I shook my head. "Nothing important."
The hose shivered to life, and the sharp, sweet smell of gasoline filled the air.
I felt her wake up. I felt her eyes open wide in the dark. I breathed in the sweet smell of gasoline, felt my hands gripping the coffin edges.
I put my hands over my eyes. "Oh, God."
Larry touched my shoulder. "What is it?"
I kept my hands pressed to my face. "Take the guns, now."
"What..."
"Do it!" My hands came down and I looked at him. I looked at his familiar face, and Serephina saw him, too.
She whispered, "Kill him."
I ripped the knives out of the sheaths and let them fall to the ground. I started backing up towards the cops. I needed people with guns around me, right now.
The voice in my head said, "Anita, what are you doing to your mother? You don't want to hurt me. Ni?a, help Mommy."
"Oh, God." I ran and nearly collided with Bradford.
"Help me, Ni?a. Help me!"
My hand closed on the Browning. I balled my hands into fists at my side. "Bradford, disarm me now. Please."
He stared at me, but he took the guns from their holsters. "What's wrong, Blake?"
"Cuffs, you got cuffs?"
"Yeah."
I held my hands out to him. "Use them." My voice sounded squeezed, my throat so tight I couldn't breathe.
I smelled Hypnotique perfume, tasted my mother's lipstick on my mouth. The cuffs snapped into place. I jerked away from him, stared at the handcuffs. I opened my mouth to say "Take them off," and closed it.
I could feel my mother's hair tickling my face.
"I smell perfume," Larry said.
I looked at him with wide eyes. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. I didn't trust myself to do anything at that moment.
"Oh, my God," Larry said. "You're going to feel her burn."
I just looked at him.
"What can I do?"
"Help me." My voice was squeezed down to a whisper.
"What's happening to her?" Bradford asked.
"Serephina's trying to get Anita to help save her."
"The vampire's awake in there?" he asked.
"Yes," I said.