Current...Past...Sin...Alexander...Forum...Notes...Survey...D-land

LeCadeau Estate
2004-01-30 - 2:10 p.m.

The following evening, I arose, full of anticipation for the coming journey. I quickly threw a couple changes of clothing into a small bag for both myself and Sindor. I was ready to leave, but Sindor was still asleep. Even though it had been months since I had turned Sindor, he still continued to cling to his humanity, sleeping for hours into the evening.

So I waited patiently for him to arise, on the balcony. I did not mind it, though. I needed time to think about our situation. We were to discover my family's new home somewhere south of Paris. There were a lot of country estates south of Paris. Not to mention the chance that the information was wrong or my family had moved again since leaving Paris. I had no idea where to start looking.

As the moon rose overhead, shedding more light onto the bustling city, I recalled that we had cousins who lived on a country estate. We would visit them quite often in the summer. Good memories of horseback rides and cool swims in a nearby lake came flooding back to me. Many of my memories from life have since left me after death, but these sudden ones brought a smile to my face. If my father was avoiding shame, he would have fled some where to be comforted. I decided to check this estate for my family. It was the best option we had for a beginning.

Sindor roused himself two hours after I had awakened. He found me deep in thought on the balcony. He strolled to me and placed his arms around my waist.

"Good evening, my love," I said to him.

"Good evening." He yawned sweetly. I kissed him gently on the forehead.

"Are you ready to travel?" I asked.

He nodded his head against me. "I'm so glad you want me to go with you. I am as soon as you are."

"I have been ready two hours."

"Oh? Oh, sorry, Lex. I was just so comfortable. You could have awakened me."

"I wanted you to sleep. Besides, I needed time to think. I believe I have a starting point in tracking down my family. And if we are lucky, it will be our one and only stop," I explained to him.

Sindor moved away from me. "I'll pack then."

"Do not bother," I said grabbing his hand and pulling him back to me. "I already did." I kissed him gently.

Sindor melted into my arms. I held him tightly. "Thank you, Lex."

"Just find your coat." I moved into the sitting room and put on my own coat. I picked up the bag and unlocked the door.

Sindor found his coat in our bedroom and placed it on his shoulders as he came into the sitting room again. "Umm, Lex? What are we going to do about the coffin?"

I had not thought about the coffin, truthfully. Ideas came to mind then. We could rush back here before sunrise, but that would be silly. I figured we would travel on foot, so that we could sneak onto the property. We would be weighed down by the coffin, not to mention found suspicious. "We can do without it," I replied after some thought.

"Are you sure, Lex? Where are we going to sleep when the sun comes up?" Sindor was very concerned.

"I have traveled without a coffin before. Besides, I know a place where we can hide during the day," I said with a sly smile.

"Lex?" he asked with suspicion.

"You will see. Are you ready to go then?"

He nodded, still interested. "So, where are we going exactly?"

"South," I replied vaguely, much to his disappointment.

We headed down the stairs and through the lobby, where I made sure to inform the hotel staff that we would be back in a few days and to not enter our room. We passed into the night and quickly moved south through the city, keeping to darkened roads to move faster. We only stopped to feed, but we shared one person quickly. I said nothing to Sindor until we had left the city behind us. We remained on a path out of the city as it entered a small forested area, heading slightly southeast.

Once we were alone on the path, I spoke to Sindor softly.

"My family has cousins who lived on a country estate south of Paris. I figured that would be the best place to start since Raoul told me my family went south. It is quite possible that it is still owned by them. It has been for generations," I explained. "We need to sneak onto the property to look around tonight for we will arrive rather late in the night. It is already too late now to speak to anyone if there are any persons on the estate, but I have a place where we can be safe to wait until the following evening."

Sindor drank it all in and accepted that we might not find anything tonight. "How long will it take to get there?"

"Well, if you picked up the pace, Sin, a lot less than you are making it to be," I laughed.

Sindor looked angrily at me. I decided to bate him on.

"You call yourself a vampire? I bet I can beat you there, snail," I stated.

"Fine. I take that bet, and if I win you have to do something for me, but you have the advantage. I do not know where this place is."

I pointed Sindor in the right direction, southeast for the most part right along the path. "You will come across two other estates before reaching my cousins'. And if I win, you have to do something for me."

"Alright. Agreed. But no cheating, Lex. Play fair."

Sindor gave me a very stern look. I shrugged my shoulders and laughed. "Just for you, my love, you can have a head start."

"You would make it easy for me?" he asked, insulted.

"I just want you to think you are doing well," I replied. "No, be gone with you. I will wait fifteen minutes."

Sindor seemed unsure of himself all of a sudden. Then he sucked up his courage and turned away from me.

"Remember it is the third one to your right," I shouted after him.

I had no plans for cheating Sindor out of a victory. If he wanted to win badly enough, he would use his skills to move quickly. He would arrive in a half hour's time if he ran fast enough along the path. But I knew of a short cut. My siblings, cousins and I would traverse the countryside on a daily basis. I had known the area quite well when I was a lad. Hopefully I would still remember it.

I waited exactly fifteen minutes, whistling against a tree a familiar tune, before entering between the trees. I was moving so quickly that I felt as if my feet were not even touching the ground as I dodged the trees. I crossed over one estate's back open grounds five minutes after I had started. Three minutes later I was passing through the second as I quickened my pace. My cousins' estate rose on the darkened horizon exactly twelve minutes after I had left the path. I knew Sindor would be arriving by the path so I made my way quietly and quickly to the front entrance. I looked down the road but could not see him. I rested against a tree opposite the gate and waited for him.

As I predicted it took Sindor a half an hour to reach the estate. Unfortunately for him, he was three minutes too late. As he approached, he did not notice me. He looked around, pleased with himself.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked from the shadows quietly.

Sindor looked around and spotted me. His face fell. "How did you get here before me? I did not see you pass me."

"I have my ways, Sindor." I pushed away from the tree and crossed the road to him. "I guess you lost the bet."

"I guess." Sindor was very disappointed. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Ah. You will learn that at the opportune moment." Sindor looked even more angrily at me. "Come along. We are wasting time out here."

I led Sindor through the gate and around the edges of the estate so as not to be seen. As we approached the house from the front, not a light was on. It was almost morning after all. It was to be expected.

"Stay here, Sin," I whispered to him. "I will be right back."

Sindor looked disappointed but I left him there anyway. I crossed the yard quickly and reached the house. I had hoped to catch a glimpse inside the house, but the shutters had been drawn. We would have to return secretly the following evening if we were to learn whether my family still inhabited the house.

I returned to Sindor and beckoned him to follow me. We crossed the vast estate and reached the lake that I had remembered. And just as I had predicted, the small boat house remained. I pointed it out to Sindor in the misty morning.

"We are staying there?" he asked, intrigued as he spied the quaint building.

"Yes. I know of a secret room where we can be safe until morning."

We entered the boat house, and I easily found the hidden door to the basement. Sindor and I descended into the darkness. As we waited for sunset, we huddled together in the cold dampness of the basement, and I told Sindor about my summers at the estate.

"My mother's twin sister, Angela, married my father's first cousin, Randolph LeNoir, a year after my parents were wed. My uncle had inherited LeCadeau Estate from his father and started his family here with my aunt. They were a very kind couple. They had two children of their own, Luc and Odile.

"My family came to visit every summer, spending months here at a time. Luc was a year older than myself, and Odile a year younger. All seven of us would play on the grounds, horseback riding and swimming in the lake. This was one of my favorite places. Also, my father would always be in a better temperment here than at home, when he was away from work. He sometimes did not even mind Ella fencing with the boys. I really think it was his cousin, Randolph. Those two were the best of friends."

Sindor loved hearing about my past. He listened intently to all that I had to say. After a few moments of silence, Sindor asked me, "Lex, you have never told me your parents' names. What are they?"

I thought about his comment. I had told Sindor about my family before, but it was true that I had never mentioned my parents' names. I guess I just never thought about addressing them by their real names. Father was father and mother was maman. I always did feel closer to her.

"Well, my father was named Thomas, and my mother was named Alexandria."

"You were named for your mother?"

"Yes, I bare her name, and I am very proud of it. She was a strong woman and very beautiful. My father found it odd that I looked more like her than even my sisters."

"But you look just like Ella. I was surprised when I saw you two together that you were not twins."

"Yes, well, Ella and I do look similar, but my mother and I both have these silver streaks in our hair. Even her twin sister Angela does not have them. We both had them since birth. That is why my mother named me after herself."

"How sweet," cooed Sindor.

"I really regreted leaving her too when I was young. But I disagreed with my father so much that I just could not stand living in that house anymore. Besides it was just the four of us by then. Wilfred and Charles had started families already by then, and Abagail was married off and living with her husband.

"When I had come home, I was already turned, and I was not sure how my mother would see me after that. So I avoided her often. When I did confront her I was careful not to let her see me. I knew she would she me as I was." I stopped for a moment.

"That must have been hard. Loving her so much but not being with her."

Sindor knew my pain so well. I hugged him tightly. "You are right. I did not even see her after I thought Ella was killed. I did not even say good bye to her, and she is dead now most likely." I began to cry.

Sindor comforted me in the darkness. "It's alright, Alexander. We can stop talking about her. Besides the sun is almost up."

I nodded against him. I fell asleep with those damned bloody tears in my eyes.

Alexander