Blueblood 2: The World - 4. Lunch at Harrods

Going into Harrods’ I was just astounded by the sheer size of it. Doormen! There were always doormen. In New York, there was always those men employed to welcome and open doors for guests. It was very exciting walking in the store like that. I don’t think there were many people in the world who hadn’t heard of Harrods’. There was that big Egyptian thing mummies were placed when the ancient pharaohs were placed. We walked among the many people as I looked at all that most were not offered. Most didn't care one way o the other. Going to the Food Hall was fascinating. I had never seen so many…everything! Cheese, breads of all kinds, pastries, chocolates, cakes, and pies…exclusive and gourmet offerings. Rare produce and everything for gifts and other things. It was all in Pounds Sterling and I knew it was stronger the dollar, but I had no idea, but it could be pricey! I noticed Colin kept looking at his watch.

“Are we going to be late for something?” I asked.

Colin smiled. “You never know.”

After a few minutes, I knew I was being steered to head somewhere for something, so I let myself be steered. Harrods’ was beautiful, one portion seemed to be open several floors with a lighted dome-like covering that gave you this natural light feeling. We arrived at the Georgian Restaurant. Colin greeted the hostess and gave our names. She smiled and waved to a table and removed the “reserved” sign from the table.

“This requires reservations?” I asked in amazement.

Colin shook his head. “No, but I wanted to be sure we had a table in case there was a rush.” He looked around at the many diners. “I never go anywhere unprepared.”

I looked at the restaurant and noticed people were helping themselves to what was available. Almost like a buffet. But they weren’t serving chicken fingers and French fries. No fried chicken or things like that. This was salmon, lamb, and other gourmet offerings. They had those that were serving themselves as well as those that ordered for a menu. I knew what Colin was going to do. He disliked buffets because of the sneeze guards and many hands that touched everything. I smiled at him, but even he noticed I was looking at him differently. “This is why I married you, Colin.”

Colin smiled, but his eyes softened. “Because I was going to take you to Harrods’?”

I reached over and took his hand. “No, because you’ve included me in your life,” I explained. “You do everything you can to make me feel appreciated. You are a gorgeous and beautiful man on the inside as well as outside, but you make me feel wanted.”

Colin smiled squeezing my hand back. “I waited a long time to find you; someone to love me that likes being with me. How could I do anything else?”

It was a great lunch! And he did end up eating from what was out to serve yourself as he ate so much it was needed to fill him up.

We went back to the hotel after a few hours after eating and we did do some shopping in the men’s department. We got back and Colin insisted we rest. I called Chuck and told him to watch us on the computer knowing something might happen this evening and we might not be able to contact him if it did. Chuck agreed the PDTUs were working fine and Shelly and he would be ready. Colin was anticipating a long night. We were from another time zone where it was later in the day that we were used to. I didn’t think the length of the night would be important, but I did what he thought needed and did nap. A full stomach was partially the reason. We opted to have Afternoon Tea in our suite.

The knock on the door was for that reason, I thought.

Opening the door a man in his late thirties with dark hair had a cart he wheeled it in our suite. On the tray, under a silver cover were the scones and other goodies as well as a china tea service. Colin signed the room service ticket and handed it back to the man.

“Are you enjoying being in London?” The man asked with a clear accent, but not one I’d heard that much.

Colin nodded, but he looked up as he must have sensed something. “I would like to have enjoyed it more, but this isn’t a pleasure trip.”

The man nodded. “Business then?”

I sensed the man was just a man, but Colin’s look was a little more cautious. “Not exactly…” he looked at the man more. “…we’re supposed to meet someone.”

The man nodded. “And he wants to meet you, Mr. Wentworth.” He said pointedly. “We have been watching you since you arrived.” This man was also being cautious. “I am here to help you do that.” He smiled at me. “Both of you can do that.” He put his hand out. “Call me Nigel.”

Colin shook his hand. “Very well, Nigel. I’m Colin and this is Devon, my husband.”

Nigel smiled, not bothered with our marriage at all. “We found that out.” He waved to the door. “If you come with me, I’ll take you to him.” He stopped. “Oh, and please…no cell phones or any other devices?”

Colin pointed to where we had them plugged in to be powered up. “They’re right over there.” He raised his hands. “Search us to be sure, if you need to.”

Nigel shook his head. “My…employer prefers to trust. If you say you don’t. I believe you.” He cocked his head. “My employer may want to when you get there, but…”

“Do we need jackets?” I asked.

Nigel nodded. “You might.”

He led us through the hotel but took us out a rear entrance and to an off-street parking area. He waved toward a large black car. I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was a Rolls Royce, but an antique. It was shiny and well maintained, but still a Rolls.

“Nice car,” I commented. “What year is this?”

“1964,” Nigel answered as he opened the door for us. “My employer knew it would be a few hours to get there and he wanted you comfortable.”

Colin smiled as he got in. “We’ll have to thank him when we see him.”

I got in beside Colin. “It is comfortable.”

We headed out of London and hit the highway and traveled…north? I’ve said many times, I didn’t know this part of the world and had no idea where we were heading, but I settled back next to Colin. Whether Colin did it because of love or reassurance, he took my hand. We did that so often but now was to show me we were doing this together. I could only imagine what the others of our team were doing. Chuck was probably telling Shelly we were on the move. Willie, Gabriella, and Alex were getting ready to follow, which we planned for. Whether it was intended or not, it seemed Nigel was going in circles as I watched the sun move around the car. After the sun had set it was just dark as there was an overcast sky and I couldn’t tell by the sky what direction we were going. We rode for about three hours before getting to a more rural portion of the road. There were farms and those stone fences that lined the road to keep livestock on the pastures.

“All we need now is that somewhat creepy music playing in the background,” I muttered to Colin. “I swear I’ve seen this movie.”

Colin chuckled as he gave my hand a light squeeze. “We’ll be okay.”

There was a gate of stone we passed through as we rode more up what I thought was more of a private driveway. It was a few minutes before we pulled in front of a very large house. I grinned. “I thought Wentworth Manor was big.”

Colin frowned. “It is!”

“I think this is bigger.” I pointed at the shadowed house. It was spread out. The center section was two stories with connections on either side that were one story that had wings that were again two stories. The house was a light brown like that of dark beach sand. There were lights on in the interior. Nigel opened the door again and waved us to the entrance of the grand house. “And we need the music again; in a minor key, of course.”

Colin nodded. “I agree.” He said looking at the house as we entered. Entering the house I found it was elegant and I was right, it was big! There was a large fireplace on the far wall in white, but I looked at it and saw it was marble. Above the mantle were decorative carvings also done in marble. Every door was also rimmed in this carved marble and the ceiling was high, I guessed twenty feet up and also highly decorated. There were many busts and pieces of art in little recesses along the walls. The floor was also marble.

“Well, someone had money,” I said quietly to Colin.

“That would be a fair judgment,” Colin said softly back.

“If you would come with me to the Main Library,” Nigel said as he led us through the house.

“We have a library.” Colin defended weakly to me.

I patted him on the arm. “Yes, we do. It’s okay, baby.”

Colin and I followed him to a room that was also large, but the bordering walls were covered with shelves of books. There was also a fireplace before where a sofa and chairs where residents and guests could take a book and read. From one of these chairs, a man rose wearing a…smoking jacket? One of those patterned jackets men wore to relax in. He was tall with hair that had gone a little gray. He looked in to be in his mid-forties.

“I trust you had a pleasant journey.” The man said coming to us as he held his hand out. “I’m Edward Addams. Welcome to my home.”

Colin shook his hand first. “If you say you’re the owner, I have to accept it, but you aren’t the one I need to see.” He looked at a door on the other side of the room.

The man who said he was Edward Addams looked surprised. “I’m not?”

Colin frowned. “You’re not a vampire,” Colin said firmly. “If you do own the house, fine, but you must house a vampire, but you’re not him…or her. I know he’s over there.” Colin pointed to the other door.

“How do you know?” The man asked.

“Because he is a vampire, just like I am.” A voice said as the door Colin had pointed out opened and another man came in the room. He also wore the smoking jacket but looked ten years younger with dark hair and blue eyes and he was not a bad looking man, but he wasn’t like most nobles I imagined. He was built! Nothing soft about this man. I could see it through his clothes. “He can sense it.” He walked closer to us. “As I can sense he is.” He put his hand out. “I am Edwin Dunning. This is my home.” He smiled as Colin shook his hand. “I hope you understand the need for caution.” His accent was a little like Nigel’s and Edward’s. It was British but different.

Colin nodded. “I know trust is a hard thing for us. I hope you realize we were tracked.” I squeezed Colin’s hand. He turned to me. “I said we would be upfront about that. I am.”

Edwin looked at Nigel. “Were you followed?”

“No, Sir Dunning. I made sure there were no devices on their persons.” He looked angrily at Colin. “You said you had no phones or devices on you.”

Colin nodded. “And we didn’t. The tracking was done by something we have internally.” He looked at our host. “We would not willingly come here, brought by an unknown, to an unknown location any more than you would.” Colin crossed his arms over his chest. “We aren’t stupid.” He smiled a little. “I don’t think you are either. There are those people that work with me not far away and they can track us wherever we go.”

Nigel raised his arms helplessly. “I didn’t know.”

I looked at Nigel. “You weren’t supposed to know.” I looked back at Edwin. “If we wanted to, we could launch an attack, but that’s not what we wanted.”

Colin put his hand on my shoulder and brought me closer to him. “This is Devon Wentworth, my husband.”

Edwin nodded, again not bothered with the idea. “We know.” He looked at us. “What do you want here?”

Colin rolled his eyes. “Just what I said in the message; I want to bring us together, not tear us apart. Our numbers are greater than I even dreamed of, let alone imagined. We are still a great minority.” He began moving as he did when thinking. “Our kind has lived in the shadows so long, we forgot how to live.” He looked at Edwin. “I am a vampire. Devon is a vampire. I brought others that are also vampires.”

Edwin’s eyes narrowed. “But you move around in the daytime.” He marveled. “I had you followed when you first got here. You were seen eating in daylight. How is that possible?”

Colin smiled. “What we have is a condition. We have a venom in us that makes us what we are.” He shook his head. “We’re not cursed or evil, we’re just men that suffer from an illness.” He waved out of the house. “Out there is a vampire…who is a doctor named George Holms. He came up with a way that we can move in the day and eat. I don’t need blood to live. He’s still working on a way to reverse it and make us human again: a cure, but until he does, he has a way that we can live in the outside world.”

“A condition?” Edwin repeated doubtfully.

“You can’t deny we’re vampires,” I said to him. “You know we are.”

Edwin nodded. “You are.”

Colin walked closer. “You’re going to have to trust us. We don’t want anything but to bring us together. I want to make it possible for those…like me who may have been turned against their will to have a life! I have a life.” He grinned at me. “Whether you understand that I married Devon or not, I married him. We are sharing a life with a home and family.” He looked again at Edwin. “I’m offering you the same thing. A chance for a life.”

“After all this time, affection is not unknown between men. That does not matter.” Edwin waved the statement away as he thought a moment more. “I have to be sure.” He pleaded for us to understand. “There are others here…all over this area…who are vampires. They rely on me to keep things in order and…” he chuckled. “…if there is a form of government.” He shrugged. “I’m it.”

“You’re First Vampire?” Ce'llolin asked.

Edwin’s eyes widened, but then he smiled and nodded. “First Vampire…” he chuckled. “That’s not a term I’ve heard in over a hundred years.” He waved to the chairs. “Have a seat and we’ll talk.” Then he remembered his manners. “Can I get you something to drink? Tea?”

Colin shook his head. “Our Afternoon Tea was interrupted.” He chuckled.

“And you don’t know Southern Iced Tea.” I ventured.

Edwin shook his head. “We have other drinks.” He smiled. “We do have guests that drink other things besides blood.”

“We'll have water?” Colin asked. “With ice.”

"With a slice of lime or lemon for me." I said. "Or just a little lemon juice?" Nigel just gave a sort of nod.

Edwin smiled and waved at Nigel who went off to get the water.

The overall feeling was changing, I felt. I sat with Colin on the sofa.

Edwin sat in a chair near the fireplace which was burning brightly. “That position of First Vampire was used by the older ones.” He explained. “You used a name in your message…Marissa?” He smiled. “My…” he thought, “...predecessor knew her. I knew of her recently as we began to communicate by computer. Before, we used the phone and before that…mail.” He sat back relaxing. “She was a little…unstable.”

“A little?” Colin chuckled. “She is responsible for me being a vampire, Devon, my daughter…”

Edwin frowned. “She said she had never fed on anyone other than family.”

Colin nodded. “Who was not always as careful as she was.” He sighed. “Over a hundred years ago, she had who she claimed was a nephew, who bit people for money.” He explained about Brett Marshall and how he had bitten himself and Gabriella. “And there are the rogue vampires in the United States that are wild with no humanity left. They are just vampires feeding on whoever is available.”

Edwin nodded. “We have that problem here, too.”

“Marissa was supplied by others that offered their own blood to her.” He looked at Edwin. “Are you?”

Edwin looked a little guilty. “I did…” he confessed. “I will confess…I was a little wild in the beginning. I thought…well…I was evil.” He shrugged looking very guilty now. “I did kill in the beginning.”

Colin frowned disappointingly. “I see.”

Edwin shook his head and quickly defended. “I killed criminals and some less than savory characters. Never anyone without cause…I thought.” He admitted. “I would end the night of hunting looking for a target to go after the next night.”

“Never an innocent girl or child?” I asked.

Edwin’s eyes grew at the idea. “What? Heavens no! I would never…”

I chuckled liking him more. “Okay, okay…I’m just asking.”

Edwin nodded. “I did target the occasional wife beater or child abuser. I killed the child molesters…”

I grinned. “Sort of a Vampire Vigilante?”

Edwin cocked his head a little at that and smiled as he considered it. “I suppose.”

“And the others around here?” Colin asked.

Edwin smiled sadly. “Understand, we’ve come a long way in the past century. Many here were illiterate and miners. Some were farmers. Simple people…but hard working.” he looked at us. “Which I was.”

“You?” Colin smiled.

“I was a miner.” He said quietly as if telling that would change our opinion. “I was adopted by Sir Basil Dunning. He even gave me his name. That was two hundred years ago.”

Now I understood why he looked like he did.

Colin nodded. “Okay. Was Basil Dunning a vampire?”

Edwin nodded. “He died about seventy-five years ago when he had a run-in with one of those wild vampires. Sir Dunning caught this vampire about to feed on a young woman and he stopped him, but the vampire got lucky and killed him.” He smiled. “In return, I killed the other vampire.” He shrugged. “But understand…a lot of vampires around here don’t want to hunt innocent people. As you know, there are some that do. The ones I have contact with are the ones that don’t hunt people.” He waved at the surrounding countryside. “We have livestock here, we don’t need to hunt now.”

“This is Sir Dunning’s house?” Colin asked.

Edwin nodded. “But he left it to me.” He said urgently.

“We’re not concerned with that,” I said smiling. “Is there a problem with you having it?”

Edwin looked uncertain again. “I’m a miner. I wasn’t born to this life.” He started to get up. “I can show you the letter where Basil…”

Colin waved him down again. “Relax, sit…there is a problem with him giving this to you. What is it?”

Edwin looked surprised. “Can’t you tell from my accent?”

I chuckled. “Your accent is a little different than I heard in London, but you all sound funny to me.”

Colin rolled his eyes again. “And we don’t sound funny to him?” He asked me.

“Like rednecks?” I asked simply as I shrugged.

Edwin smiled. “My accent is a little different…like many around here in this part of England. I can do the other that Sir Dunning had, but I often forget.” He shrugged. “I’m not nobly born.”

“Neither are we.” Colin smiled. “Your birth has little to do with the man you are.”

“I was granted the knighthood by Sir Dunning himself, not a king or queen,” Edwin said to clarify. “It’s not official.”

“Who cares?” I moaned. “You seem educated and seem like a decent guy.”

“Sir Dunning said things like that to me.” Edwin nodded. “He was the one that educated me and taught me what to do.”

“He did a good job.” Colin smiled. “You were born when?”

Edwin thought. “About 1770 or so…I was young, so I don’t remember.” He chuckled. “Neither does anyone else, for that matter.” He looked at us. “So, can I get this…whatever you do about your condition; to treat my condition?”

Colin grinned. “That’s why we’re here. We would like to give all of them the treatment. It takes away the blood lust and fangs. You’ll still be a vampire, but unable to make more vampires or have fangs.”

“Maybe a big appetite,” I commented with a smile which Colin ignored. “The problem with that is it has to administered daily for a while and then it will stay, but only with ongoing treatment.” I waved as Edwin had to the outside. “There is a doctor that can explain it more. He’s probably out there as well. Can I call him?”

Edwin nodded. “It will be a regular phone.”

“We know the number,” Colin said.

Edwin got up and motioned for us to follow and led us to a traditional hand cradled phone.

Colin dialed the number he knew by heart and grinned when it was answered by Chuck.

“Hello?” Chuck answered as the Caller ID was unknown to him.

“Hi, Chuck.” Colin greeted. “It’s me.”

“Oh, thank god!” Chuck said so loud I didn’t need to be near the phone. “Are you two okay?”

“Devon and I are fine,” Colin said laughing. “We’ve got a new friend.”

“We do?” Chuck asked.

Colin looked at Edwin. “Do I tell them to drive up?”

Edwin nodded.

“Come on to the house. We’ll tell you all about it.” Colin said. “Is George with you?”

“Yes, he’s with us,” Chuck said, but quickly added. “…and tell Devon it wasn’t my idea, but your mother is with us, too. She wouldn’t let Willie come without her.”

Colin chuckled again. “I’ll tell him. Come on up.”