1927
Luna Grande P.O.V.

“Firo!” I exclaimed to the younger boy. “Do you know what Luck hasn’t read of Edgar Allen Poe’s yet?”

“I ain’t so sure,” he replied. “I don’t read that much, either, so I wouldn’t know. You could check his little library. He always reads in there.”

“Thank you.”

Fifteen minutes later

I sighed. “Luck.”

“Yeah?” He turned to me with that usual blank stare and expression on his face.

“After I kind of...almost...raided your library, I decided to just ask you. What haven’t you read?”

He looked at me for a moment before responding. “Most of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems I haven’t read.”

“Which ones have you read?”

He thought for a moment, sighing. “Alone, The Bridal Ballad, Dreamland, Hymn, and Serenade.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Oh, and, Luna. Don’t go into my library without my permission again, okay?”

“Okay. Sorry.”

I sat up late in my room that night at my desk, writing up an essay to send to the University of Chicago on why I would do good there. Sure, my approvel letter had come, but they needed this one final thing. If I had known before Luck sent in my submission, I would have had it done a long time ago.
*******

1935
Chance L’Enfant P.O.V.

Huey and I lay in the hotel bed after several sessions of passionate lovemaking. After four years of only being able to talk to him and write letters to him, it felt really good. Despite that we had spoken about Monica Campanella, Huey’s wife back in the early 1700’s, he had gone ahead and kissed me, touched me and held me. It had been hard to keep my cries down my throat.

“What are you going to do?” he asked, stroking my hair. “You are not an actress anymore, right?”

I sighed. “Right. I do not know what to do now. I could go to university to get a teaching degree. Maybe. Work at Charlie’s school.”

“Who is Charlie?”

“My niece. Her mother died a few years ago and left her to me.”

“You really do love children, don’t you?”

I nodded, sitting up with a sigh and holding the blanket to my chest. “But I can barely take care of Charlie,” I turned to him, “so I haven’t a clue on how I could take care of a class full of kids.”

Huey sat up with a sigh. “Charlie is still alive, is she not?”

“Sam almost hurt her!” I covered my mouth at my loud outburst. When I was ready to continue, I sighed and removed my hand. “One time I let her let go of my hand and she almost got hit by a car. Do you know how frightening that is?”

“Do you remember that time in the marketplace and there was a chase?” Huey’s face was expressionless, like the day I first met him. He didn’t give me enough time to answer. His lips pushed up against mine firmly. He also didn’t give me enough time to react to that. “Do you?”

“I think so...”

“Two rival gangs got into an argument, and a chase ensued. It wound up in the marketplace.”

“Oh... I remember now...”

It had been about a year or two before Huey got arrested. The two of us had been in the marketplace when a loud commotion caught me off guard. The loud yelling and screaming startled me and I jumped. I looked around for Huey. When I couldn’t find him, all kinds of things ran through my head. But the biggest one that went through it was if he had suddenly gotten devoured by another immortal.

I heard tires screeching and that distracted me even more. It wasn’t until the last minute that I realized that the screeching was getting closer and closer. The next second, a car turned the corner sharply a few feet from me. It almost hit me.

“Chantal!” Huey exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulled me out of the way.

I shook my head, coming back to my senses.

“So you do...” I sighed.

I bit my lip, moving closer to him. Even my mouth went dry. “M...Maybe you can tell me a bit about... Um...” My words were going to come out completely weird. “B-B-Before you became immortal...?”

“I was happier back then,” he admitted.

I rubbed my eyes in tiredness and annoyance. “Is it Monica?”

“She stabbed herself and jumped into the ocean.”

“You lost it, right? Screamed? She was your first.”

He moved a strand of hair behind my ear, caressing my cheek at the same time. “How did you know?”

“Because when you were arrested, I thought you had been devoured. You are my first. I have not seen anybody else the way I see you. I just want to see you happy; make you happy.”

Huey exhaled sharply, kissing my cheek and stroking my hair. “I want to make you happy.”

I could still feel the terror when I arrived at Huey’s hideout in 1931. I had dropped Charlie at her father’s family’s house. When I walked in and I couldn’t find him, I had a panic attack. Even after I wandered around the hideout, I knew that something had happened to him. I screamed and screamed until my throat hurt and until I had a headache. Then I went to the police station, and they told me he had been arrested, I started swearing in French, screaming and crying.

Now I was back in the same bed with him after four years, telling him he was my first and how I just wanted him to be happy. I found myself crying.

“Chantal,” Huey murmured, holding me close to him.

“You are the only one I let call me that,” I replied, my lips trembling.

His skin was colder than mine. That was one of the things I loved about him. The other thing was his voice. There were three more things: his rare smile, even when it wasn’t genuine, when it was fake, and his face. That precious, handsome baby face just melted my heart, my whole body, like I was butter in a hot pan. I would never admit that to anybody, not even him. Not unless he wanted me to tell him. He was precious to me. I loved him. The last thing was how he could make me feel warm inside just by doing something: murmuring in my ear; accidentally brushing up against me; sighing; sleeping; anything. I was too scared to tell him any of this. I was too lovesick. I would sometimes get clammy hands and my mouth would get dry; when he wasn’t near me or I wasn’t near him, I got tearful, anxious and preoccupied. Many times I didn’t want to eat. I always got a little excited when I saw him. The night before I had stuttered and stared, and tripped a few times. I sometimes even got aroused by dreams of him, or thoughts of him, that I would wake up with my sheets wet.

I looked up at him with a hopeful look in my eyes. I often wondered if he was lovesick with me, too. Right now it didn’t matter. I had him back, close to me and with me. There was one thing I noticed right now, though. He had a serious expression on his face.

“Huey...?” I mumbled.

He shook his head and looked down. “Chane is up,” he reply-whispered.

I looked at the clock. It was six-thirty in the morning and I hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours.

Huey let me go and climbed off the bed to get dressed.

“E-Erm...” I sighed.

He buttoned his jacket up, placed a hand on my shoulder and kissed me. “Meet me at the cafe on ninth at six.”

I nodded. “I-I...I love you.”

Huey stared at me for a moment at my sudden outburst before climbing out the window. Then he smiled a little. “I love you, too.”

There was a sudden knock on the door.

“J-Just a minute,” I replied, climbing off my bed.

I quickly got dressed and slammed the window shut. Then I ran to the door and unlocked it. “Good morning, Chane... And Firo. It is a little early for you to be here.”