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nothing else. Stuff.
Maybe that s not such a bad thing?
Maybe. I don t know. Does it matter? Bad? Good?
How old are you, Melissa? How old is Theroen?
Ooh, hmmm, she mused, I don t know. He might want to tell you that
himself.
What about you, then?
One hundred and forty eight and three days. Or twenty-two, depending on how
you look at it.
You don t look a day over one-twenty.
Melissa laughed, and then looked again in concern as Two doubled over. Hot and
cold flashes were running through her, and she was bathed in a cold sweat.
Oh, fuck. I think I m going to puke.
Are you sure there s nothing I can do?
Theroen s blood stops it. I don t know. Would yours? Two spoke slowly,
through clenched teeth, trying to fight against the sudden onset of nausea.
Melissa shrugged. Beats me. Worth a shot. I don t mind. I probably shouldn t let
you just go at my neck or whatever, though.
Theroen bit his finger.
Sure. Melissa s teeth made a tiny clicking sound, like the noise of a stapler, and
she held her finger out to Two, blood welling up from two tears in the skin. Hurry up,
before it heals.
Two looked up at her. Sorry. This is some fucked up, bizarre shit.
Live a hundred and fifty years, and you ll see things that make this seem pretty
tame. Do it, if you think it ll help you. I don t mind.
Two put her lips on Melissa s finger and let the blood roll on to her tongue. The
effect of the blood was immediate, energizing her, and it was all she could do not to
clamp down with her teeth. Melissa seemed to sense this, and grinned. Yummy.
Vampire blood is awesome. Hard to get, though.
Two swallowed twice, forced herself to pull away. Her nausea disappeared, along
with the cold sweat and the chills. Some of the pain remained, still, but it was distant. She
guessed that Theroen was much older and stronger than Melissa, and that this affected the
potency of his blood.
Better? Melissa asked, and Two nodded.
Yes. Not perfect, but much better. Thank you.
Melissa licked the last few drops of her blood off her fingers and smiled. No
problem. What s your name?
Two.
Like the number?
Yes, like the number.
Melissa laughed and clapped her hands. That s so cool! That s much better than
Jennifer or Betty or Melissa.
Two shrugged. I guess?
People with cool names never appreciate them. Now then. What you need is a
bath. That ll take your mind off of this withdrawal stuff until Theroen gets back, and then
I m sure he ll know what to do.
Two crossed her arms, scratched her shoulders. A bath sounded wonderful.
You can use mine. The one in here sucks. Theroen doesn t know anything.
Melissa helped her up. Two stood on shaky legs, looked around, took a breath.
How far is it?
Not far. Can you walk a bit?
Two nodded. Melissa went to the door, opened it, held it for her. In the hallway,
the vampire took the lead, and Two followed.
* * *
The bath was heaven on earth. Giant marble slabs, green and black and grey
patterns tracing themselves out across what seemed, at first, to be miles of stone. The
basin had to be twelve feet long, three feet deep. Sitting straight up, Two saw, the water
could easily have covered her head. The faucet, gleaming in a dull manner that spoke of
authentic gold, was enormous. The water steamed as Melissa turned it on.
I like flowers. Do you like flowers?
Two had no idea what Melissa meant. She shrugged. Sure?
In the bath, silly.
Oh. Two honestly didn t know. She d never tried it. Why not?
Melissa laughed, took a basket from the shelf above, dropped hundreds upon
hundreds of blossoms into the bath water. Their fragrance filled the room immediately,
cherry blossoms, rose petals, the sweet smell of citrus. Melissa lit candles, turned off the
lights, stood in front of Two, unbuttoned her blouse. Two shrugged it off. There was
nothing embarrassing in this, though Two could not say why. Melissa, for her part,
seemed entirely unfazed. She helped Two out of the rest of her garments, held her arm
out for balance as Two climbed the steps to the bath and stepped in. Two descended into
the petals, felt the warmth embrace her, and sighed. Melissa sat on the step, played with
the water at her fingertips, smiled at Two.
Good?
Oh, yes.
Melissa handed her a gigantic sponge, natural from the look of it, and some sort
of perfumed bath lotion. Two cleaned herself slowly. Melissa chattered, behind her and to
the right, about all sorts of things. New pop music she was enamored with, the wonderful
lights and throbbing beats of the raves she attended, the new interpretation of
Shakespeare running on Broadway. Her tastes were more varied than anyone Two had
met. She kept the conversation casual. One might not have known these were two
vampires, or one and a half at least, if not for the pale skin, the luminous eyes, the sharp,
tiny teeth flashing occasionally in the light of the candles.
Eventually, Two was as clean as she was going to get. She lingered, relaxed, the
withdrawal back in some dark corner, brooding, not yet ready to return. Melissa ran
water, filled a clay jug, ancient glaze cracked along its contours, and wet Two s hair.
Two leaned back, eyes closed, as Melissa s fingers worked shampoo through her blonde
curls. It was like a supernatural visit to a salon, Two reflected, and laughed slightly.
Melissa seemed to catch this thought, and smiled as well.
She helped Two from the bath, dried her, helped her choose perfumes Theroen
might like, helped her dress in a long, flowing gown. Green, like her eyes. It was a bit too
long, but otherwise fit well.
He ll say he prefers black, if you ask him, but he s just buying into the whole
vampire thing. You look like a goddess, and he ll know it.
Two looked at herself in the mirror, amazed at the change. White skin, green
dress, green eyes, golden hair. The gown was of an older style, décolleté, leaving little to
the imagination, pushing her breasts upward and making them seem fuller. She looked
like a lady at court. Two smiled, giggled like a little girl, touched her own hair as if not
believing. In her nineteen years, she had never seen herself like this. Two had always
understood that she possessed some level of beauty, and knew also that the vampirism
was enhancing this even more, but still would never have believed she could look like
this.
Behind her stood Melissa, still in her simple jeans and blouse and yet radiating
supernatural beauty as well. Smiling, she touched Two s neck, and Two turned. A small,
sweet kiss on the lips, and Melissa peered into her eyes, beaming.
Soon we ll be sisters! Or nearly enough. You and Theroen will be together, and
we can all hunt and live and see and do! Won t it be wonderful?
Two thought it might, indeed.
* * *
I don t care for all of this antique crap.
Melissa s directness, something Two realized now was as innate to her being as
Theroen s composure, was regardless sometimes surprising. Two raised her eyebrows.
No?
They were sitting on the back terrace, looking out at the woods. The moon was
huge tonight, reaching the bloated, red fullness she had seen promised not three nights
ago. It hung low over the sky. The night was still young. Two s earlier pain had made the
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