The Cabbie and the Cop – 6

Simeon woke to the sound of the doorbell. Now what the hell was his first reaction, followed by If it’s a salesman he’s dinner. That of course wouldn’t happen. He never fed from live hosts unless it was a dire emergency. He hadn’t since 1936 when, during the Spanish Civil War, two different doctors came up with ways to preserve and store blood in refrigerated bottles to be used on men who needed it at the front lines of the war. By 1937 blood was being stored in hospitals in the States and he had slowly but surely weaned himself from hunting for live humans to fulfill his need.

With a deep sigh he got up, pulled on a pair of jeans, and headed downstairs. The scent of his visitor made him smile slightly as he opened the front door. “Now why am I not surprised to see you?” he said. “Although I think I need to have a word with whoever gave you this address.”

Vergil cocked a pale eyebrow. “Maybe I dug it up through normal sources.”

Simeon stood aside so he could enter. “Not possible. You may have gotten my last name of my hack license, but the house isn’t in my name.”

As he looked around the spacious living room, Vergil nodded. “Not too surprising, all things considered.” Crossing to a set of shelves he stopped in front of a small marble bust of a young boy. “Rossellino?”  

“Indeed. You have a good eye.” Simeon smiled as he joined him, stroking his finger lightly over the sculpture. “The artist gave it to me in payment for a favor I did for him.”

“So just how old are you?”

“Two thousand, give or take a few years. And you?”

“Twenty-five.”

Simeon shook his head. “Perhaps I should rephrase that. How long have you been alive?”

“Twenty-five years?” Vergil replied with a look so innocent Simeon might have believed him if he didn’t know differently.

Tapping his fingers together, Simeon shook his head. “I sincerely doubt that. Now before you accuse me of prying where I shouldn’t have, I checked out the contents of your bag trying to find an address or phone number so I could return it to you. It would have ended there if I hadn’t felt something in the lining. Something your average human would have been unaware of.”

Vergil nodded. “I sort of got you must have from your question. I am however surprised you could read it.”

“I have met many beings over the span of my long life. One of them was a young elf with whom I had a short but interesting affair.”

“And she taught you to read the elven language?”

Simeon chuckled. “He did.”