Another Sunrise (Pt 1)
Miriam hated this part. It was difficult to see them so weak, so distressed.
Sarah was soaked with sweat, her young body convulsed with shakes, but her hearing was now acute. She could hear Miriam moving, could sense her closeness, but the hunger made it difficult to concentrate; her eyesight was misty, an internal fog blocked her ability to function.
Miriam lies on the bed beside Sarah. She gently places her hand against Sarah's forehead. She is ice cold. Miriam knew she would have to feed Sarah soon. But she wanted a few moments more.
"You're part of me now," she whispers into Sarah's ear.
Sarah felt it. Felt she no longer belonged to herself. No longer belonged anywhere; except with Miriam. She understood now. Realised the reason for Miriam's isolation, to keep away from humans and the temptation of the hunger. She knew she was becoming the same, and soon, they would only have each other.
When she feeds on Tom, when she feels her stomach fill, feels her veins pump with life, her senses heighten. Her repulsion at the act of feeding begins to fade: it's over, for another seven days, she doesn't have to think about it: suppresses the knowledge, the guilt. And Tom would have done the same, if their roles had been reversed, he was heartless like that.
When she comes downstairs, blood staining her pale skin, Miriam gives an odd smile. Like pride in her protégé and Sarah wants to please her lover, but killing doesn't sit well with her.
She looks into Miriam's eyes. Miriam hands her a glass of Sherry, and Sarah always hated sherry, but she's getting used to it. She thinks there are many things she can get used to.
"You will sleep six hours in every twenty-four," Miriam tells her, then leans over and kisses Sarah's lips gently. Sarah knows she has made the right decision, knows she will eventually pay a price, but Miriam is worth the sacrifice.
Miriam leads Sarah to the lounge, lay her down and covered her with a blanket. The sleep would soon be upon her. Sarah looked up at the blonde Venus with such faith, Miriam stroked Sarah's cheek, and the redhead closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.
Now was the time Miriam disposed of Tom's body. She went into their bedroom, lifted his remains and carried them to the basement; she lit the furnace and detachedly threw his remnants in. She watched the flames engulf the evidence that could part Sarah from her. Then she cleared up the blood Sarah had spilt in the kill, pulled the bloodstained sheets from the bed and burnt them. Then she cleaned the room, scrubbed the floor, washed and polished every surface with disinfectant until it was sparkling. It would be easier for Sarah this way, when she awoke it would be as if it had never happened and it would be easier for her to adapt to this new life.
Miriam was glad for Tom's removal – he had been the only thing really tying Sarah to her former life. Everything else was expendable; Tom had given her cause for worry. She didn't know how attached to him Sarah was. Now she knew she had Sarah, that the scientist had made a clear choice, that by killing Tom she had accepted the life Miriam was offering. Now Tom was gone, they could really begin.
When the bedroom was cleared of all evidence, Miriam returned to Sarah, lifted her up effortlessly and carried her upstairs. She gently placed her on the bed, then laid beside her, studying her face, the curve of her lips, the tilt of her nose, the texture of her hair, the smoothness of her skin. Miriam smiled, even asleep, Sarah's strength of character was striking – her determined chin, her lips pressed resolutely, her stubborn brow. Miriam placed a kiss on Sarah's forehead. She wanted this one with her always, knew she would never tire of Sarah, that she was all Miriam needed in an eternal companion.
Six hours after falling asleep, Sarah awoke to a new consciousness. Nothing was the same; the world was a busy place, she heard everything, felt everything… it was all too much, too over-powering – but she felt the urge to seek more, to understand Miriam's world so that she could stay, so that she could be of use to Miriam, so that she could appreciate it for herself.
Miriam walked into the room soon after the redhead awoke. She held out her hand to Sarah, who stood obediently and moved towards Miriam, their fingers laced together and Miriam led Sarah into the bathroom. She turned the shower on and slipped the bloodstained t-shirt up and over Sarah's head. Sarah stepped into the shower and watched as Miriam undressed and neatly folded her clothes and then joined her.
The water sprayed between them, droplets fell from Sarah's skin. Miriam reached past Sarah and pulled a flannel from the shower rail. She lathered it in soap and slipped her left hand behind Sarah's neck and with her right hand wiped the blood from Sarah's neck. Then, in small circles she moved down Sarah's body, across her chest, over her breasts, across her abdomen. As Miriam's hand was about to reach below her hipbone, Sarah grabbed Miriam's hand and gazed into her blue-grey eyes. Miriam paused, then leant forward and licked a speck of blood at the corner of Sarah's mouth, then used her tongue to trace Sarah's lips. Sarah's lips drew apart and Miriam kissed her. Sarah released Miriam's hand and drew the older woman to her. Their bodies pressed together, sleek with soap and water, and Sarah knew she'd never been loved this completely before.
The police call at Sutton Place. Tom has been missing for three days and Sarah tells them that she doesn't know where he was, she says she hasn't seen him, that he was probably off somewhere sulking because she had decided to leave him and because they had lost the budget appropriation at Riverside. The police seemed convinced enough and when they were gone, Miriam assured her there was no evidence linking Sarah to Tom's disappearance.
Some days, Sarah was more restless than others; she didn't want to spend any time away from Miriam, but she was a creature of habit and she was used to being fully committed to her work. Miriam didn't trust this restlessness, so they discuss the possibilities and decided that Sarah should continue her life's work.
Sarah returned to Riverside to collect her research. Phyllis and Charlie are in the lab when she returns, but pay her little attention because they're preoccupied with Tom's disappearance - they seem convinced that he's taken the budget to heart – that he may have done something… foolish.
Sarah tries to hide her disdain, how did she live among such fools for so long? She suddenly feels grateful to Miriam for taking her away from human frailty. She collects her notes and what she can't carry she puts in boxes and orders them to be sent to Sutton Place.
Even with her work around her, Sarah felt distracted by her surroundings, so Miriam had John's study transformed into a Gerontology lab. This gave Sarah the isolation she needed and she found she could concentrate again. She thought, if anything, spending eternity trying to unravel the mystery of aging and human biology justified her need… her desire to feed the hunger. She had a purpose – a goal.
Sarah has never asked where Miriam gets her money from; she just accepted it when Miriam had the study turned into a Gerontology lab for her. Any extra facilities she needed, she could use her contacts at Riverside, and Miriam insisted cost was not an issue and Sarah had her own savings – she like retaining some stem of independence and Miriam didn't seem threatened by it.
Sarah used her own blood in experiments; studying the connection between erythrocytes, blood cells and sleep. She knew that Methuselah, the rhesus ape she had been experimenting on prior to… Miriam had the same colour erythrocytes as she when he was in his terminal phase. The colour of his deepened right before the end, the same purple pigmentation factor and misshape was present in her blood, but after the Sleep, the pigmentation of Sarah's blood cells faded to a healthy pink-white. If she could figure out how the Sleep effect blood cells, she could work on producing this effect in humans… could figure out the secret to eternal life.