The Accidental Vampire(52)

morose mood.

They continued to speak in quiet tones as she crossed to the stairs leading to the

sunroom. Elvi entered the house there, passing through her bedroom and out into the

hall just in time to see Mabel headed for her own room.

"Mabel?" she asked, moving up the hall toward her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the gray‐haired woman said with forced cheer. "Why would you ask?"

Elvi raised her eyebrows, and then said carefully, "It's just that you seemed a bit upset

when you got home."

"Oh. No." Mabel gave a forced laugh as she moved into her room, leaving the door

open for Elvi to follow if she wished. "What would give you that idea?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said dryly, trailing her into the room. "Maybe the way you

stomped into the house without even a hello to the rest of us by the fire, then locked

the door behind you so DJ couldn't enter." When Mabel's only answer was to mutter

something unintelligible under her breath, Elvi said, "I thought maybe DJ had done

something to upset you?"

Mabel turned with a huff. "Don't even mention the name to me. That man is the most

annoying, irritating, exasperating… man." She said the word as if it were synonymous

with poop, and then went on, "He shouldn't even be here! He wasn't invited."

"No," Elvi agreed carefully. "But—"

"Do you know he followed me around all day? I couldn't move for tripping over him."

"I think he likes you," Elvi blurted.

"Oh, please! Elvi, look at me." Mabel held her hands out to the side. "I'm an old

woman. He's a strapping young man. He is not interested me."

"He isn't as young as you think," Elvi assured her, but Mabel wasn't listening, she was

moving into the connecting bathroom.

Elvi followed, watching her bend to close the stopper on the tub, then pour bubble

bath in and turn on the water.

Straightening then, Mabel wheeled and continued her rant, "That boy's forever

reaching up to grab this for me or hurrying to lift that for me like I'm some useless old

woman," she said with disgust, then cried unhappily, "And why does he wear such

tight jeans?"

Elvi blinked at the question, wondering if the problem wasn't DJ being attracted to her,

but that Mabel was attracted back and distressed by it.

"I told you, I think he likes you," Elvi repeated.

"Stop saying that!" Mabel snapped, spinning on her angrily. "I'm—"

"A beautiful woman," Elvi interrupted before she could insult herself again.

"You're a vampire, Elvi," she said grimly. "You have better eyesight than the rest of us.

Now look at me. Look at this wrinkled old face."

"Oh, Mabel, for heaven sakes," she said impatiently. "Yes, you have laugh lines—"

"I have wrinkles," Mabel repeated harshly, then added, "everywhere."

Elvi waved that away as unimportant. "So? None of us look the same as we did twenty

years ago."

"You do," Mabel pointed out. "Hell, you look better than you did twenty years ago; you

look like you did forty years ago."

"Oh, right." Elvi bit her lip. While she hadn't had a mirror since returning from Mexico,

she'd caught a quick glimpse of herself there. She knew she looked young.

"Forget I said that," Mabel said wearily when Elvi just stared at her with helpless guilt,

then asked, "How was your night?"

Relieved at the change of topic, Elvi quickly told her about buying a bed and her

annoyance with Victor for influencing the manager into delivering it the next day.

"I did call the store when I got home," she announced. "But of course it was closed. I

left a message, telling them not to deliver it tomorrow."

"I don't know why you bothered," Mabel said with a shake of the head. "It's not that

big a deal. Besides, do you think it will work? I mean, their control must reach beyond

simple influence. They must be able to cause some sort of a compulsion in the person.

Otherwise, the moment Victor left, the manager would have snapped out of it and

cancelled the delivery himself. Don't you think?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Elvi admitted. "I need to find out more about this stuff, I

guess."

Silence fell in the room, and then Elvi glanced at the robe and book Mabel had

collected and now held loosely in her hands. She turned toward the door. "I guess I

should leave you to your bath… maybe I'll take one myself."

"Good night," Mabel murmured.

"'Night." Elvi slid back out into the hall, pulling the bedroom door closed behind her,