Being Undead

Chapter 18*

Laura's conversation with Daniel left her with another set of questions to think about. Fortunately though, the rogue undead had also given her a vital lead and it was one she was more than happy to follow: see Frederick.

She knocked on the door to his bedroom but got no reply. Probably sleeping, she presumed, and despite knowing that the proper thing would be come back later when he probably would be awake, she turned the knob anyway and the door opened.

Wow! Laura gasped as she took in the space before her. Her room was big no doubt but Frederick's was way bigger. In fact, she suspected that they could fit her entire room inside his and still leave enough space to fit in a large high-end closet.

The bedroom walls looked like they had been carved out of a giant stone. Perhaps they really were, Laura thought as she ran her hand along them.

The room had the same portraits she had seen in the study- she still believed they were of the previous residents of the mansion before the undeads- with a few new ones; some baby pictures had been added and she deduced one of them might actually be Damian.

The floor was made of what looked like cobblestone, which was very strange for an indoor flooring;  not that Laura minded it too much as her eyes were already on the flat-screen tv. It's the only visibly new-age technology in the seemly ancient room, she realised and she could just imagine Frederick kicking back on a couch in the room watching...

Funny, I don't know what Frederick likes to watch, she realised, Eighties movie? She made a funny face at the thought.
   
Laura looked ahead and Frederick's bed, laughing out loud when she saw its massive size was just right to match the large room. Well, no one can accuse Frederick of undeethinking, now can they? She thought and laughed the more.

She stopped laughing though when she looked and saw, just below the bed, a coffin. Laura had heard that undeads tend to be more comfortable in a coffin than on a bed as they grew older. But still, seeing a real-life coffin in the middle of a bedroom felt somewhat abnormal to her. But then again, abnormal's the normal when it comes to the undead, she reminded herself.

Steeling herself, Laura approached the coffin and opened it to find Frederick sleeping peacefully inside. She thought to actually prank him when she suddenly heard a creak behind her and looked. Turning back, Frederick was gone.

"What the-?"

"Boo!"

Laura shrieked and almost tumbled into the coffin if not that she quickly caught herself. Looking up, she saw Frederick hanging upside down from the chandelier, laughing. Colour rushed to her face in anger and she screamed, "Exactly what's so amusing about you almost giving me an heart attack?!" at him.

"Undeads don't have heart attacks, Laura." He dropped calmly to the ground.

    "Fortunately for me!" she returned, but most of the anger had dissipated by then and she soon began to laugh.

Cruel aside, Laura had to admit that the scare was classic and proved to show just how much Frederick could command his abilities. I really wish I had that same level of control, she thought.

"So, what's the matter?" he asked as he invited her over to sit on the couch. "I know you didn't come all the way up here just for me to prank you, did you?"

"Actually, I've thinking a lot about what Daniel said."

Frederick stopped Laura there before she could say any more. "Laura, don't you ever listen to anything Daniel says," he said, very serious. "He's a fool who knows nothing more than how to cause trouble."

She thought to actually argue the statement- her earlier conversation with Daniel certainly showed that he knew quite a lot of things- but decided against it; that wasn't why she came to see Frederick. "So, you don't believe I'm a disgrace then?" she asked instead.

"Of course not," he returned, his deeply brows furrowed like he was confused she would even think to ask that question. "Never."

"Look, Laura," he expatiated, "on the day I was brought to the morgue, I had been attacked by Anton's men and only survived because I was fast enough to escape from the car they had stuck me in; the fire would have killed me. I was knocked out and the medics must have brought me to the morgue thinking I was dead.

"I had been so much in need of blood that day that when I saw you, I couldn't resist the urge to feed on you. Hence, your accidental arrival in this state. I can't be angry nor blame you for the mistakes you made during your time here. This life isn't for you, and you didn't choose; and you being here as much my fault as it is Anton's.

"And when I find him, Laura-" he held her hands now "-I swear that I'll make him feel as much pain as I feel for you right now."

Frederick smiled just then as he seemed to recall something. "Oh, and Daniel?" he added. "You didn't stand any chance against him. All that he knows, he learnt from me; and believe me when I say I'm the best there is."

There, Laura thought. She had finally gotten the answer to a question she had been seeking for so long to get; and she knew that she should have left it there and then. But out of nowhere, she suddenly asked, "Do you love him?"

Frederick's face took on a confused expression. "Who?" he asked.

"Daniel," she replied. "Do you love him?"

"Of course not." He scoffed at the thought that she would even ask that.

But Laura gave Frederick a long unbelieving stare. "I've seen the way you react around him," she said, "the decisions you make concerning him, the way you look at him long after the conversation had ended.

"You do love Daniel, Frederick, and it's understandable. He's your protégé, your family, and your son."

"I don't love him, Laura." he reiterated. "I mean it." But it lacked the firmness his words usually had.

Laura stood up to take her leave then. She had said all that she had to say and there was no point pushing it; at least not at that moment.

She paused at the door though. "Thank you for everything, Frederick." She opened the door and stepped out. "I'll always remember it no matter what happens in the future." She closed the door on a speechless Frederick and walked away.

Laura smiled as she walked away. She had come looking for answer but she was leaving with a revelation instead. Now, I know what an undead looks like when they come up against a dilemmatic situation.