Eternity

"Camille, what are you doing here?"

"Can I not come to see an old, old friend? We've known each other since when, the mid-1400s?"

"Yes. Come in, come in. How are you?"

"I'm not in a great mood, but I feel... free."

He gave her an odd look, but didn't question her. They went into the kitchen.

"Coffee?"

"Mmm, please. Tack."

He chuckled. "You're welcome. I see you still know Swedish."

"Just a bit," she said and smiled. "I haven't used it in centuries."

"It's nice to see you again, Camille."

"You too, Lars. How's life been treating you?"

"Bra, bra." Good, good. "My shipping company has expanded and grown. Investments keep coming in and buyers keep buying."

"That's wonderful, Lars."

Giselle looked around. She saw the paintings on the white walls and the light grey furniture.

"Is everything alright, Camille? You don't seem yourself. But then again, I haven't seen you since the 1890s."

She gave a light chuckle. "I'm okay. Just trying to find my place in the world."

"Camille du Sang, trying to find her place in the world? Really?"

He was amazed. "You always seemed so sure of yourself before."

"The last couple of centuries have been hard on me. Admittedly, I've wanted to end it all a couple of times. I'd only need a wooden stake to drive through my non-beating heart."

She looked down at her hands which she had just been kneading. Giselle bit her bottom lip.

"Camille, what's wrong? Because I know you, and I can tell that something's wrong."

She sighed. "I just had a falling out with someone, that's all. It's not a big deal. I'm much happier and better off without him anyways."

"Who?"

"No one important."

"Camille," he said seriously.

Giselle just shook her head and refused to say anything else. She didn't want to mix her Giselle Marchant life with her Camille du Sang life. They were two separate things and she'd prefer to keep it that way.

Lars sighed in defeat and handed her a cup of coffee.

"Want to go into town later?" he asked. "There's a opera going on for the next two days."

"Mmm. Sure. I like operas."

"Ok. I'll get the tickets."

Later that day, the two went to the matinee showing of Eternity, a new opera about a love that stood the test of time. All through the opera, Giselle felt uncomfortable and during intermission, she threw up in the ladies' room. After the opera was over, they went to dinner at a seaside restaurant run by a fellow vampire. They were served warm glasses of blood and order some sea bass and oysters.

"How did you like the opera?"

"It was good, I just didn't really connect."

"I'm sorry then."

"No, it's okay. I just don't want to have to think about love anytime soon."

"Okay. We'll not talk about it then."

That night, she slept in the spare bedroom and for the first time in a long while, had a good night's sleep.