Vampire Of The New World

Jon was shown to his room after his first meeting with Dante. As much as Jon wanted to rest, he was told to get ready for dinner which will be served in two hours. His client wanted to talk to him after dinner and Jon could not refuse. He prepared himself as well as he could despite his inadequate sleep. He was likewise still uneasy with the incident at the boat and the memory kept on playing in his mind. He was only able to take out a few clothes from his luggage and decided to change into more comfortable ones that would still be presentable to his client.

The room he was given was richly furnished with heavy dr.a.p.es covering the glass windows. He opened the dr.a.p.es to look out, but aside from the few lights on the lawn in front of the mansion, he could not see anything else since the dark clouds had once again covered the moon. The sea was likewise a vast expanse of blackness. He covered the windows again and after wearing a sweater, proceeded to the dining room.

On his way downstairs, Jon was met by a maid wearing a white apron who asked him to come with her. The maid pushed open a door and they entered a large dining room. Like the entrance hall, Jon found the dining room exquisitely decorated. A crystal chandelier similar to the one in the entrance hall hung above the long table made of rosewood. The chairs were made of the same hardwood and upholstered in blood red velvet that was quite soft and comfortable.

Jon sat at the end of the table as instructed. A manservant pulled out a chair for him and pushed it forward as he sat. He was immediately served hot soup which he savored before he noticed that he was eating alone. He wondered where his host was.

"Is Mr. Dante coming? Shouldn't I wait for him?" he asked the maid. Jon felt uneasy starting without his host.

"The master always eats alone," came the reply.

Relieved, Jon continued to eat in silence and felt his stomach distend with the intake of delicious food served before him. The maid and the manservant were always there to pour water or to take the used plates. Quite satisfied with the full meal, Jon wiped his mouth with the napkin and noticed the embroidered initials on the fine linen. He realized the stylized D and O meant Dante de Orsica, his client's full name, which was the same as the island. He wondered if the island took its name from Dante's ancestors.

When Jon stood up, he was ushered to the library where he saw Dante sitting at the table with an open laptop. Dante raised his head slowly as Jon entered the dimmed room. The light coming from the laptop gave Dante's face a somewhat deathly pallor. His lips, however, were unusually red and his eyes a deep black that glistened with the reflected light from the laptop's monitor. He wore a thick coat although Jon felt that the room was not that cold. Jon wondered if his client was suffering from some kind of malady that also rendered him cold and pale.

Dante motioned for Jon to join him at the table. Jon sat on the proffered seat and took out his laptop.

"I prefer to work at night," said Dante. "You see, I deal in art and the best auction houses are abroad at different time zones. It is also at night that I feel most alive. People who work in the day do not know the exhilaration that nocturnal workers feel."

Jon nodded and wondered if he would be expected to work at the same hours as his client. Opening his laptop, Jon was about to speak, but was cut short by Dante.

"Let me finish with this transaction first," Dante said, his eyes returning to his laptop. His gaze was intense as he looked at the laptop monitor, his deft fingers flying across the keyboard. After a few minutes, he straightened his back and looked at Jon. "Done. I have just bought one curious painting of Bill Grady."

"The American serial killer?" asked Jon, stunned. "Wasn't he executed three decades ago?"

"Which makes his work even more valuable," replied Dante. "I find his self-portraits as a clown interesting and his paintings of his murder scenes captivating. His painting of his bas.e.m.e.nt where he kept his victims imprisoned fetched twenty million dollars in a recent auction and guess who sold it at more than twenty times its original purchase price?"

"You?" Jon asked Dante, but he already guessed the answer.

"Yes. It was a profitable transaction," came the reply. "People have been always fascinated with serial killers. Just look at the most popular crime fiction and you'll find a lot of them about serial killers."

Jon tried to recall the crime films that he had seen and he could tell that Dante's opinion may be plausible. He recalled that violence had always fascinated humans. The early stories were often about the hunt for prey or how warriors killed men from their enemy tribes. The gladiators of ancient Rome were in a way also serial killers, many of whom were forced to kill for the entertainment of the early Romans.

"We should get started." Jon abruptly changed the topic as he was eager to rest for the night. He opened a file for Dante. "We have scoured different places in the country with your defined parameters and we were able to come up with four areas…"

"I was thinking of talking about other things first." Dante interrupted Jon. "You see, I want to know who I am doing business first. You were highly recommended by your firm to handle my account."

"Yes. I was told that I was selected to take care of your business." Jon suddenly felt that he was at a job interview. "I have handled high profile clients in the past and I am proud to say that they were very much satisfied with how I handled their accounts."

"I'm sure." Dante said flatly. "The captain spoke to me earlier and he spoke to me of your conversations on your way here."

Jon remembered the incident with the sharks and the poor crew member who got attacked. He felt nauseated as he remembered the white sheets wrapping the body of the crew and the blood smearing the white deck of the yacht. "It was an unfortunate accident. I am sad for the family of the crew."

"Yes, I believe there was that little incident with the sharks. It must have troubled you. I was, however, referring to you and your impressions of Salvador Dali."