Christmas with Phillip and Victor
by J.W. Klaeis
“Victor! What are you doing?”
The vampire turned around from splattering blood on the living room door. “I am decking the halls!”
Unsteadily, Phillip walked towards him, “Victor, you are supposed to deck the halls with holly, not blood!” He gestured for the vampire to hand the container filled with blood over.
“I don’t see the difference! Holly is red. Blood is red? Why should I be so concerned with details?” The vampire pulled the mug of blood away from Phillip’s hands, agitated. “You said I should decorate, and now you are picking on my work!”
Exasperated, Phillip turned away from the vampire, “Fine! Decorate any way you want, but I refuse to clean it!”
“That’s not fair!” Victor cried. The vampire stomped his foot down in upset. Briefly, Phillip took in Victor’s appearance. Long dark hair, ruby eyes, a body as tall as it was thin and expertly dressed. He had a lovely countenance.
“Are you listening to me?” Victor waved his paintbrush full of blood in front of Phillip’s face, pulling him from his thoughts. The slim young man of twenty-two snatched the instrument from the vampire’s hands.
“Stop waving this thing around! You’re going to get blood all over the house!” Phillip reprimanded the two-hundred-year-old vampire that looked not a day over thirty-two. “Now, put that mug down! I’m taking you shopping so you can decorate the house with things that don’t involve bodily fluid.” He plucked the cup out of Victor’s hands. The vampire began to protest. “Where’d this come from anyway?” Phillip looked down into the thickly pooled fluid.
Victor scratched his chin, then looked up at the ceiling, “There was a gorgeous young man that I drank from last night. Ah, I remember it so vividly. I had him in my car, you see, and before I sent him on his way, I asked him for a drink to go.” He raised an eyebrow at Phillip, then winked.
Phillip pursed his lips, “Your sense of humor is never lost on me. But did you really have to tell me he was good-looking? What purpose does that serve?”
The vampire smiled, “Well, don’t you like your food to look appetizing?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“Not saying that you aren’t delicious looking as well, but you know, you don’t quite possess the beauty that I normally seek. What with your green eyes and wavy blonde hair and pale…”
“Alright, Victor, that’s enough!” Phillip cut the vampire off. “Let’s go get you real decorations and a Christmas tree before they sell out! I hardly doubt they’ll have much left. It’s Christmas Eve after all.” He set the mug down on the coffee table and grimaced at the blood-laced door. “I’m not touching that,” he said.
“But you clean up after me all the time,” the vampire chimed beside him.
Phillip looked at Victor disgruntled, “Clothes and bedsheets are different, Victor.”
“Ah!” Victor exclaimed, “Very well. Out we go!” He walked to the door and abruptly stopped. “It is nighttime, right, Phillip?”
“Yes, Victor.”
“You wouldn’t send me out of the house to burn because you are upset about my excellent door decorating job, are you?” Victor looked into Phillip’s green eyes.
The young man looked away, “No, Victor, I wouldn’t send you out to become a human torch.”
“Good, good!” Victor grasped the door handle, opening it to reveal the darkness of the night outside.
***
An hour later, they roamed through the local superstore, Phillip watching his money go into the basket, one sparkling green garland after another. “This stuff is truly amazing!” Victor said, shoving the vibrant tinsel into Phillip’s hands. “I mean, who would have thought to make ivy everlasting?”
“Businessmen,” Phillip shook his head as ribbons and bows entered the red shopping cart.
“What is this?” Victor’s ruby eyes went wide as a child’s as he held up a large piece of fabric decorated with reindeer.
“That is a tree skirt, Victor.” Phillip smiled at a woman who had peered around the aisle at his loud companion. For a moment, she returned the gesture then turned in fright as Victor spun around with the tree skirt about himself.
“No! Victor! Don’t do that! People will look!” Phillip ripped the fabric out of Victor’s hands. “Stop being silly!”
The vampire frowned at him, “You’re always ruining my fun! If you’ve been alive as long as I have and haven’t celebrated Christmas in over two hundred years, you would see things differently.” Victor frowned at the tall boy beside him, “Put it in the cart! I want it for our tree.”
“You mean your tree,” Phillip said, throwing the white felt into the basket.
“I mean ours,” Victor said. He wrapped his arm around the young man beside him. “After this, we are going to that tree adoption center, right?” He flicked his eyes to Phillip’s, long black lashes lining the dark red of his irises. Phillip swallowed hard, then pushed the cart forward.
“Yes, Victor. Now let’s get ornaments and lights for the tree,” Phillip tried his hardest to remain calm as Victor continued to wrap his arm around his shoulders.
When they got to the Christmas lights, they fought relentlessly over why trees could not be candlelit. “Do you want to burn the house down?”
“No,” Victor crossed his arms, “I just don’t see how these tiny things are going to produce any light at all!”
Phillip shook his head, “You are ridiculous!”
“I’m offended,” Victor said, but after a brief pause, gripped four boxes of multicolored lights and placed them in the cart. When he stood up, he smiled, revealing his fangs, “But I suppose you are right. I can be careless at the best of times. If it weren’t for you, I’d be burned to a crisp by now.”
Phillip tightened his lips. “You see, I do have a point.” He patted Victor on the arm and continued to walk with him down the aisles. They soon moved past the ornament section where Victor poked and prodded at every sparkly object until most of them were in the cart. “I think we’d better be done. It’s nearly seven. The Christmas tree lot will be closing soon.”
***
“Philip! Just look at this one!” Victor pointed to a tiny, sparse tree. “Isn’t it lovely?”
Phillip looked hard at the tree he was pointing excitedly at. It was by far the ugliest tree in the outdoor shop. “Victor, that one is very small. Wouldn’t you rather have one like this?” He gestured to the one he was standing by. It was tall, lush, and full, putting the one the vampire was standing by to shame. Victor frowned but strode to Phillip, stopping beside him to look at the tree.
“How in the world are lights going to fit on that thing?” The vampire thought of the last Christmas he’d ever had as a human. There needed to be large spaces for candles to sit on so they didn’t end up burning the leaves above them.
“They’re electronic, remember?” Phillip moved his hand to dust the vampire’s breast coat. Victor looked down, then back up at his companion.
“Ah, yes! But then how are all the decorations we bought going to fit?”
Phillip sighed, “I’ll make them fit. I like this tree, now let’s go.”
The vampire thought a moment about fighting Phillip but then settled, compromising. He’d gotten every ornament and decoration his heart desired; his companion could have the tree that he wanted.
“Alright then. You go check out,” Victor pointed him to the checkout line, “I’ll be right there. I have my eye on a woman I wish to take among the pines.”
“Alright,” Phillip waved Victor on, knowing that he had set his sights on someone from which to feed. She would be fine, most likely. He would work some charm on her, and when she had fallen under his spell, he would drink his fill. Phillip would wait for him by the car, tying the tree to its roof in the meantime.
Half an hour went by before the vampire came back to the car. He had a blush about his face that was only ever seen right after he had fed. “Exactly what did she look like?” Phillip asked him.
The brows of the vampire knitted together, his face scrunching up in thought. “Oh, she was a pretty thing, rather small in stature. She needed help bringing a pine to the checkout.” Phillip raised a brow, “Of course, I had my way with her before. She was delightful company for the brief moment I held her in my arms.” A sharp-toothed grin appeared across the vampire’s face.
“You’re really too much sometimes. You know that?” Phillip said. He patted Victor on his back, then opened the car door for him. “C’mon, let’s go home. It’s getting cold.” It was the truth; snow had begun to fall. No amount of fresh blood was going to keep Victor warm for long. “You’ll be complaining about it to me in a manner of minutes if we don’t leave now.”
Victor glared at Phillip, “How do you know that I will complain?”
“Because there is not a day that I am not around you that you don’t. It’s always, Phillip I’m cold, put on the fire. Phillip I’m cold, put on the heater. Phillip I’m cold, come here and give me your blood.”
The vampire pursed his lips, “I have never asked for the last one. Don’t make me out to be such a villain.”
Phillip laughed, “I’m messing with you, Victor.” The vampire blinked, hardly knowing what to say for his companion hardly ever joked with him.
“It’s nice to see you smile for once, Phillip,” he said. Then, as Victor entered the car, he immediately whined, “Why is it so cold in here, Phillip? Turn the heater on!” Phillip shook his head, suppressing the urge to tell Victor that he told him he would say as much.
“As you wish,” was all he said. He started the engine, turned on the heater, and drove home.
***
Victor and Phillip barged through the front door to the house with the large tree in tow. Phillip bit his lip as he realized how grossly he underestimated the sheer height of the fir now that it was in the house. “Perhaps your choice would have been the better one to bring home after all,” Phillip mumbled. He pushed a hand through his wavy hair, looking at the tree with a sense of awe. It had been years since he had a Christmas tree in his house.
“Not so! You did a great job of picking this modern tree out. It fills the room rather nicely!” The vampire smiled at Phillip, his pearly eyeteeth showing affectionately. Phillip smiled back, allowing the brief annoyance over the events of the night to fade.
“Let’s put it over there,” he pointed to the corner of the house by the living room window. Victor agreed. The two men began to work on setting the tree into its stand. After it was upright, Phillip left the vampire briefly to get water for the fir. He half expected Victor to have left the house as he did every night at this time, but when he came back, he was standing in front of the tree.
“Are you doing alright, Victor?” he asked. He watched the vampire turn toward him, his hand falling from the branches of the tree. He bore a soft expression that Phillip had only ever seen when he spoke about his human life.
Victor smiled at Phillip somewhat mournfully. “Yes, I am fine. You know Phillip, the last Christmas I remember celebrating the tree was not quite so magical. I chopped the thing down myself out of the forest behind my house. It was a tiny little thing, but my boy still loved it.”
The mention of his son confirmed Phillip’s suspicions that Victor was feeling sentimental. “I’m sorry.”
Victor waved a hand, “Don’t be. Now tell me what’s next! I want to know how the people of the modern world decorate a Christmas tree!” Phillip moved forward upon his command and filled the tree stand with water. He stood from where he had been kneeling when he noticed Victor had gone, the front door open.
“Typical,” he said but then looked up to see that the vampire had gone out to the car to get all the things he had forced Phillip to buy. It was too much. He winced, realizing that he had allowed Victor anything and everything that he wanted. The sky was the limit when it came to him. He couldn’t deny him anything. He was like a child who was experiencing everything for the first time. You either gave him everything, or you gave him nothing; he couldn’t bear to do the latter.
“Where do we start?” Victor asked excitedly.
Phillip stood up, “The tree lights.” He pointed at the bags full of decorations. “They’re the boxes full of...yes, those,” he gingerly took the boxes of multicolored string lights from Victor’s hands. “You’ll need to help me get them on the tree. I’ll open them, you just go stand on the other side, and I’ll hand them to you.” Victor smiled, then walked around to the backside of the fir. Phillip plugged in the stands of lights, and the two of them set to wrapping them around the tree. At first, Victor did not understand what to do, but soon he became ecstatic when he saw the pine lighting up from the inside and set to weaving the tiny beads of light in and out of the branches.
“This is most fascinating Phillip! In my day, we attached candles to the branches of the tree. I have to say this is much more effective and beautiful.” Phillip looked around the side of the fir to grab the strand of lights from Victor. He said nothing but smiled at the vampire whose eyes shone like red, glass ornaments. How very enchanting he looked with dancing Christmas tree lights in his eyes.
“It is better,” Phillip agreed. “This way, we have less of a chance burning the house down. Though with you living here, there is always a particularly high chance of that.”
Victor growled, “Stop raining on my candle parade! You know how much I detest the blue lights in this house!”
Phillip laughed, then took back the string of lights to wrap them around his side of the tree. They were approaching the top of it now. “You know, I’m excited to see what you do with the ornaments,” he said to Victor.
“Really?” Victor leaned over the side of the fir. “I have some ideas, but you will have to leave me to them. Perhaps you could go lay down and take a rest after this. I know how hard it is on you to be up all night long.”
Phillip raised an eyebrow at him, “I’m nervous. I have a feeling you’re planning something that I should not leave you on your own to do.”
“Nonsense!” shouted the vampire. There was a mischievous glow in his eyes. Phillip dared not fight him.
“Just remember to take the tags off the ornaments. Otherwise, we’ll have a tree full of paper rather than glass.” The young man looked at the vampire to make sure he had been listening. The older man smiled, then proclaimed, “Now shoo, Phillip! I have work to do!”
After much protestation, Phillip left Victor to go to his upstairs bedroom. It was a little past ten o’clock at night. There was a high chance he would not wake until morning.
Perhaps Victor had planned it that way all along. Whatever it was he was going to do; there was an unease that stirred within him. Silently, Phillip prayed that there would be no new blood decking the front door or the walls. The smell of iron in the house was starting to turn his stomach. Phillip crawled under his covers with much trepidation and went to sleep.
***
When Phillip woke, the whole house reeked of iron, pine, and baked goods. He wondered what had happened while he had been asleep. Rousing himself from the covers, Phillip threw on a green sweater and padded past the room where Victor slept for the day. It was well past eleven in the morning when he crept down the stairs to find the sight of a well decked-out living room in front of him; green garland wrapped around the staircase railing, leading down to a room with a magnificently decorated Christmas tree.
Phillip noticed the reindeer tree skirt had wrung its way around the tree carefully as if it were Victor’s favorite thing he picked up from their shopping trip. It would make sense as he had danced around the store in it. Phillip hadn’t been amused. Though as he continued to look, it began to grow on him.
“You did a great job, Victor,” Phillip remarked to himself, then went to the kitchen to make coffee. That’s when he found the source of the sickly-sweet iron and baked good smell.
Cookies that were rather dark in color sat atop a plate. A bowl of red icing beside them smelled unmistakably metallic. “What the hell were you doing last night?” Phillip picked up the spoon from the icing bowl and smelled it. Blood. There was no doubt about it. “Gah!” he gasped and dropped the spoon. He would not be partaking in whatever hellish treat Victor had been planning.
He stepped back to the sink. The palms of his hands met with a slightly sticky, dried wetness. He turned and looked into the stainless steel well to find bag after bag of blood labeled with indistinguishable names on them. “Oh, Victor! What the hell, man?” Any sort of happiness he had momentarily felt at the vampire’s extraordinary knack for decorating went immediately out the window as he set to work, ridding the sink of the blood bags. Where Victor had been storing these, he could only guess. It had been months since he checked the basement freezer.
It seemed as if forever passed when hours later, he sat on the couch enjoying a cup of coffee while he viewed the tree. Above him, he heard Victor stirring. He shook his head as he fought the urge to yell at him for leaving a mess in the kitchen but thought better of it as he watched the thin vampire make his descent down the stairs, his eyes glittering like starlight as they ran over the tree.
“I see you are up early,” Phillip remarked.
The vampire smiled, baring his fangs slightly. Phillip would never get over the charm that washed over Victor’s face as he greeted him. It was the thing that made women go weak and men stupid when they saw him. Victor’s smile was utterly dazzling. Set in his angular face with his long dark hair, it made him irresistible. Anyone would be lucky to have him. Perhaps that was why Phillip had continued to let Victor stay despite all the irksome things he did. Why he continued to dote on him even though, more often than not, he was constantly cleaning up blood. It was a little thing compared to what the alternative was. Being alone was never easy; Phillip was glad to have his company.
Victor came to stand in front of him, all white teeth, and smiles. Phillip gawked at him for a moment, then, having taken what he needed in, smiled back. “I thought perhaps I’d come down to see what you think of my decorating,” Victor gestured to the room around them.
Phillip breathed in deeply, “You did a great job, Victor. The house has never looked better this time of year. You have a knack for holiday decorating.”
“Why, thank you,” the vampire said smugly. Phillip looked down at the burgundy sweater Victor was wearing and was acutely aware that it was his own. He must have rummaged through his drawers when he woke. It was odd to see him dressed down as he wore a suit jacket most of the time. Phillip blinked, staring intensely at the vampire’s chest as he sat down beside him.
“But there’s one thing,” Phillip pressed his lips together and raised his gaze to Victor’s, knowing that what he was about to say could not possibly go over well. Victor shifted towards him on the couch, his dark red eyes glowing, black lashes expertly lining them. He cocked his head to the side in question. Phillip breathed in, “Those cookies you made, what did you put in them?”
Victor blinked rapidly, then leaned back smugly, “My blood, of course, dear Phillip! You said you always wanted to know what blood tasted like, and I thought, what better occasion! I figured we could decorate them together today. I read on that little moving picture device of yours that holiday baking is a great way to bond!”
Phillip hid his grimace, “How thoughtful of you.” His stomach clenched as he braced himself for the next question he had, “If your blood is in the cookies, then what were all the bags in the sink?”
The vampire looked up thoughtfully, then back down at his companion, a grin passing over his features, “The blood from my favorite victims I collected and saved over the month. I stored them in those amazing plastic zip bags in the freezer to enjoy this holiday season!” Phillip tried to hide his queasiness but knew he was failing. “I filled some of the ornaments with them. They are in the fridge waiting to be hung on the tree tonight! It’s Christmas after all!”
Phillip touched his brow, his gut now churning madly. “Victor! Why?”
“Well,” Victor said, patting him on his arm, “I was inspired by that Christmas song on the radio. You know the one,” he spun his finger in front of Phillip’s face as he recalled the lyrics, “On the first day of Christmas I gave myself to me, a pretty girl named McKenzie! On the second day of Christmas...”
“Victor, stop!” Phillip held a hand in front of Victor’s mouth, effectively blocking him from continuing. Phillip’s jaw tightened as he drew his hand away from the vampire’s lips, “I get it.”
Victor smiled, “Should I continue?”
Phillip shook his head back and forth, “No, Victor. I loved what you sang to me so much I can’t possibly hear anymore.”
The vampire’s face fell briefly, then resumed its usual happiness. “Very, well, let’s go decorate those cookies!” Phillip watched Victor leap off the couch like a little boy as he headed to the kitchen. Shaking his head, he looked up to the ceiling, where he found mistletoe dangling over the sofa where he sat. “What in the world?” Ignoring this, Phillip forced himself to move from his position. He headed into the kitchen, empty coffee mug in hand, happy for the first time all day that he hadn’t eaten.
***
Phillip sat at the dining room table with Victor, decorating a blood-red cookie with gold sprinkles. “Isn’t this festive, Phillip?” Victor asked. Phillip smiled; he knew he could not hide that he was forcing it.
“Yes, quite festive,” he gulped, setting the sprinkled cookie down on the plate alongside many others.
“You must pick your favorite one to try later!” the vampire exclaimed, piping icing on a particularly burnt angel cookie. Phillip thought he might lose it. Everything from the smell in the air to their look was atrocious, but he couldn’t let Victor down.
“Alright,” he agreed. His stomach boiled, rumbling with an unease that Victor thought was hunger.
“Did you eat yet today, Phillip?” he asked. Victor looked up as Phillip, who appeared rather pallid as he piped the blood-red frosting on the cookie.
“Not yet,” the boy responded. “I was busy cleaning up the kitchen this morning, and now I am icing cookies with you.”
Victor set his cookie down; a gingerbread man baring fangs glared up at him. “Well then, you must take a break and eat! I will not have you passing out on me tonight! There is far too much to do!”
Phillip swallowed hard, “Exactly what is left to do? You already decorated the whole house, baked cookies. I don’t see what we could possibly have left.”
The vampire’s eyebrows knitted together, “We need to watch a Christmas movie together! I heard they are a great deal of fun.” He leaned his head on his fist, batting his eyelashes at Phillip, who smiled tightly at him.
“Exactly where did you hear that?”
Victor blinked a few times, cocking his head from side to side at Phillip. He often wondered if Victor did this when luring his victims. It was enchanting, to say the least. Victor opened his pretty mouth to speak, “The people at the mall the other night when I was out hunting. They said it’s a great thing to do with the one you enjoy spending your time with!”
Phillip closed his eyes, leaning back on the hardwood chair. “Alright, then let’s plan on it. But Victor?”
“What is it?” Victor questioned.
“I get to pick the movie.”
“Of course, Phillip, of course. Now go get something to eat!”
Phillip hardly dared to be hungry as the pungent smell of sweets filled the kitchen. He left Victor sitting at the table by himself while he made a bowl of soup. Every now and then, Phillip stared at the dining table as the vampire iced the last of his blood cookies. He supposed that Victor had tried to be sweet. At the same time, he wished that he hadn’t been. Months ago, when Phillip had expressed wanting to know what blood tasted like, he did not mean Victor’s. He’d been joking with him. Never in a million years did he imagine this would be the result. He was not sure he could resort to eating something that came from Victor’s body. It just seemed wrong.
***
Two hours later, Phillip sat on the couch trying to find a Christmas movie for him and Victor to watch. If the film were too old, Phillip would surely lose Victor’s attention. On the other hand, if the film was too new, he risked Victor being offended by the offhanded humor. Though he possessed good spirits himself, he did not want to push him. It was a delicate balance.
“Why are you taking so long to choose a movie on this thing?” the vampire said, sitting down next to Phillip. He was aware of Victor’s weight next to him, more than aware of the scrape of glass against the wood coffee table, which contained cookies that made him sick to his stomach. A thump sounded, and Phillip looked over to find a steaming mug of coffee.
Phillip leaned back away from the vampire, “I’m trying to find something that you would like.” He looked over at Victor, who was eyeing him attentively.
“Romance,” he said, “I like romance.”
Phillip straightened a little, aware of how Victor’s eyes trailed him. He shifted uncomfortably. “There’s a new Christmas comedy romance on this streaming service if that strikes your fancy,” Phillip said. He glanced over at Victor, who turned his attention to the television, looking at the screen that bore the movie’s title page.
“It looks fine. Cute even. It should work.” Victor leaned back, an empty mug in his hand. Phillip half wondered why the hell he was holding it.
“Alright,” he said. Phillip shifted as the vampire stood up and walked to the tree, grasped an ornament, and removed the top of it. He watched as liquid blood flowed into it. Victor returned the decoration to the tree and walked back to Phillip gracefully. He sat beside him and took a sip from the mug. He grimaced. Phillip knew without Victor saying anything that it was cold. “Let me guess. You put it on the tree to warm?”
Victor turned, his beautiful mouth tight, “Yes.”
“It’s cold, isn’t it? Give it to me,” Phillip held his hand out to take the cup. Victor leaned away, “I’ll warm it for you. Okay?” he gestured towards the vampire, who, turning away, handed it to him.
“Don’t microwave it,” Victor pleaded.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Philip stood and walked away with the cup full of blood. He was still working on getting over this aspect of living with a vampire. The fact that Victor had thought putting blood in an ornament was festive made him laugh. He hoped that he didn’t have more than one glass bulb filled. If he did, they would spoil. Phillip resigned himself to check them all for the proper weight later.
He poured the blood into a saucepan on the stove and heated it. While he waited for the liquid to warm, Phillip drifted into thought about the vampire and how very lonely Victor had been before coming to live with him. Victor had revealed to him only just last month that he missed his family. That even though time had passed, his feelings for them had not. He’d had a wife and a child when he was alive. The vampire who created him destroyed them, leaving Victor alone and distraught. It had taken him over a hundred years to seek out companionship again. His heart had been broken and he was trying desperately to repair it.
Phillip sighed as he tipped the pot to the side, pouring the gently heated fluid into the coffee cup. Slowly he padded back from the kitchen to the living room, where he handed Victor the mug. Steam rose into the air, filling the space between them as Phillip sat beside him. Victor smiled, “Thank you, Phillip.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied. Then, picking up the remote, started the movie. About thirty minutes in, Victor elbowed Phillip in the side.
“Aren’t you going to try one of my cookies?”
Phillip looked down, unease growing in his stomach as he picked one up. He bit into it and pretended to chew. Quickly he lifted his half drank coffee to his lips and spit the pastry into it slowly. “How is it?” Victor asked.
Phillip winced, “Very good.”
“Have another bite!” he said excitedly. Phillip obliged him, spitting one piece of cookie after another secretly into the mug until it started to grow too full. Any more, and Victor would surely notice.
After it was gone, Phillip patted Victor’s arm in a pleading manner, “No more. Please. I’ll get too full.” Victor smiled and agreed, then turned back to the movie. The two men sat in silence for a long time before Victor broke it.
“You know Phillip, this is the first Christmas I have celebrated since I became a vampire.” He turned his body so it was facing the boy. The red sweater folding over his black pants, socked feet tucked under him.
“And how is it?” Phillip asked.
Victor smiled at the man in front of him. “You have made it entirely a lovely experience.”
“I’m glad,” Phillip said. He turned back to the movie, not wanting to stare into the vampire’s hypnotic eyes for long. “You know the movie’s almost over, right?”
“Yes,” Victor replied. He righted himself, his moment of vulnerability melting away like ice as he watched the moving pictures of people on the screen. The vampire only wanted to watch a movie because it seemed like the right thing to do. To give Phillip some semblance of normal life now that he had entered it. Distantly Victor remembered what it had been like to be human.
They continued to watch the movie until the credits rolled. Phillip shifted in his seat, his socked feet wriggling beside him. He was nervous about something. Possibly the fact that he had spit the cookie Victor had given him into his cup of coffee. The vampire had been aware of it the entire time, only noting in the moment that his human companion would have been made ill by the gift. Victor hadn’t thought of this until it was too late. Tomorrow he would right it by making regular cookies. “Phillip?” his voice hung in the air.
The television clicked off, Phillip’s hand on the remote as it did so. “Yes, Victor?”
“Have you not noticed what is above us?” Victor pointed to the ceiling. Phillip readied himself to bolt now or forever lose his innocence.
Willing his heart to stop its sudden thudding, Phillip raised his eyes to the ceiling, “Victor, why have you put mistletoe above the couch?” He gazed over at Victor, who had once again swung his knees around to face him. He seemed eerily giddy. For a moment, Phillip thought that his end was near but willed his voice to continue, “Do you know what that is used for, or are you hoping to send me up to my room so you can bring a young girl home?”
Victor pulled back, looking offended, “Of course I know what it’s used for, Phillip! I am not a fool!”
Phillip blinked, his breathing stopped, “Whatever you are thinking, I beg you not to do it.” He began to count the seconds to his untimely death. He knew the vampire had been entirely too nice to him.
Victor’s dark brows knitted together, and a sharp tooth grin washed over his face. He leaned over Phillip, his breath inches away from his face. Then, just as Phillip signed his will over in his head, he felt lips kiss the top of his forehead. He opened his eyes, one after the other, slowly to see Victor pulling back, smiling that beautiful, dazzling smile at him. “Merry Christmas, Phillip.” Victor brushed his hands up and down the young man’s arms, the green sweater moving underneath his palms. “Thank you for taking me in when I had no one left in my life.”
Phillip’s eyes closed. He opened them again to gaze at Victor’s dark red, glowing orbs. He returned the vampire’s touch, gripping his hands as they met his own. “You’re welcome, Victor. Merry Christmas.”
© J.W. Klaies, December 25, 2021
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