a long time. Her response, when it came, didn’t surprise Two much.

“What?”

“I know it sounds hard to believe...”

“Hard to believe?” Samantha gave a tiny, hysterical laugh. “Hard to fucking believe? I pass out somewhere, and I wake up in a fucking prison, and some random chick comes down and tells me that I’m in some fucking Brad Pitt movie, and it’s only ‘hard to believe?’ It’s fucking impossible!”

“Not impossible. Trust me.”

Samantha pulled her hand from Two’s gripped the bars, stared out at her, furious. “Listen, you crazy bitch, I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what the fuck hallucinations you’re having. I don’t care how many crazy people there are in this house. Tell me where the fuck I am, and then let me go. Right now.”

Two felt anger for a moment, and forced herself to react as Theroen would. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, they were calm.

“Samantha...”

“Sam. Everyone calls me Sam.”

“Sam. Get up. Go look in that mirror on the wall. You couldn’t see it in the dark, but I know from experience that the candle’s more light than your eyes need, now. Go look, and tell me how hard it is to believe.”

Samantha stared at her for a moment, then curled her lip in defiance and stood up. She took two quick strides over to the mirror and peered into it. Her reaction was immediate, and very similar to what Two’s had been. She flinched back, stumbled, fell backwards, crying out: “Jesus!”

What had Theroen said? Jesus has nothing to do with this.

“I’m sorry, Sam.”

Two watched as Samantha covered her face with her hands and wept.

* * *

“I’m dreaming.” Samantha was staring at Two with horrified eyes. Two had not moved. A human would have lost circulation by now, sitting on cold, hard concrete, Indian-style. Two felt as if she could stay there all day. She shook her head.

“No.”

“Then I’m insane. Locked up somewhere. Hallucinating. Someone gave me some bad acid. Something...”

“No.”

“How can you say ‘No?’ This shit is not possible.”

“I sometimes find it hard to believe, myself. I’ve only been a vampire for a few days, and I was human less than a month ago. You grow accustomed to it pretty quickly, though.”

“Forget it. I’m not buying. This is a dream.”

Two shrugged. “Okay. I don’t really care whether you accept this or not, right now. How about this? At least play along. It will make things easier in the long run.”

“Fine. I’m a vampire. You’re a vampire. Life’s a bitch. What’s next?”

“Do you want to get out of the cell? I can take you upstairs to meet the others... or Theroen, at least.”

“Who’s Theroen?”

“I guess he’d be your Uncle... sort of. If you follow the whole vampire lineage thing.”

“Whatever. If it means getting out of this hole, fine.”

“You have to promise me a few things first.”

“Like?”

“Like first, you’re not going to bolt out the door the moment I open it. You wouldn’t make it past me, and you definitely wouldn’t make it out of the mansion. Theroen would know what you were doing before you got up the steps. Even if you did get outside, you’d have to deal with Tori, and I think she’d probably kill you. So when I open the bars, let’s stay calm, okay?”

“I can do that, I guess.”

“Good. Second, try to keep an open mind. I know how hard that is... believe me, I know. Try to at least give what you’re seeing and hearing a chance, before shutting it all out.”

“I’ll try.” Samantha didn’t sound like she held much faith in herself on this point, but at least she had regained some of her composure. Two produced the key Theroen had given her, unlatched the door, and opened it.

“Okay. Let’s go upstairs.”

* * *

It was evident to Two, simply by the expression on Samantha’s face, that she was no more accustomed to such opulence than Two had been. Sam seemed unable to decide what to look at first, and was moving her head about in quick motions, like a bird, taking it all in. The size of the rooms, the sheer scope and expense of the clutter. The mansion still amazed Two at times. To Sam, it was unbelievable.

“Interesting, huh?” Two was walking slightly behind Sam, letting the girl take her own meandering course through the first floor’s many interlocking rooms.

“It’s incredible.”

There was silence for a time, as they walked. Eventually, Sam spoke again.

“So... you said the girl I met in the