Please stop.”

Two had been yanking at the stake, not knowing what else to do. The wood had pierced just below Melissa’s breastplate, traveling at an upward path, emerging just to the left of her spine, some six inches above the point of entry. Two wasn’t sure if the wound was fatal or not, but it seemed likely. She looked at Melissa, tried to say something supportive, and instead burst into tears.

Melissa took her hand.

“It’s okay, Two. Thank you. She’s gone. She’s dead, Two. You killed her. Thank you. I’m dying too, I guess, but that’s okay. I told you: I was going to die anyway.”

Two was making whimpering sounds, between her sobs. She wanted words to come. She wanted to apologize, to take it back somehow. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Her throat seemed incapable of forming articulate sound. She pressed her forehead against Melissa’s, pressed her lips against the bridge of Melissa’s nose.

“Sisters.” Melissa’s voice was weakening. She turned her head, coughed blood again, looked at Two in apology. Two reached out and smoothed Melissa’s hair away from her eyes.

“It’s not so bad. It’s all right. I don’t even feel it anymore. I’m all numb. It’s not so bad, Two. It’s not so bad, Theroen.”

Melissa’s eyes moved away from Two, focused on a point behind her. Theroen stood in the doorway, motionless. His expression was calm, almost peaceful, but there were tears in his eyes.

“Is it not, Melissa?” He asked.

“No. Theroen?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you... for the years. You gave me more than I deserved.”

“Melissa. My sister, you deserve far more than anything I could ever have given.”

Melissa closed her eyes for a moment, opened them, looked back at Two. Her voice was little more than the movement of air past her lips.

“You’re going to be a wonderful vampire. He loves you. An eternity of love, Two. Don’t cry.”

Two found her voice at last, a brittle croak that made her throat ache. “I’m sorry for this, Melissa. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m free. You’re free. Don’t be sorry.”

She looked again at Theroen, who had moved to kneel beside her, and opened her mouth to say something else. It never came. As she drew in breath, her chest hitched once. Twice. Settled. Melissa’s eyes grew wide and distant, distant and dark; like a glass reflecting eternity. Two made a low, sorrowful noise, closed her eyes, held Melissa’s hand. Theroen spoke, but his voice was distant. Distant and dark.

“Peace be with you, Melissa. If there is a God, and if he is just, he will bring you to a better place than this.”

Two felt herself rising, felt herself moving away, running away, as far away as she could go. She made six feet before she tripped, stumbled, fell to the floor. Her hands clenched at the carpet, as if to tear it from the floor. Death, despair, love. The love made it worse, somehow. An eternity of love.

Two put her face in the soft loops of fabric, sobbing.

* * *

It took nearly a minute of calling her name before Theroen was able to gain Two’s attention. She looked at him, blinking and unable to comprehend, then shook her head to clear it. Theroen watched as her eyes filled again with horror, with despair.

“Don’t.” A simple word, delivered in the same calm, strong manner in which he always spoke. Not a request, not a command. Almost a piece of advice, as in the car, the first night she had met him. Don’t.

Two clenched her fist, fought down the sorrow that wanted to engulf her, and looked again at her lover.

“We’re in danger, aren’t we?”

“Oh, yes. Very much so, I’d say. This has not gone according to plan. Anyone’s plan. Unbeknownst to me, there were many of those.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your death at Missy’s hands was meant to be Abraham’s parting gift to his son. Just a little, dark comedy. A way of thanking me for centuries of service, and a reminder of who truly holds the power, now and forever. It seems he underestimated your abilities.”

“Or my luck.”

“Regardless, you are alive, and Missy is dead. It is regrettable that she took Melissa with her, but this was inevitable. Abraham will not be pleased with this. I think it best that we leave. Now.”

“Can I come?” The two vampires had forgotten Samantha, who had thrown herself behind the couch when Melissa’s body had initially jerked back to life.

Theroen sighed. He looked at Melissa’s body, looked at Samantha, looked at Two.

“You promised her, Theroen,” Two