couldn’t afford to miss two days in a row. So we wouldn’t see each other until the evening, and we’d have to start thinking about Friday then.

It looked like the honeymoon was over. However, I had no intention of letting this small hiccup be the end of what was developing fast between us. As soon as Friday was over, I told myself. As soon as Friday was over and done with, we could concentrate on each other.

To me, that sounded like a plan.

--

Thanks to Meliadhor for help with Iggy. Lyrics to Night and Day by Cole Porter.