Vince was now in his 90's. He looked about twenty years younger thanks to a full head of white hair and a vigorous exercise program that he had adopted as a young adult and so he was in reasonable good health for his age. The discovery of the chest of jewels and coins in the old mausoleum so many years ago had made him very wealthy.

He eventually purchased the old cemetery from the city and placed money into a special account that would ensure the grounds would be kept up forever. He had the groundskeepers cottage insulated and replaced the roof and the plumbing and upgraded the electrical wiring.

A small furnace was added to heat it in the Winter and a small central air unit was installed for those humid Summer days. A garage was added next to the cottage and he found an architect that was able to match the garages exterior to that of the cottage.

Though he had traveled the world and resided in many exotic places, this place would always be home. On Halloween he opened the gates and handed out trick or treats to the kids. He granted access to the Vampire and Goth lovers when they requested to party there. They were always cautioned to treat the place with respect and they did. He continued to work on his own repairing the place where needed. 

He recalled his first trip to London shortly after his twenty-first birthday to attend the auction at Christie's, the world famous auction house. It was there that were just a few of the gems that he had them placed on the program netted him over three hundred thousand dollars. He soon became a semi regular there and in New York and his items always went quickly and fetched top dollar.

He had waited three years until the detective agency he had hired was unable to locate any living relative of the Di Winter family. The bulk of the treasure was left in the secret chamber, he was not a greedy man and only took what he needed.

His charitable donations over the years to local and statewide were well known and highly publicized and he was often seen volunteer at local fund raisers. He attended only one of his high school reunions and secretly laughed when he attracted the attentions of the females that would not give him the time of day when he was a student.

He had lived in California for awhile and trained daily at the same gym that had produced many Mr Olympia champions. Now his muscular body and moderate good looks were now quite desirable by these females, his wealth helped too he suspected. Recalling how he had been treated they never got more than polite conversation from him.

There was even one physical altercation at this gathering . It occurred when one of his former classmates and a member of the trio that jumped him is his youth decided that Vince was not being respectful enough to him or his date.

"Your money won't save your ass," he told Vince as he raised his fists.

Vince stood there and smiled. Should he tell this bozo about the year he spent in Japan training in the martial arts and the fact that over there they trained for eight hours a day five days a week? Should he tell him that unlike karate schools here he had to best every senior student in the dojo to get his black belt?

No, let him find out the hard way, and he did. So did the two others that attempted to come to their buddy's defense.

Vince had never married, oh he thought about it once. Lorelei had traveled with him for a few years but she soon grew out of her fascination for graveyards, vampires and treasure hunting. She stopped wearing all black and lost her ability to see spirits. Soon talk of marriage and raising a family peppered her conversations with him and that was not high on Vince's list.

Oh he had taken lovers after she had left him, but none ever lasted long or had any meaning. He had fallen in love only twice in his life. One was a Lorelei and the other was a spirit, a ghost or specter if you will and their love was doomed from that start.

He had not seen Alexandra in years and he believed his interest in Lorelei had driven her away. He still carried the love he felt for her and still missed her all these years later.

He shambled over to the fireplace and he lit a fire as he felt cold for some reason tonight despite the fact he wearing his heavy robe. He then took his seat in his easy chair and opened a bottle of brandy and poured a snifter and then lit a cigarette, both of which were against his doctors wishes and Vince only laughed at the suggestion that he quit.

He glanced around the room, it looked quite different that when he first opened the doors all those years ago. It was resplendent with tapestries and fine rugs. Shields and swords hung from the walls along with classic paintings and an antique grandfather clock stood in the corner.

Powerful computers and the latest electronic entertainment devices were visible, but tonight the wide screen TV remained off as he was not in the mood for its mindless drivel. He felt very much alone tonight.

"Oh Alexandra, how I miss you," he said in a quiet voice. "You kept me company and advised me for so many years, why did you leave me?"

"Because you no longer needed me," her voice responded.

Then suddenly in the blink of an eye there she was and looking as lovely as ever. She took a seat on the arm of his chair.

"Hello, my Vincent."

"You came back."

"You called me.

"I called you many times but you never appeared and I never stopped needing you."

"You wanted me, but you did not need me and I had never been far away, I watched over you all these years."

"I never knew."

"You needed to enjoy life among the living."

"You mean with Lorelei?"

"That and more. There was a world out there that you needed to explore and I had hoped you two would stay together and she would explore it with you."

"So did I."

"So why did you come back now?"

"To see if you still loved me as you once claimed."

"I always have and will."

She smiled sweetly, "Then its time you join me."

Vince suddenly felt a terrible stabbing pain in his chest that caused him to buckle over and fall from the chair to his knees. Alexandra extend her hand to help him up and he took it and he actually felt it. He no longer felt tired, cold or in pain. In fact he felt great. He then realized that he was standing erect and that she had her arms around him.

"How is this possible?" he questioned.

She spun him around and saw his old self still seated in the chair. She then led him over to the mirror and he saw that he was in his prime again and dressed the way he use to.

"Have I died ?"

"Yes, my love."

"Do I get to go to Heaven?"

"If you wish or you may stay here with me."

Vince smiled and embrace her, "I think you know my answer?"

Alexandra took his hand and they walked out into the darkened cemetery and soon vanished into the night.

Vince's mortal remains were discovered by the visiting nurse the next day. An autopsy was performed and it was the Medical Examiners findings that Vince succumbed to a massive heart attack.

All the major papers ran a half page obituary's citing his charitable works and donations and mentioning the fact that he had single-handedly refurbished the old cemetery. The papers went on to say that according to his last will and testament there was to be no viewing, donations should be made in his name to any of the organizations on the list they printed. 

What the papers didn't tell its reading public was that his will also requested that he be buried next to the grave of one Alexandra Bethany Scott that had died in the 1800's. Vince's lawyer saw to it personally that these conditions were met. He had been paid a very large retainer when Vince first secured his services and ensured that he understood what was expected of him after his death.

The old groundskeepers cottage was boarded up and the gates were kept locked except when the city did the grass cutting and cleaning and on the weekends when a private security guard opened it for the public that wished to view this old place. Requests for parties by the now very much alive Goth and Vampire movement were always granted as another condition of his will.

It was about five years later a local ghost hunter came to the desk of city editor with a story. He claimed that he had seen two ghosts in the old Bleaker Street cemetery, a man and a woman.

They were walking along holding hands and smiling. He was dressed in modern fashion but the female was dressed in vintage clothing. He saw them and jumped the fence into the cemetery and when they spotted him they smiled and went behind a large monument and vanished. The editor threw him out.

"Ghosts, what a crock of shit," he harrumphed and returned to reading.