Bliss woke up, cold sweat dripping off her face. She hadn't woken up this abruptly since she was a vampire, since the Visitor had left. She sighed and glanced at her watch. It was almost 3:00 in the morning. She figured she should try and get some sleep before she had to wake up again. At dawn, she would begin her search for the Hounds of Hell.

That sleep, unfortunately, did not come. Bliss stayed awake for what seemed like hours, but were really minutes. She was exhausted, she could feel it in her sore muscles, but her eyes wouldn't close.

She tried to pinpoint the exact reason why she couldn't sleep. It was eerily quiet outside, so noise wasn't the problem. She hadn't had coffee or some other caffeinated drink since yesterday morning, so that wasn't what was wrong either.

Bliss decided that the best thing to do is to not think at all and to just concentrate on sleeping and breathing. Close your eyes, breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out...

But every time she was close to clearing her mind of all her thoughts, memories of what she had done would come seeping back in. All those innocent vampires she had killed; all those terrible things she had done. No, she thought, that wasn't me. That was the Visitor doing all those awful things. I did nothing wrong.

But even reassuring herself of those things did not make the guilt go away. She still felt she could have stopped all this from happening somehow, even though she knew she couldn't have.

It was her fault all this was happening; it was her fault all those people were dead. It was her fault that Dylan was dead. At this point, tears began to form in Bliss's emerald green eyes. She could feel her throat closing and her stomach dropping. Her breaths became short and uneven at the thought.

She would never see Dylan again, and there was nothing she could do about it. She blinked and let the tears trickle down her cheeks, leaving warm and sticky trails behind them. If there was one thing she wanted more than anything right now, it was that this whole mess with the Silver Bloods and Lucifer would be fixed and everything would go back to the way it should be.

Although, seeing Dylan again would be nice, too.

Bliss knew that he was free now, he was no longer a trapped soul living inside her, but she still ached at the lack of his presence. He promised they would meet again the last time she saw him, but she had no idea how long that would be. Would it be in a few weeks? Months? Years, even?

Bliss remembered her original plan of the night was to get some sleep, and pondering about all these things certainly wasn't going to help. She sighed heavily, rolled onto her side, and closed her eyes.

At this point, sleep was coming much easier; Bliss could feel the heaviness of her eyelids as she closed them. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she heard a familiar voice whisper her name.

"Bliss...Bliss...Bliss, wake up..."

Was it the Visitor, coming to haunt her again? No, this voice was much too sorrowful, yet at the same time, much kinder than that of the Visitor's. Plus, this voice wasn't in her head, as his voice was, it was next to her. Wait, next to her?

She immediately turned around to see who was next to her. She almost screamed when she saw a figure lying beside her, but as she looked closer, she noticed this person had sad, black eyes, eyes she recognized all too well.

"Dylan..." Bliss whispered finally.

"Hey, Bliss. How have you been?" Dylan smirked. Bliss knew that this was only the soul of Dylan, as he was truly dead, but his presence felt real, like he was actually there.

"I've been fine, I guess. I've really missed you." She scooted closer to him. She knew that this moment probably wasn't going to last much longer, so she had to ensure she got the best out of it.

"I've missed you, too. Freedom isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Really?"

"Not when you're not with me."

Bliss blushed a deep red and hoped Dylan wasn't able to see. Since it was so dark, she doubted that he could. She reached out for his hand, and he squeezed it as he took it in his. His hand was surprisingly warm. But she was able to feel it, which reminded her that he wasn't just a figment of her imagination; he was really here.

"Why did you come?" asked Bliss.

"Did you not want me here?" Bliss could feel Dylan shifting away from here.

"No, no. It's not like that. It's just...I figured it would be a much longer time before you came back."

"I'm not allowed to pop in and say hi?" He chuckled, and Bliss smiled happily. She had missed Dylan so much; she didn't want him leave.

After a moment of silence, Dylan spoke, "I really should go."

"So soon?" Bliss and Dylan both sat up simultaneously.

"Yes, but just remember. Even if I'm not here with you physically, I will always be with you."

"You mean, inside my head? Like you were before?" Bliss could feel her heart racing in her chest. No matter how much she missed Dylan, she never wanted to have to go through that kind of torture again.

"No, of course not. More like...I'll always be watching over you, making sure you stay safe. Making sure you don't get lonely." Even in the darkness, Bliss could see him smiling. She moved her hand toward his again and intertwined her fingers with his. But as she did this, she could see he was beginning to fade away. Before she knew it, she was only grasping onto air.


Bliss woke up to blinding sunshine and the annoying sound of birds loudly chirping. She didn't even remember when exactly she fell asleep, so she had no idea why she was waking up in the first place. She checked her watch. It was almost 10 in the morning. If she wanted to find the Hounds of Hell soon, she would have to move quickly.

She was still unsure if what happened the night before with Dylan's soul was a dream or not, but somehow, she had derived a new confidence and drive to continue with her journey. She knew now that even if Dylan was unable to speak with her, he would always be able to help her with anything, even loneliness.

As Bliss finished getting dressed and preparing to begin her search, she heard a faint but familiar voice whisper something in her head.

"I love you..."