Angus smiled at me again. "It's OK, we'll help you through it all. I'll protect you," he added in a softer voice. There was that dizziness again. I closed my eyes and nodded, remembering the feel of his body against mine.
"Are you immortal too?" Mark was on a roll now, his eyes wide with excitement.
"No, we just live a bit longer than normal humans."
"How long?"
"Two hundred and fifty years, give or take a few."
"How old are you?"
Angus hesitated and glanced sideways at me. "I was born in 1951."
"But you look so young!"
"We all do. It's got something to do with our ability to regenerate cells. I will look like this until I die."
"What about garlic and crosses and wooden stakes?"
"All myth." Angus was laughing now. "The only way to kill us - and this is not something we've ever tried to prove, obviously - is probably to decapitate us. And maybe if our hearts stop beating, that could do it too. Other than that we're pretty tough."
I sat quietly, trying to drink my coffee and take it all in. The coffee was strong; the caffeine rush hit, and I felt better suddenly. This potential change in my life was really not all that frightening. Nobody except Angus and Mark would know about it, and I could carry on as normal, living a normal life. I glanced over at Angus again, and it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I didn't want to live a normal life. I had a choice, now, one that I would never even have contemplated 24 hours ago. I wondered idly which life I would end up choosing. What I didn't know was that the choice had already been made, and not by me either.
Angus
The knee brace arrived within fifty minutes of my call to Fergus. Mark was sitting against the wall again, and the kitten was once again draped over his lap. I had pointed out to him that he was welcome to sit on the furniture, and that I wouldn't bite him, but he said he preferred the floor, and so did the cat. Rebecca sat curled in the far corner of the big three seater. I gave the brace to her, and suggested she try it on. It was a bit big, but it would do.
"What should I say to Mum tonight?" she asked, fastening Velcro straps. "She'll never believe me if I tell her I fell in the bath. And how did I get the cast off? What if she asks me?"