I took a deep breath, drawing my knees up to my chest.
“Do you sleep?” I asked, unable to rein in my curiosity. He nodded.
“I do. You saw me do it. Just not regularly. We don’t need as much sleep as humans, so usually, a quick nap from dawn to the start of school does me fine, and perhaps a power nap during the day. Nothing to throw my schedule off,” he shrugged.
“So it hurts?” I asked, and he nodded.
“I die. And then, just when I get used to it, I live again.”
A silence came over us. I placed my head on my knees, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. My head was spinning. It seemed unreal and yet I couldn’t deny what was staring me in the face.
“Are you immortal, Liam?” I asked, and he nodded, watching my face. I knew I could hide the reaction that came over it. Looking immortality in the face, and challenging it with my own weak body; my own clear mortality, made my chest ache. Tears sprung to my eyes, and although I turned away, I knew that Liam still saw them.
“It’s not as good as it’s cracked up to be,” he said.
“How long have you been this way?” I asked, visions running through my head of Liam fighting in the civil war and living like a cave man.
“3 years,” he replied. “That’s why I left Hollywood. But I couldn’t leave acting altogether, I just couldn’t. The years I spent in Hollywood had already made me push people away, except for superficial friendships, so it wasn’t hard to continue that way. Peter was…the only one I remained close to and the only one I kept by my side through all this. He’s very understanding…of all of it. Of this, the old ways, the curse.”
I cocked my head.
“The curse?” I asked, and Liam shook his head at me.
“A story for another time, Amy.”
We fell into silence for a moment, and then I asked him the question that had been playing on my mind the whole time.
“How the hell did this happen to you?”
He watched me silently for a few minutes. It was hard to look at his face but I held my gaze.
“Would you like to know?”
I nodded, and he took a deep breath.
“Then perhaps you should make yourself more comfortable, because it’s a long story.”
CHAPTER 11: LIAM
The paparazzi were getting worse every day and veterans told me it was just the beginning. I was starting to associate outdoors with danger and indoors with safety. Lately, so much of my vision had been tunnel; focus on the door to the club; the store; the studio; and get to it. It wasn’t really acceptable for male actors, especially at my age, to have bodyguards. So I was on my own. I weaved through the crowd, keeping my head down and my mouth shut as I tumbled through the door to the club.
The atmosphere inside was smoky. The club was packed to the rafters even though the sun was just setting. Every hour was Happy Hour in Hollywood. All I wanted was a stiff drink, perhaps an illicit cigarette, and to get lost in the crowd.
“Triple Vodka on the rocks,” I half screamed, half signed to the barman, who nodded. Bar language was different than regular language and I had a theory that only actors succeeded at it because of their extensive facial expressions and powerful lungs.
My drink arrived swiftly in a tall water glass that tempted me just to take a few swift chugs and send it back. Instead I gripped it and turned around to look for an empty table. There weren’t any actual seats - just the tall bar tables where people half stood and half danced the night away.
Squinting into a dark corner, there was a table with only one person standing there, alone. Getting closer, I was stunned. And that didn’t usually happen in the land of Hollywood beauty. Tall and thin; she was dressed all in black, with a sheet of dark hair falling down her back. Her skin was as pale as snow and her eyes were rimmed with kohl. She didn’t seem to be performing the usual charade of a single person in a club. Instead, she truly seemed to be absorbed in her own world, quite content in her loneliness.
“LIAM!” I turned around, surprised to find Kaitlin and William crunched along a table full of familiar faces. They were mostly actors, but some were behind the camera; a producer and a makeup artist. “Come here! Scrunch over everyone, make room for Liam!”
“Uh…” I paused a moment, looking at the smiling faces that welcomed me. I suppose if I wanted to be alone I shouldn’t have come out to a club…yet, from behind me, I could feel the mystery woman. I could feel her eyes burning through me. I glanced over my shoulder, and found, to my surprise, that she was looking right at me. “Perhaps in a bit…I’m meeting someone.”
Everyone laughed and nodded knowingly. Apparently my reputation for womanizing was well known, as it should be. But this…this felt different. This woman, even as I approached her, was a divine creature. There wasn’t one ounce of imperfection that I could see on her; not one wrinkle or blemish. She did not react as I neared her as most people did these days. Instead, a slow smile spread across her face.
“Bonjour,” she said, slowly.
“Hello,” I replied, pointing to the empty spot at the table. God, she was beautiful. “Can I …stand here?” When exactly did I turn into a quivering child? There was something about her that made me unable to take my eyes off her.
“Of course.” When she spoke, she had a thick French accent that added to her exoticness.
“I’m Liam.” I extended my hand and she shook it. Her fingers were thin and her nails were perfectly manicured. What surprised me was the coolness of her skin, even in the sweaty club.
“Selene,” she drawled, her eyes giving me the once over that I had given other women many times over the past few years.
“And what do you do?” I asked her. With looks like this, I was certain she was in the industry.
“I’m an … ambassador,” she said smoothly, and I assumed by her French accent that she meant between France and here. I was impressed. I took a sip of my drink and watched how she moved ever so slightly to the music. “And you?”
I raised an eyebrow. There wasn’t anyone in this town who didn’t know who I was. Either she was lying or she really had just arrived.
“I’m an actor.” Already the few sips of the drink were warming me. I felt more relaxed and utterly entranced, watching her every movement.
“Ah…acting. Believe in untrue circumstances,” she said, with a small smile. “And do you believe things that used to be untrue, Liam?”