AN: Just a quick FYI as a couple of people have mentioned it, the no reflection for vampires actually comes from the OLLA deleted scenes. I have three vampire books so I have heavily researched vampires and their mythology, and that superstition comes from the silver (used as the reflective backing) that mirrors used to have and silver is often used for purification and repelling evil/magic in supernatural mythology.

As a science geek, I have always hated the mirror thing (and the no casting shadows but that's another rant) because it just doesn't make sense and even if it was 'true', why don't their clothes show up? They should look like the invisible man when seen in a mirror, but they never do.

Added to that, I particularly hate it in this film because vampires also weren't supposed to show up in photographs, primarily because Silver iodide is highly photosensitive and was used to coat the photographic plates in early photographs, such as daguerreotype, calotype and the collodion process (I also write historical novels) yet in this movie, we have the mirror myth but also Adam and Eve in Victorian era photographs. ARGH! Yeah, so it's in here because it's part of the movie mythology, that's all.

Unless stated in the film, all other mythology is my own, a product of my research into various vampire myths and I've picked what fits with what we know about this universe, or what makes most sense to me and fits with my story.

A link to the deleted scenes can be found on my profile. One mirror scene is at 15.18 and the second is at 20.36

Finally, thank you for reading, commenting and enjoying. :D


Chapter Seven

They were awoken by Ava jumping on the bed the next night.

"Come on, wake up! You can't sleep the night away."

"Get off me!" Lilith said, kicking out and although she landed a blow, it wasn't forceful thanks to her legs being padded by the quilt.

"It's been dark for two hours!"

"We were up late this morning," Lilith explained. "Now go away."

"Why were you up late? Will I have a new sister soon?"

"No! We were protecting the house."

"Ohh, sounds interesting."

"It's not," Adam interrupted. "Now go away."

"Come on, you must be hungry by now."

"Ava!" Eve's voice came from the door. "I told you to leave them be."

"But you won't let us eat until they're up."

"For God's sake, Ava, stop acting like an addict!" It was unusual to hear Eve shout and Lilith managed to pry her eyes open to look.

"But I'm really really hungry!"

"Then go and find your own dinner! While you live here, you live by our rules and given your antics the last time two you have visited us, you need to accept that you can't be trusted."

Ava pouted as Eve dragged her away.

Lilith gave a long sigh. "I guess we'd better get up then."

"I guess so."

Reluctantly, she left the warmth and comfort of the bed.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Adam was sitting up in bed with his tablet computer.

"What are you doing?" Lilith asked.

"Your UV light plan gave me an idea."

"Oh?"

"The last time we faced Elric, the most modern technology at our disposal was an oil lamp and candles. If like some vampires, Elric hasn't kept up with the times, maybe there's more technology we can use against him. Even dynamite hadn't been invented back then."

"When was the last time?"

"Turn of the seventeenth century."

"What happened, exactly?"

Adam was silent for a long time and she thought he wouldn't answer.

"A member of our family died."

Lilith did the maths, the turn of the seventeenth century would have been 1600, so "Was it her first husband? Gustav?"

"It was Gustav, but he wasn't her husband, not in law. She didn't legally marry until she met me. They'd been companions for more than a century though, he was very special to her… and to me."

Lilith didn't know how to reply to that, and she felt bad for dampening his enthusiasm.

"So, what kinds of technologies were you thinking of using?" she asked.

"First, I thought about GPS; if we can get a tracker onto a follower or vehicle, we can follow the signal back to Elric's base."

"That's a good plan." She came and joined him on the bed so she could see his screen. He was looking up a list of covert GPS trackers. He rested the tablet on his legs so he could put one arm around her shoulders.

"There's also mustard gas or spray."

"That works on vampires?"

"It does, it only causes a mild burns but it might be enough to help you get away. That's where the superstition of putting mustard seeds on a roof came about."

"So what about garlic?" she wanted to know.

"Propaganda, to stop people remembering that mustard seeds can hurt us," He explained. "Do you have any ideas?"

"What about Tasers?"

"Electricity hurts but doesn't incapacitate."

"Sound?"

"How do you mean?"

"Your hearing is more sensitive than humans. Would really loud music or high pitched noise hurt?"

"Death by boom box?" he asked.

Lilith laughed. "A boom box?" she asked. "You're showing your age, old man."

"Am I?" he didn't seem offended.

"Oh, and light!" she said enthusiastically. "It's not much good for self-defence but if we find their base, flashbang grenades would help."

"Flashbang?"

"Look it up," she said.

Adam navigated to an article. "They produce a blinding magnesium flash to temporarily blind, and a loud bang which can briefly deafen and upset with the fluid in the ear, creating balance problems."

"We can probably get them from the same man who sold me the gun."

"Aren't they illegal for civilians?"

"Yeah, but so are guns."

"Still, if they come tonight, that won't help us."

"Do you think they will?"

"I doubt it, Ava was probably followed by one or two people, who will report back. It's impossible to say how long it will take the others to get here. It depends where they're coming from. They could be here in a day or two."

"Then why don't we run?"

It didn't escape his notice that she had said 'we' not 'you'.

"Running puts us on the back foot. Better to stay and plan than be caught unawares."

"We need to know what Ava knows."

"We do," he agreed. "And we need more blood."

"That can wait. You've got probably three day's supply, maybe four if you're very careful."

Adam tightened the arm around her shoulders. "What about you, how are you holding up?"

Lilith leaned into him.

"Okay, I think."

"You think?"

"Honestly? This is so far outside my frame of reference, I don't think I know enough to be afraid."

"At least you know that you should be afraid."

"That's something," she said with a slight chuckle. She pulled away and turned her body to face him. "Thank you for worrying about me."

Adam reached out and ran the back of his index finger over her cheek.

"You make it sound as if I have a choice."

"Don't you?" she asked softly.

"Do you?" he countered.

Lilith didn't know how to answer that. The truth was that no, she couldn't help but worry about him but she wasn't ready to admit that yet, fearful that any admission might change the delicate friendship that had built.

"We should probably get up now," Adam said eventually.

"Yeah," Lilith agreed, somewhat sadly.


"Come on, admit it; you like it," Lilith goaded Adam.

Ava had arrived three nights ago and after a near altercation with Adam the previous evening, Eve was keeping Ava occupied elsewhere, mostly. Luckily, Ava didn't have much time for quality television.

"It's not… awful." Adam admitted.

"Not awful! Please, this is classic TV, Adam."

"It's a 40 year old television show!"

"Yes, but the remake sucked and besides, my favourite Christmas movie will be a hundred years old this year, and I still love it. As you're so keen on saying, age is no indication of quality."

"Look, I said it's not bad."

"Hmm," she said. "Well I'm not sure I'd sit through three seasons of something that was only 'not awful' but maybe you just don't have anything better to do with your time."

"It's no wonder zombies accomplish so little, if they spend their time watching television."

"Look, I know you like to blame humans for all the problems in the world but the fact is, humanity has come a long way in a few hundred years."

"They've learned more efficient ways to pollute the planet."

"And we've developed technology to stop or even reverse that damage. I know it's not going that quickly but just look at how humans treat each other?"

"They lie, cheat, steal, kill, how is that a good thing?"

"True, but speaking as a woman, I have a voice, I have a vote, I have the right to work and earn the same as a man and my opinions are as valid as a man's. There was a time when women were considered property. Wives couldn't even prosecute someone for rape because we were our husband's property, so he had to bring charges on our behalf, and it was only a crime because the rapist was deemed to have damaged the husband's property. Things like arranged marriages, child brides, FGM and rape are taken seriously and punished severely all over the globe now. The second biggest employer of women in the Victorian era was prostitution, second only to being a servant. Then there's your technology, which has developed ways to save millions of lives. In your day, people died all over the place of what we view as minor infections, we can cure most types of cancer, heart attacks are all but a thing of the past, we can give amputees new hands and the blind, new eyes.

"Then there's industrial revolution which, forget about the planet, literally ground people under its feet. Children entered coal mines as early as age three to five, and the average life expectancy of a coal miner was fifteen years old. It was the Victorians who began giving workers and the common man rights, who made laws governing work hours, child labour, made education compulsory and brought in laws to say that women could own property. Things have only got better and better with each generation. Your insistence that 'zombies' are the cause of all the world's evil is blinkered in the extreme, if not plane wrong."

"You make an impassioned argument," he said, which wasn't exactly an agreement. "But how do you explain that we still burn fossil fuels?"

"Greed," she answered immediately. "Companies have no interest in us making a onetime purchase of something like solar panels, not when they can make repeat charges for other types of fuel, like coal, gas, petrol and electricity, in perpetuity. Companies are also the ones who do most damage to the environment. The real problem with society is that we give companies too much power."

"A very valid point but who is going to change things if not people?"

"What have you done to improve things?" she asked, but her phone alarm beeped before she could answer. "Saved by the bell!"

She gave him a cheeky grin as she got off the sofa.

"And don't start the next season until I get back," she warned.

Adam smiled and shook his head as she left the room. He would mull her points over when he had a chance.

He turned his attention back to the television. The show was quiet engaging, or rather, as engaging as a fantasy show set in a fiction world called Westeros could be. Which was far more interesting that he would have thought.

They had just finished season three and he was keen to start the next one so while she was gone, he navigated the menu and queued up the next episode.

Lilith reappeared a few minutes later, carrying a plate of homemade pizza in one hand and a glass in the other.

"Yeah," she smiled when she saw that he was ready to start the new series. "You aren't enjoying this at all."

She sat down and handed him the shot glass. He looked oddly at it but didn't take it.

"Come on, I feel weird eating alone." She held the glass closer to him.

"I don't-"

"I do. Just sip it, all right, don't make a big deal out of this."

He took the glass and sipped the contents.

"I should be able to donate more tomorrow," she offered.

"No, it's too soon, you need longer to recover."

"Well, you guys have to eat."

"But not at your expense."

"And I'd would worry if you left to get more the moment."

"And I'll worry if you donate more."

"All right, fine, but I'm going with you and we leave the second the sun goes down."

"Why?"

"Because I have the gun with wooden bullets, and any vampires wanting to attack us are unlikely to do so immediately after dusk, unless they've been sleeping in my flower beds."

"Fine, but you aren't coming."

"I am so coming, I'm sick of being cooped up in here."

"Me too!" Ava sailed into the room and jumped onto the opposite couch. "I want to go out!"

"Did you forget that Elric is hunting you?" Adam asked.

"He won't hurt me as long as Eve is with me."

"He won't hurt any of us as long as we stay here," Adam pointed out.

"But you're going out! Take me with you!"

"You are the reason we have to hide in the first place! If you would just show a little common sense and stand on your own two feel for once, instead of always looking for someone else to take care of you and clean up your messes, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"I only want to go with you," Ava pouted.

"No. That is my final word."

Ava noticed the glass in his hand. "How come you get seconds and I don't?" she demanded. "I'm starving hungry."

"Because you're greedy," Adam answered. "Eve and I drink less than half a pint each per day, if we can. If you had any kind of willpower, you'd soon get used to it."

"I have willpower!"

Adam took a deep, supposedly calming breath, and rolled his eyes.

"I want more! It's not fair!"

"You can have more before bed," he reminded her.

"I want more now!" She continued to pout like a child.

"Don't test me, Ava, you've put two people I love in grave danger and I am a heartbeat away from ending your life."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me; I dare you."

Ava seemed to realise that she had pushed him too far and her pout faded. "You're no fun."

"And you're too much trouble," Adam countered. "Now bugger off, before I forget why I haven't killed you already."

Ava left and despite her advanced age, it wouldn't be out of place to say that she was sulking like a child.

Saying nothing, Lilith picked up the remote and pressed play.

Once her pizza was finished, she slid along the sofa (the cushion with the blood stain had been turned over).

Adam was sitting in the corner so he faced the TV, and Lilith snuggled in, slipping an arm behind his back and resting her head on his chest. It wasn't the best position to watch television in but she had seen this show at least three times already.

Adam's hand began to stroke her hair, running stands of her auburn locks through his fingers and she sighed in contentment.

She wasn't going to mention the 'two people I love' comment, but as well as comforting him after his confrontation, she hoped to show him that she cared deeply too.


"Time to rise and shine," Lilith said, waltzing into their room with a glass of blood. Rousing Adam during daylight hours was hard, so she thought she'd bring something to tempt him to wakefulness.

"Go away."

Lilith sat on the side of the bed and put the glass of blood on the bedside table, then she dipped the tip of her finger in and smeared it on Adam's lips.

He pushed her hand away so this time, she put her middle finger in up to the first knuckle, then held the digit over his lips until a drop of blood fell onto them. He licked them.

"Umm," he groaned, which made her grin.

Not long ago, the idea of Eve drinking her blood was still odd to Lilith. She accepted it and tried to be cool about it, but it felt weird. To be playing games with her own blood was not something she would ever have contemplated, and yet here she was.

She coated his lips in blood again, so she wouldn't have too much left on her finger to wipe off, and he captured her finger between his teeth and when he began to suck on it, she gasped.

Never in her life had she been on the receiving end of such an erotic feeling. The sucking itself probably wasn't the reason for her sudden lust, she'd sucked her fingers plenty of times over the years, such as when she got a paper cut. No, this feeling was because it was Adam doing the sucking.

She tried to pull her finger away but the grip of his teeth became a little firmer and his eyes popped open, as one of his hands rose to take hold of hers.

With one final, languorous pull, he let her digit go.

His eyes seemed to be smouldering with the same lust that she felt but even if she was ready to start something with him, they didn't have time tonight.

"Well, that's quite a way to wake up," he said. "Thank you." He kept her hand in his, tracing patterns over the back with his thumb.

She gave him a shy smile, unable to find her voice, and handed him the glass.

He raised a silent toast and sipped the blood.

"Is it dark out?" he asked, in between tastes.

"Almost. We need to get an early start though."

"So we do." He nodded.

"You can down it quickly," Lilith told him.

"I thought the euphoria we felt make you uncomfortable?"

"It did. It doesn't anymore."

"All right then, bottoms up." He downed the contents in one, closing his eyes as the ecstasy washed over him.

His mouth was stained red and she wondered what he would taste like. Without conscious thought, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips.

Adam responded immediately, his arm winding around her waist as he deepened the kiss. She forgot to think about the taste of blood.

Finally Adam ended the kiss but he didn't open his eyes.

"If you don't get off this bed right now, I won't be responsible for my actions," he said, his voice deep with desire.

"You still have an arm around my waist."

"Mmm, so I do. Looks like I'll just have to ravish you."

"Don't you dare," she said, not that she believed for a second that he would do anything without consent but if it wasn't for their prior engagement, she wasn't sure she could have resisted for long.

He stole another quick kiss, able to find her lips without opening his eyes, then he released her.

"This being responsible business is shit," he proclaimed.

Lilith laughed. "Yeah, it sucks."

Finally Adam opened his eyes and with vampire speed, dressed.

"Ready?"

Actually, she was still rather shell shocked from their kiss but yes, they needed to go.

She had regained most of her coherence by the time they made it to the garage and she drove. As the garage door rolled up, they could see that it was still dusk. Adam wasn't in any danger from the sun at this time of the day but he had to pull his collar up and avert his face from the halogen lamp at the front of the house, which was soon activated as the car exited.

"Western General?" she asked, referring to the biggest hospital in the city.

"No, King's Buildings. I found a researcher who lives near there. He's maxed out credit cards, has defaulted on his mortgage, accrued sizeable gambling debts, has two ex-wives and is two years behind on his child support. I contacted him anonymously and offered to transfer funds to his casino account, in return for clean blood; he thinks I'm studying nanotechnology, with a view to introducing nanites into the blood stream eventually."

"Why does he think you're buying blood so covertly?"

"Staying under the radar of my competition. Technology and pharmaceuticals are both exceptionally cut throat industries"

"Will he have it on him at home?"

"I told him how to store it and to keep it at close for a few days, he lives alone at the moment, so that isn't an issue. I've already sent the money, so he has no excuse not to hold up his end of the bargain."

"And if he doesn't?"

"He'll learn that the tactics of his casino heavies are nothing compared to me. Don't worry, I won't seriously harm him, he's no use to me if he can't work."

"Well… let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Agreed."

They drove past the address and parked a short way down the road. Adam opened a netbook type computer and plugged in some weird attachment to the port.

"What is that?"

"It searches for wireless signals, I'm checking to see if there is any kind of surveillance in the area."

Finally he put the netbook and gadget away. He pulled a black bandana from his pocket and tied it over his hair and forehead, then zipped up his leather jacket and got a leather messenger bag from the back seat.

"Stay here," he ordered.

Lilith got the gun out of her pocket and after screwing a small silencer onto the barrel, held it down by her thigh, to which Adam nodded his approval.

She waited on tenterhooks as he walked to the house and she didn't relax until he got back in the car.

"Did you get it?" she asked.

"No problems." He put the messenger bag, now presumably filled with blood, between his feet. "He offered as much as I want, any time I want, so this should be a long and fruitful relationship."

Lilith started the car and drove away.

"How much did he give you?"

"Enough for two weeks, without Ava. Hopefully over a week with her but she's so unpredictable."

"Do you fancy getting a coffee or something while we're out?" she asked.

"I don't drink coffee."

"Fine, then sit there and nurse a cup while I devour some organic tea and chocolate cake."

He smiled. "Well, we don't know when we might get another chance, so why not."

"Great!"

She drove to a bar in Morningside and parked near a fair trade café she liked. Adam pushed the blood under his seat before they got out but as Lilith went to lock the car, they could hear tapping and shared a confused look.

"The engine?" Lilith said.

"It's coming from the boot," he said, heading to the rear of the car. As soon as he opened it, Ava sat up.

"Oh, thank God, it was so cramped in there! Where are we?" she asked, as she climbed out.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Adam demanded, grabbing her arm.

"I wanted to go out, I told you I did but you were mean and wouldn't let me, so I came anyway."

"Lilith, give me the gun."

She approached them but didn't take the gun out of her pocket. She was worried about what Eve would say, but she was also aware that they were in public.

"Not here," she hissed. There weren't many people around, but there were enough.

Adam looked around and realised what she meant. He slammed the trunk closed then dragged Ava around to the side of the car. Opening the rear door, he tried to push Ava inside but she struggled.

"Hey, let me go, get off me!"

"Get in," he demanded.

"No!"

Adam glared at her for a moment, then unexpectedly released her and slammed the door. "Fine. Lilith, get in the car."

She got into the driver's seat and Adam climbed into the passenger side.

"Hey, wait!" Ava cried, practically launching herself into the back seat.

"Get out." Adam ordered.

"No."

Lilith handed him the gun, which he pointed between their seats, aiming for Ava's heart.

"Ava, this is your last chance, get out or I will put a wooden bullet through your heart. Your choice."

The silencer was still on the gun, so Adam fired a shot into the seat beside her.

"Hey!" she cried rubbing her arm.

"Last chance."

"Where am I supposed to go?" she demanded.

"I don't give a fuck."

"What am I supposed to eat?"

Adam got the bag out from under his seat and took three flasks out, then handed the bag to Ava. "That should keep you going for a week. More if you're careful."

"A week? Where am I supposed to get more from?"

"That's up to you because if I ever see you again, I will kill you. Now get out."

"Fine. Fucking, patronising loser! Fuck off, see if I care!"

As soon as Ava's door was closed, Lilith dove off.

"Eve is going to be upset," Lilith noted.

"She is, but she'll understand."

"Will she?"

"Ava is a loose cannon, we can't afford that right now."

"And if they kill her?"

"She brought it upon herself with her own actions."

Adam was balancing the blood flasks on his lap.

"There's a canvas bag in the glove compartment," Lilith told him.

He got it out and put the flasks in.

Back at the house, Lilith drove straight into the garage rather than reversing in, so Adam wasn't in the halogen light for too long. They waited until the electronic door had lowered, then went into the main house, resetting the house alarm from the keypad in the entrance hall.

"Where's Ava?" Eve demanded, rushing into the hallway.

"She stowed away in the trunk," Adam answered. "I left her in the city with some of the blood we just bought."

"Oh, Adam."

"I warned her, Eve, she knew she was on her last chance and she chose to ignore it. We can't risk that sort of recklessness. Not now."

"I've been going out of my mind with worry."

"Why didn't you call us?"

"She broke my phone," Eve admitted. Suddenly her featured crumpled. "What are they going to do to her?" Eve asked.

Adam handed the canvas bag to Lilith and embraced Eve in a tight hug as she began to cry and feeling like a fifth wheel, Lilith made her way into the kitchen.