Chapter 23: The Secrets We Find

CALEB

Straud Manor

Caleb shook his head, unable to believe what Vladislaus had just said. He didn’t know how to text? Well, of course he didn’t know how to text. He hated technology, not to mention electricity. He believed he could hear the sound of the current running through the lights for sages sake!

“Vladislaus, you…you don’t…why would you…you hate cell phones!” Caleb sputtered, his concentration on cleaning and sharpening his weapons now well and truly broken.

“Because they are vortexes where all sense of decorum and elegance goes to die! Are they convenient? I will grant you that. But will they ruin society? Absolutely. Whatever happened to letters? Correspondence? Penmanship?” Vlad raised his fist, warming up to his rant.

This was why Caleb needed boundaries. 

“So then why do you need to text?” he interrupted, feeling like he had somehow lost the thread of the conversation.

“It’s been hours! She said she would text when she reached her lodging!”

Alice. Why Vladislaus let the mortal think he understood the first thing about cell phones was a moral lesson in vanity that Caleb did not have time to teach. 

He motioned at Vlad’s phone. “Come on, I’ll help you. Let me see it.”

Relief flashed across the vampire’s features as he handed it over.

“What’s her number?” Caleb asked scrolling through the phone to open the messaging app.

“Her what?” Confusion flitted across Vladislaus’s face.

“Her phone number,” Caleb repeated slowly, “So you can contact her.”

“I…I don’t just have that already?”

Caleb groaned. “What is wrong with you Vladislaus? Of course you don’t already have it! How do you think phone numbers work?”

“I don’t! I only use the contacts that already exist and the rest…” he trailed off.

Caleb already knew the answer. The rest was taken care of by him and William. Vladislaus wasn’t interested in learning about the modern world and for the most part, he didn’t have to. William and Caleb interfaced with anything that the vampire found too overwhelming to learn. 

Learning new things, however, was necessary for survival. Caleb might have been born in 1709, but as each new decade showed up with its improvements and innovations, he absorbed them. He had been to University sixteen times. He had learned to drive, use appliances, even program computers, which was convenient when he needed to seize unpaid taxes. But in all of this time, he never once considered that he wasn’t doing Vladislaus a favor. 

He was leaving him behind.

“Does she have your phone number?” Caleb asked.

Vladislaus nodded.

“Well then, there’s nothing to do but wait,” he shrugged, handing the phone back and taking a seat to return to his work.

“For how long?” Vladislaus grit out.

Caleb grabbed a rag and began polishing his favorite bone saw. “Until she gets around to it.”

The look Vladislaus gave him was murderous and Caleb had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. 

“I’m sure she’s fine Vladislaus, just find something to keep you busy.”

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