“And she’s fun,” he gave me a cheeky grin. “But nothing compares to you.”
“And that’s why you chose me.” I said. “At the audition.”
This time, his face darkened, and he shook his head.
“No, Amy. I chose you because you truly were the best. Something drew me to you, and I didn’t know what it was. But you weren’t the only girl who tried out who had a chronic illness. You weren’t the first and you won’t be the last. It was your raw talent that got you chosen … that’s all.”
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.