Eternal Love Chapter Two
They decided to take a nice slow drive up to Canada. By mutual consent they drove cross country and entered Canada on the Eastern side. Ernest said that it would be a sort of grand tour graduation present for Bookey. Of course, they drove only at night, checking in at attractive motels along the way, long before the dawn. They could see at night better than humans can see during the day so they were able to enjoy the sights along the way even though they slept during the day.
When they made love, they exchanged their blood so that in just a few days, Bookey had become as powerful a vampire as Ernest had become over three centuries.
During the trip, Ernest taught Bookey how to stalk his quarry and end his life quickly and painlessly. The teacher taught the student to try to limit his kill to pimps, prostitutes, and criminals. He cautioned him to read his victim's mind and if he was a family man or a man of good deeds he should not take his blood.
It took them almost two weeks of slow travelling to reach The Rainbow Bridge crossing into Canada at Niagara Falls, NY. Ernest rolled down the window for the immigration and custom's officer. The officer opened his mouth and looked at the two men. He was gay and his mind was trying to find a reason to take them inside and frisk them, but all he could do was to wave them on; no questions asked.
They drove about a mile into Canada. The road was dark and deserted. Ernest found an opening in the heavily tree lined highway and drove the car through the thicket. When it could go no more, the men exited the auto. Before leaving Los Angeles they had filled a back pack with the clothes Bookey had worn to the bar. Later they entered a men's clothing store after hours and outfitted him. Unfortunately Ernest's clothes were too small for Bookey. All they had and all they needed was the clothes on their backs. They were capable of getting fresh clothing at their leisure.
They left the back pack in the car and abandoned it. They returned to the highway, and just a few yards up the road they saw a sign indicating that Toronto was 115 km ahead. They decided that they would spend a few days there before moving on to another destination. Ernest was determined to show Bookey the world and they had plenty of time to do it.
They smiled at each other and started to run, or it was more like gliding, up the highway. They stayed at the side of the road to avoid traffic and achieved speeds of about sixty miles an hour. They reached the city limits in a little under two hours. Neither was tired and the night was young. They decided to get a hotel room and then go out on the town, and feed before dawn.
When they entered the city limits, they saw a bus stop up ahead. It had a picture of the route the bus took and they saw that it terminated in downtown Toronto. They decided to take the bus and remain inconspicuous. The bus came along in about fifteen minutes. Ernest stared at the bus driver as they climbed aboard and he was oblivious to the fact that they didn't pay. One passenger thought she had seen these men not pay the fare, but she wasn't sure and she didn't care.
When they reached the downtown area, it was not yet eight o'clock. Their first stop was a luggage store where they chose two small suitcases. As they left the store, the proprietor smiled at them and said, "Thank you gentlemen. Come again, won't you." A few doors up the street, they found a men's furnishing shop. They helped themselves to whatever they thought they might need for a few day's stay and stuffed everything into their suitcases. Fortunately it was summer. Although they didn't need to wear clothing in any temperature, it would have looked crazy for them not to wear winter clothes if it was winter in Canada.
On the way out of the store they asked the proprietor to direct them to the nearest five star hotel. He did, and he also thanked them for shopping at his establishment. They took a cab to the hotel and as they exited the cab, the driver helped them with their suitcases and thanked them for their generosity. Ernest paid and tipped the man. Bookey wondered where the Canadian money had come from.
At the front desk, the clerk went through the motions of recording a non existent credit card, and had one of the boys take them to their room. Ernest and Bookey knew immediately that the bell hop was gay, not because he was checking them out with lust, which he was, but because they could read his mind. He was a college student who worked long hours at night to pay for his tuition. They both liked him immediately and silently vowed no harm would come to him.
"Can you direct us to some gay hot spots in town, Larry?" Bookey asked, reading the bell hop's ID badge. Larry broke out into the widest grin either of them had ever seen. They immediately let him know telepathically that they were off limits to him. His grin shortened just a smidgen, but he was happy to name several good places and to give them directions. They were all within walking distance from each other and from the hotel. Ernest gave Larry a big tip.
When they were alone in the room, Bookey asked Ernest where he had gotten the Canadian money. "From an ATM machine," he answered. Remind me to show you how. I pay my way to worthy people, but I hypnotize gougers. The owners of the luggage store, the clothing store, and the hotel all overcharge their customers. They won't miss what we took, but the cab driver and Larry are working hard to make their way in this world and they deserve payment." Bookey was busy trying to figure out when Ernest had used an ATM machine and he was unaware of it.
"I'm hungry," Bookey told Ernest. "Shall we feed before we party?"
"Capital idea," Ernest responded.
They removed all the labels and hung up their new clothes. They stashed the luggage in the closet, and left the hotel. In front of the hotel, Ernest stopped and sniffed the air. Bookey knew he was sniffing for prey. He was learning how to do it, but had not yet fully mastered the art.
"This way," Ernest said and smiled at his lover. He led Bookey up the street and turned into an alley. Out of the shadows a voice asked, "Do you dudes have stash for tonight?" It was a drug dealer.
"It depends what you are selling," Ernest answered. The drug dealer was totally unaware, but Ernest could see him pulling a knife out of his trouser belt. So fast, that no camera could have photographed it, Ernest had the man pinned against the concrete wall and his teeth were buried in the man's jugular.
Suddenly the dealer's accomplice dove out of nowhere and right at Bookey. Of course, Bookey had smelled him and he caught his assailant in mid air. He pulled him toward him and sank his teeth into his jugular as well. For more than five minutes the two men drank their victims' blood until they each died and they had to stop feeding. Ernest took his assailant's knife and cut his neck up so that his teeth marks did not show. Then he did the same to Bookey's victim.
"Search your man for his stash," Ernest directed. They retrieved the stash from both men and emptied the stuff all over their bodies.
"The police will think it was a drug related slaying. Now let's go have some fun."
Fully fed and able to resist the smell of blood from human beings, they went to a gay bar, and they did indeed have fun. They danced and carried on engagingly for the crowd. They even made two new friends who asked them to join them at a different bar the next evening and they gladly accepted. Another young man asked Ernest if his accent was Italian. When Ernest said that it was, the young man said that he had recently emigrated from Italy and was dying to speak Italian to someone. He and Ernest started speaking but the young man found Ernest's speech to be structured and clumsy. Ernest was speaking Old Italian in what can be compared to Shakespearean English as it would sound to a modern day English speaking man.
They stayed far into the night. They were not tired and knew that they would sleep all day. They were the last to leave the bar. As they walked slowly back to the hotel, they passed the alley where they had fed. It was lit up and cordoned off. The place was crawling with cops. Obviously the bodies had been discovered.
Bookey stopped in front of a cop. "What's going on, officer?" he asked innocently.
"Nothing that concerns you young man," the cop answered him. "Just move along, please." It struck Bookey that the cops tone was polite but firm. He wasn't nasty like a Los Angeles cop might have been in the circumstances. He had always heard from friends who had travelled to Canada, that Canadians were a super polite people, and wherever they went, they were made to feel welcome. Bookey had to agree.
Back in the hotel, they put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on their door, and undressed and showered together. Both felt the need to cleanse themselves of the odor of the drug dealers. Once in bed, they held their bodies tightly together. Their fingers began to explore their partner's every erotic spot. By now they knew what thrilled them both. When they were dueling with their tongues, they took little nips of each other. Tiny droplets of blood invaded their mouths and intermingled. The tongues healed immediately but the taste of the blood went right to their groins. They nipped each other's nipples, achieving the same results. When they were sucking each other's cocks, they would also nip out little globules of blood and when they were fucking they would feed from each other's necks. They loved each other and would never harm one another. The droplets of blood were miniscule, but the effect on their libidos was gigantic. Sometimes they were so aroused that they would cum without either touching the other's cock. When that happened they scurried to drink up as much of the blood as possible and avoid a mess. They much preferred to cum in their mouths or up their asses. No blood was spilled and when they received each other's blood internally, there are no words to describe the ecstasy they felt. Drinking a criminal's blood was dinner. Drinking each other's blood was Nirvana.
That night after the love making, they made sure that the curtains and shades were drawn tight. They curled up together, intending to sleep that way through the day. Ernest was the first to speak. "I was so lonely. For three hundred years I looked all over for a lover companion. You were sent to me in a vision and I loved you before we met. Thank you for saving me from an eternity of loneliness."
"No, Ernesto, (Bookey loved to call Ernest by his real name when they were alone and intimate) it is I who must thank you. I hated my life. It was meaningless, except when I fantasized that you were my lover and we would be together forever. I have seen you, just as you are now, since I was thirteen. You saved me from a humdrum hateful life without you. Thank you for that, and for loving me as much as I love you. But please, I ask a favor of you. Don't love Gianni any less. Let us revere his memory together."
They kissed and absorbed a few droplets of blood from each other and slept until the next evening.
When they awoke they showered again to remove the odor of blood from their bodies. They wanted their breaths to smell fresh as well, so they brushed their teeth, which would never decay, and gargled with a breath freshener. They dressed in some of their new clothes, and discussed the need to feed before finding the gay bar where they were to meet their new friends. They both agreed that they felt no hunger and it was safe to mingle with good people and not put them in harm's way.
Before going down stairs, the two lovers embraced and kissed each other chastely. "Do you ever regret that I turned you?" Ernest asked.
Bookey smiled and answered. "Ernesto, Ernesto, sometimes I think you are the most sentimental fool I have ever met." He forced his tongue into Ernest's mouth. Ernest instinctively took his droplets of blood. "Does that feel like regret? Anyway, you didn't turn me. I begged for it because I wanted to be with you forever. You will never be lonely again and I will never be unhappy. Furthermore, if the truth be told, I get a great deal of pleasure out of ridding the world of the dregs we feed on. The cities are a lot safer for the populace thanks to you and me."
Ernest smiled and put his cheek against Bookey's. "Let's go," he said. "It's party time." Bookey thought that was a funny expression coming from a three hundred year old man and he broke out laughing. They were both still laughing when they reached the lobby.
Larry was in the lobby reading a text book on the mathematics of nuclear power. "Whatever the fuck that is!" Bookey thought. Neither Bookey nor Ernest knew why, but they both knew that they wanted to help this boy.
"How much more money do you need to finish university?" Ernest asked Larry.
"Well, I owe two thousand in loans and I need about twelve thousand more to finish up. That's for tuition, books, supplies and just about everything else," Larry answered.
Ernest turned to Bookey. "Entertain the lad and don't let him get away. I'll be right back." Larry was flabbergasted when he saw Ernest leave the hotel lobby. He left so quickly, he was a blur. Bookey began to ask Larry about his ambitions in life. Larry wanted to be a nuclear physicist, and for the first time Booker thought about what he had given up. But he didn't have any regrets. His life was more fulfilled than he could ever imagine it would be. Before he could reflect further, Ernest was back. He was carrying a cloth sack which looked quite full.
He handed the sack to Larry and said, "There's twenty thousand dollars in this sack. Tell your boss to go fuck himself and take this home. Hide it in a safe place and tomorrow morning take it to the bank and put it into an interest bearing account. For tonight, when you get home change into something sexy and meet us at a gay bar called Blazing Saddles. We're meeting some friends there, and we want you to join us. I want to caution you about one thing. Be wise in any relationship you enter into. Don't let anyone tell you he loves you and needs to borrow money from you. If that happens run a country mile. A true lover will give, and not take, even when he has nothing material to give you."
Bookey wondered where the money had come from. He knew you couldn't get that much so quickly from an ATM machine. Finally he decided that what he didn't know would not harm him.
Larry stood there with his mouth open and his head nodding up and down. He was too shocked to react so Bookey slapped him on his butt and said, "Go, hurry, and we'll see you later." Larry shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and took off like a bat out of hell. On his way through the lobby he yelled at the front desk, to no one in particular, "I quit!!!"
"We just did a good deed for Larry and for humanity," Ernest said to Bookey. "Instinctively I know that someday he will be a great scientist and his work will benefit all mankind."
"Yes," Bookey said. "I feel the same way."
They found their way to Blazing Saddles and located their friends at the bar. The friends wanted to buy them drinks so they let them buy cokes, which they pretended to drink, and which they nursed all night. Bookey wondered what a coke would taste like now that he was no longer human, and he was tempted to take a sip. Ernest read his mind and shook his head to stop him. He whispered in Bookey's ear, "It will make you sick."
Blazing Saddles was a country western bar. Neither Bookey nor Ernest was familiar with line dancing steps, but they mastered it after just a few seconds of watching, and soon joined in the fun. They were there less than a half hour when Larry walked in. Wow, what a surprise. He was so hot in his shorts and sleeveless tee shirt. They introduced Larry to Maury and Terry, who were good friends, but not a couple. It was obvious immediately that Larry and Terry were attracted to each other. Ernest did a quick mind study of Terry and liked what he learned. He was a student at the University of Toronto, just like Larry. They were both juniors. Terry's family was well off and he didn't have to work to pay his way through college. He was majoring in physical education. He looked like a phys ed major, tall and muscular. Ernest smiled when he read Terry's soul and knew immediately that he was one of the good guys who would never harm anyone. Terry and Larry were made for each other. He looked up to see Bookey smiling and they nodded at each other.
During the evening, both Ernest and Bookey had a chance to chat one on one with both Terry and Larry. As they gazed into their human eyes, each of them suggested hypnotically that they would find a great love in the other. Larry and Terry were getting a double dose of hypnotic suggestion. By the end of the night, they couldn't stop kissing each other. When everyone else was gyrating to the music, those two were slow dancing, rubbing together and practically making love on the dance floor. "Our work is done," Ernest whispered to Bookey.
Terry and Larry couldn't wait to get out of the place, and seal their new found love. They said goodbye to Bookey and Ernest and kissed them on the cheek. They were both surprised that Bookey and Ernest felt so cold. It was very warm in the bar. Larry began to cry. "How can I thank you and where can I reach you?' he asked.
Ernest answered, "We don't stay very long in one place, but rest assured we will keep tabs on you, and we will contact you the next time we are in Toronto. Now go with Terry and both of you have a great life together."
As they left the bar, Larry and Terry assumed that these two were billionaires travelling the world and doing good deeds. Larry thanked God for his good fortune in meeting them.
Ernest and Bookey looked around to say goodnight and goodbye to Maury. They spotted him smooching with an older man of about forty. Forty or not, he was smashingly good looking. Maury was going to score, so they just left without saying goodbye.
They walked back to the hotel holding hands. "Where would you like to go next?" Ernest asked Bookey.
"I've given it a lot of thought and I'd like to visit your Italy," Bookey answered.
"I haven't wanted to go back there in all this time, but now I can't wait to go with you at my side."
"But we have no tickets or passports," Bookey reminded him.
Ernest just smiled. "They have internet service back at the hotel. I'll take care of everything," he said.
Ernest booked a flight leaving the next evening and arriving in Rome the following morning. He charged it to a real debit card which was his. He also booked it under his real name, Ernesto DiGrenato, the name on his credit card, and he booked Bookey under the name of John Smith. He figured that they might be looking for Bookey at Canadian airports by now.
"So that's how you got money from the ATM machine," Bookey said. "You have a real bank account and a real debit card."
"Of course, I do, little boy. What do you think I have been doing for three hundred years? I'm, I mean, we are very rich."
That got to Bookey and he needed to change the subject. "How will we manage arriving in the morning on probably a sunny day, and how will we manage without valid passports?" Bookey asked naively.
"I'll hypnotize the immigration agent who will think he has examined our passports. As for arriving in daylight, we'll just stay in the terminal away from windows until late afternoon."
"It can be kind of neat being supernatural," Bookey said. Ernest started to laugh and embraced his lover and student in a bear hug. He had to keep reminding himself that Bookey was still only a boy.
"Wow," Bookey said. "In about forty-eight hours we'll be in Rome. I can hardly process all this. How far is your home town from Rome?" he asked.
"I would guess it's about an hour's drive by today's technology. It used to be a day's coach ride when I lived there," Ernest answered.
"I can't wait to see it."
To be continued...