The Trouble with Evie

Chapter 8

Niko was sitting in a single-seat lounge chair when I walked up the stairs to the attic. He was reading a book. Next to the lounge was a pile of magazines and more books. Brad said nothing about coming up here, no mention of the mysterious rat. Just a quick how was your day and keep it clean, thanks. My answer was borderline.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I was greeted with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Evelyn. You will be pleased to know that I have spent my day alone. No visitors."

"Great. Where did you get those?"

"Well, this morning after you left, I timed how long it took for your uncle to return so that I knew how much time I had in the afternoon when he left to collect you. Then I formulated a short list of the things that I needed to bring me up to speed. You stated that I would not like this era, and I wanted to know the exact details, especially about the intelligence of law enforcement."

He flicked his fingers at the closed book on his lap, then lifted it to show it to me.

"I know this is a work of fiction, but it seemed to be quite factual in the information, so I believe it was an ideal selection."

The book was crime fiction, and I had no idea if it was well-researched or if it was complete rubbish. Niko lifted a magazine, then smiled.

"It was a curious read. I'll give it that much. I have not had much interest in this type of literature in the past, but it has certainly been enlightening."

"And not based on fact. That's a trash mag, and I would not take any of that on board if I were you."

"Duly noted, though I figured as much. Some of it did seem a tad preposterous. I have a question about magazines. The fellow had a couple that I left behind because I found them rather inappropriate, but, I don't really know how to put this,"

"There were lots of naked women in the magazines?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"For a pale vampire that's been trapped behind a wall for sixty years, you can really change color when you're embarrassed."

"Well, I didn't know how appropriate it was, but curiosity killed the cat, as they say. What is society's view on these magazines?"

I shrugged.

"Depends on who you ask. Me, I don't care. Brad, he doesn't care provided that he doesn't find a picture of me in one of those magazines or me finding his stash. Which for the record, I don't know if he has one, and I don't intend on searching either. As for the rest of the world, there are some that will be highly offended. Some will say that it's objectifying women. Some that don't care either way and some that love them."

"I see. Do these women get paid for the images?"

"I believe so."

Niko frowned as he thought about it.

"You're going to be entering a whole new world of indecency. Sex is everywhere on the internet. There are actual websites dedicated to videos."

Bewilderment filled Niko's face as he looked at me.

"You are not serious, are you?"

"I am. I tell you this because one day, I'm going to teach you how to use the internet, and soon after, you'll be proficient in using it. It's a dark road that you will stumble into, and before you know it, you'll be looking at things that you never thought possible."

I could see the objection on his face. With a smirk and a shake of my head, I silenced Niko.

"Yeah, you think that now but trust me, it just takes one little moment where you become curious, and next thing, you're locking doors to drop your pants."