Chapter Ten

Once Goon Leader left, Lilith was barely clinging to consciousness but she managed to slip her shoe off and palmed the GPS chip tracker. She finished the rest of her water, hoping to increase her fluids and stay awake a little longer.

Annie came back soon and quickly realised that Lilith was in trouble. She looked far healthier than Lilith did.

"Oh, hunny," she said, sitting down beside her.

"Annie… take this." She was panting as she handed the small tracker to her. "I don't think… I'm going to... last much longer… cells aren't getting... enough oxygen… when twilight comes… flip that tiny red switch… please. It's your only chance… to get out of here."

"Lilith-"

"No, do it, please."

"Why not press it now?"

"They can't come… 'til after dark… The others will sleep 'til then anyway… you'll be safe... Please, wait... 'til the sun is down… Please."

"I'll do it, but you aren't going to die."

"It's okay, Annie… I was ready for this... It's okay."

As her eyes closed, she couldn't stop tears from leaking out and trailing into her temples.

"Tell 'em I'm sorry... I'm so so sorry."

"How much longer?" Eve asked, pacing behind Adam as he worked.

"Hard to say. I'm good with computers but I'm not a hacker, Eve."

"It's been hours already. She could be-"

"Don't say it!"

"But it's true."

"I know!" Realising that he was getting angry again, he took a deep breath. "I know, but I need a clear head to get through this protection. We're not talking a first gen AltaVista Firewall here, we're talking quantum cryptography."

"I know, I know, I just…"

"Why don't you see how Ava's doing?"

Eve frowned. "Ava?"

"She's probably raiding our blood supply as we speak."

"It's daytime."

"When has that ever stopped her?"

"I haven't seen her since we discovered Lilith was missing."

Her worried tone made Adam turn to look at her. "Eve?"

"It's not like her."

"She doesn't care for Lilith, why would she help us?"

"She wouldn't, but she wouldn't miss the drama either."

"You think she…?"

"God, I hope not."

They found Ava in the living room, lying prone on the sofa and sleeping, while the TV blared in the background.

"Ava? Ava wake up!"

"Hey." The vampire wiped her eyes and smiled at Eve. "Did you find your friend?"

"You know we didn't," Eve said. "Now you're going to tell us everything you know, or I will have Adam throw you outside right now."

Ava looked to the windows. "But it's still light out!" Her smile vanished.

"I know."

"I didn't do anything!" Ava sat up, suddenly concerned. "What did she tell you?"

Any doubts Eve might have had over Ava's guilt vanished at that moment. "You either did something or you know something, I don't care which but I mean it, tell us everything now, or face the consequences."

"I had to, I had no choice. They kept me prisoner and starved me."

"You should have told us, we would have kept you safe."

Adam's expression turned murderous, while Eve took a deep breath and prepared for a lengthy questioning process. She knew that Anger would only make Ava defensive and uncooperative so although she had never been so angry at her sister, she tried her hardest to remain calm.

"They said they'd kill me if I didn't help them," Ava pleaded.

"So you led them to Eve instead?" Adam demanded. "You'd rather they killed her?"

"I didn't lead them here, they knew where you were. They brought me here."

"What do you mean," Eve interrupted as calmly as she could. "What do they want you to do?"

"I…"

Adam's phone beeped and he took it out of his back pocket.

"It's Lilith, she's activated a GPS tracker."

"So Elric is dead?" Eve asked, slipping an arm behind his back as she looked at the screen.

"Doubtful," Adam said, calculating the time as he waited for the GPS signal to appear on the on-screen map. "It's been less than a day and he's ancient, so it's probably weakened him but it's too soon to have killed him. She must be in trouble."

Eve looked to the windows, where weak sunlight still shone through the gaps in the curtains.

"What are we going to do?" they asked in unison.

Annie had almost expected an immediate reaction once she flipped the small red switch, something like a SWAT team, with lots of banging and yelling and gunfire. She knew she'd pressed the switch too early, it was at least half an hour before sunset but her husband was still unconscious and the girl, Lilith, was dead. Had been dead for hours, in fact, and the blanket that she had covered the body with did nothing to hide that fact.

The thought of the vampires awaking again, combined with having spent the day failing to fall asleep because she was in the company of a dead body, was just too much. If there was hope of a rescue, she needed it now, before she lost her sanity completely.

As the slivers of daylight got higher and fainter on the wall, she finally began to cry.

There was no help coming. No rescue. No end to the torment, other than death.

She had lost a lot of blood and had been awake for over 24 hours so despite her fear, as the daylight was about to fade completely, she finally fell asleep, but she had barely slept for five minutes when she was awoken once again. This time it wasn't a nightmare that had robbed her of sleep though, it was gun shots.

With hoodies, baseball caps and dark glasses, Eve and Adam had left the house as soon as they dared, while it was still light, heading for the coordinates on the GPS tracker. They were well fed on the remainder of the blood Adam had purchased the other night, meaning they were at full strength and would heal from any minor burns or other injuries caused by the fading sunlight.

The sun was almost below the horizon when they got to the location and they left the car on the road and kept to the shade of the trees to surveil the house.

"Here." Adam handed Eve the gun.

"You keep it, I'm stronger than you are."

He didn't argue. "So what's the plan?"

"We'll go in separate entrances. If he's still keeping his followers underfed, chances are they're slow to rise, so we have the advantage. He probably has no more than ten followers with him; only one, maybe two will be well fed and pose a real threat, so incapacitate if you can, no heart shots or beheading unless absolutely necessary."

Adam checked the magazine clip, which held fifteen rounds.

"Ready?" Eve asked.

"Ready."

"Front or back."

"Dealers choice."

"I'll take the back," Eve decided.

They turned to each other and shared a tender kiss.

"Be careful," Adam implored.

"Always. You too."

"I will. Let's hope Elric's already sick, he's had about a day for the infection to take hold and he's the single biggest threat."

"Agreed."

"Then let's go."

He gave Eve a one second head start, then ran to the front door, kicking it in.

"Lay down on the floor and surrender!" he yelled as he began to go room to room. He hoped that with their leader sick, they would obey to try to save themselves, but they didn't.

Of the two that attacked him though, they were both weak and two shots to each of their legs incapacitated them. He continued to search for Lilith, taking care in case there were any more waiting to attack him.

He moved onto the upper level and kicked open the doors, one by one. Eve was working from the opposite end of the house, having taken the back stairs. Only the third door was locked, and he knew even before it opened, that this was where he would find Lilith.

The two cowering in the corner flinched as the door slammed into the wall but they weren't vampires and were no threat to him. The only other thing in the room was a body covered with a blanket. Wary of a vampire masquerading there, he kept the gun trained on the form as with a shaking hand, he pulled the blanket back.

He knew before he saw though; seeing her was just the final straw.

The gun fell from his hands as he fell to his knees, like a marionette with it's strings cut.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Tears clouded his vision as he grasped her hand. "Oh, Lilith, you silly, foolish girl. We would have found another way. Why couldn't you trust us to kill him? You're human, you're weak, you're… this wasn't even your fight."

He pulled her body into his arms and began to rock her back and forth, tears streaming down his face.

Why her? Why now? They should have had centuries together, maybe even a millennia or two. It was too soon. Far too soon.

After a long silence, punctuated only by his sobs, the woman in the room spoke up, her fear causing her to stutter.

"Um… M- Mister?"

Adam didn't respond.

"A- are you A- Adam?"

Finally he looked up, wiping tears from his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"I am."

"She t-told me to tell you that she's s- sorry, and she loves you. Y- you and a woman called Eve."

Right now, those words felt like a knife to his heart and it was all he could do to nod his understanding.

He continued to rock Lilith, then he remembered that she wouldn't like him being rude to humans. 'What does it hurt to be polite?' he could almost hear her chiding him.

"Thank you." He managed to choke.

The woman nodded, but remained huddled in the corner.

Eve appeared in the doorway and took in the scene before her.

"Lilith?" she asked, her eyes imploring Adam to tell her something other than the truth.

"I'm sorry," was the only answer he could give.

Eve made her way over, embracing both of them as her tears flowed freely.

"Oh, my darling girl, it was supposed to be me who died, not you."

"You knew?" Adam asked her, incredulously.

"I knew something bad was coming, I could feel it, but I didn't know what or how."

"So you brought us together so she could what? Replace you?"

"No, darling, I brought you together because she was perfect for you, but I was prepared to die if it meant keeping you two safe. I'm sorry, I never foresaw this." Eve wiped her eyes. "I would never have willingly let this happen. I would have killed Elric or died trying, rather than lose her."

Adam wiped his eyes. "Did her plan work at least? Did she kill that son of a bitch?"

"Nearly, she also infected one of his lieutenants; he's already dead, Elric will be dead within the hour, unless we shoot him."

Adam laid Lilith down and began to arrange her hair.

Eve turned her attention to the other people in the room.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

The woman nodded.

"What about him?" Eve nodded to the man who was curled up on the floor.

"He's sleeping."

"Are you sure he isn't comatose?"

"No." A head shake. "He's woken up a couple of times."

Adam noticed that she sounded less frightened than when she had first spoken to him.

"Good." Eve smiled kindly. "That means he probably hasn't lost enough blood to do any permanent damage. I'm sorry for what was done to you but please believe me, you're safe now."

"You really aren't like them, are you?"

"Like Elric? No. Elric was evil as a human, and he was evil after the change."

"She said you were good people. She said she loved you."

"And we loved her." Eve smiled, although her eyes were shining with tears.

"She told me to say she was sorry."

"Thank you."

"It- it was peaceful, you know, she just went to sleep, and she told me that she was ready for it. I sat with her until… well… She didn't suffer for long."

"When did she die?"

"This morning, I think."

"This morning," Eve repeated."Can you be a little more specific?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know when, I don't have a watch at the moment. It was hours ago, at least four, maybe eight."

Eve turned back to Lilith and took her hand. "Adam."

"She looks peaceful, doesn't she?" he said.

"No, Adam, look." She raised Lilith's arm and held her hand up, straightening her fingers out.

"I don't-"

"Rigor mortis, Adam, she died hours ago but she hasn't gone into rigor mortis." Eve ripped one of her gloves off and touched Lilith's cheek. "She isn't cold either. How is this possible? The blood you gave her should have left her system already. I don't understand."

Adam looked stumped for a moment. "She bit me." He finally said softly.

"What?"

"When we made love, she bit me! Hard enough to break the skin. That's got to be it. She's turning." He looked awed. "She's coming back to us, Eve. She's coming back to us!"

They hugged over her body, holding each other tightly as the new reality set in. Lilith wasn't dead, at least not until three days had passed and she didn't awaken.

When they finally separated, they were both smiling.

Eve looked to the woman in the corner. "Would it be all right if we moved her to one of your other bedrooms? We'll move her to our home tomorrow."

The woman nodded.

"Thank you." She turned to Adam. "Will you look after her for a while?" Eve asked.

"Of course I will."

Eve got up and approached the couple, her hand out to the woman to help her up. "Come with me, you need some rest, then we have a lot to talk about."

The woman looked at her hand with trepidation.

"I'm Eve by the way. And you are?"

"I'm Annie, this is my husband, Frank."

"Very pleased to meet you, Annie. You look exhausted, so let's move you and your husband somewhere comfortable, where you can sleep on a real bed."

Annie took her hand and stood up. Eve then gathered Frank in her arms and they left the room.

Adam gently took Lilith into his arms, holding her close as he rose to his feet with a feline grace. He wasn't quite able to believe that she was coming back yet, and he wished that the change was quicker.

Eve settled the humans in a bedroom and left them to sleep. She begged Annie not to call the police but to wait for Eve to awaken the following evening, when she would explain everything. Annie agreed but Eve waited with her until she felt asleep. She hoped that with all the blood loss they had endured, she and her husband would sleep soundly for many hours. Just in case, she barricaded their door when she left; it would frighten them but at the same time, she couldn't risk the husband awakening and phoning an ambulance or the police.

Next she ushered the three surviving vampires into a room downstairs. Their wounds weren't healing quickly because they were so underfed. They all seemed shell shocked and Eve was betting that their injuries and the promise of blood would keep them there.

Adam had called his supplier before they left Lilith's house and reserved a lot of blood, three times the volume of his first order. The funds had been transferred and Eve would collect it soon but before she left, she stopped into see Adam and Lilith.

Adam had moved her into another guest room and sat on a chair beside the bed, holding her hand.

"Any change?" Eve asked as he came in.

"None yet. It's too soon, but we have another problem."

"Oh?"

"She's infected with Hep T. Even if she turns, she'll have the virus. She'll die again."

Eve was silent as she approached the bed, considering the point.

"Perhaps not. She has been vaccinated, so perhaps she will keep that immunity after the change."

"Is that even possible?"

"I've never seen an immune human turned, but I'd say it's more than possible. I see no reason why her antigens shouldn't survive the transformation. We must have hope."

Adam nodded and turned back to Lilith.

"Besides, surely if the virus was dangerous to her, wouldn't she be showing signs already?" Eve asked. "It's been hours since she died and the transformation began."

"We don't show signs like a fever or rash, we just die, slowly and painfully."

"Has her temperature dropped at all?"

"Not that I can tell."

"Then she isn't dying. Be optimistic, Adam, just for once?" she teased.

He nodded and smiled slightly. "I'll try."

"The humans are sleeping next door and the vampires are in the dining room. I need to collect the blood but when I get back, we need to discuss what happens next."

Adam nodded and Eve worried about his ability to remain positive in her absence.

"You've been up all day and are dead on your feet, darling, why don't you try to sleep?"

"So have you," he reminded her.

"And I'll sleep as soon as I'm finished."

"Same here."

"Fine." She pursed her lips. "There's a wonderful library downstairs, why don't you find something and read it to her?"

"She can't hear."

"We don't know that. Even if your words only reach her on a subliminal level, it would still comfort her."

He nodded slowly. "Good idea."

Eve got the blood with no problems but dropped most of it off at Lilith's house, worried that the temptation would be too much for some of Elric's followers. Ava was long gone, probably having left as soon as night fell. Eve was disappointed that once again, she had avoided responsibility for her actions but she was also glad that Ava was still alive. Given her duplicity and now that Lilith was safe, Eve had no doubt that Adam would kill her the second he saw her but as much as she hated what Ava had done, she still loved her sister.

Eve returned with a litre of blood for each of the three remaining vampires, who were underfed but not starving. It should be more than enough to help them heal and sate their hunger. With regular meals, they would be back to full strength in no time.

Before she left them, she explained that Elric had lied to them but if they were willing, she would help them, show them how to live independently, without Elric. It seemed that fear had kept most of them with him, not loyalty, and they agreed.

She asked them to tidy the house once they were finished eating and then rest until the following night.

Once they had been fed, she went to see Adam. Although it wasn't yet midnight, he had fallen asleep beside Lilith, a copy of Jane Eyre resting on his stomach.

She smiled as she enjoyed the image of him sleeping, then climbed onto the bed beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as she finally slept.

Lilith awoke in her own bed, wrapped in Adam's embrace and for a moment, she almost thought that the events at Elric's house had been a dream. She had died, after all, yet she wasn't dead, so it must have been a dream.

Then she heard a blackbird singing, clear as day despite the soundproof triple glazing on her house. That wasn't normal.

"How are you?"

His voice made her jump and she raised her head to look at him.

"What's going on?"

"Elric's dead, you did it."

She frowned in confusion. "Why aren't I dead?"

"You bit me, darling, the night before you left, remember? You died with my blood in your system."

She considered that for a moment. "So… I'm a vampire now?"

He nodded, looking as serious as the grave that she had miraculously escaped.

"Are you all right with that?"

She blew out a long puff of air. "Better than the alternative, I suppose. I just… this is a lot to take in."

She had tears in her eyes, of both relief and happiness, and she cuddled into him.

"Well, you have all the time in the world," he said, stroking her hair. "Take as long as you need."

"I've never bitten anyone before, I've hardly ever even given someone a hickey," she said after a few moments.

"It all worked out for the best," he reminded her.

"I know, but is it more than that?" She raised her head from his chest and clasped his hand. "Eve said that you and I were fated to meet. When I realised that Ava was helping Elric, that I could kill him with some Hep T, and that you and Eve still knew nothing about Ava, it almost felt like something was helping me to kill him and save you both. Now, after surviving something I know that I shouldn't have, I can't help but wonder if there is such a thing as destiny or fate. What if all of this was preordained?"

"I think we make our own destiny," Adam assured her. "But it wouldn't surprise me if every now and then, things line up to make it possible for us to accomplish the impossible. However fate, if there is such a thing, only opens the door, it's up to us to walk through it."

"That's a beautiful way to put it," she smiled.

"Thank you, darling."

She frowned. "Who's going to feed you and Eve now?"

He couldn't help but smile. "You're a surprise vampire and all you can think about, is who is going to feed us?"

She shrugged but looked a little contrite. "Yeah, I guess that isn't the main thing to focus on right now."

She sat up suddenly, looking around. "Where is Eve?"

"Relax, love, she's fine." Adam say up and placed calming hand on her back. "Thanks to you, we encountered very little resistance."

"So she's alive?"

"Alive and well and taking care of the underlings who survived, and the humans they were keeping captive."

Lilith took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself, while Adam's hand continued to stroke her back in a soothing rhythm.

"Are you hungry?" Adam asked.

"I don't know."

"What does that mean?"

"I crave something, but it doesn't feel like hunger, not like the hunger used to feel. It feels more like low blood sugar or something."

"That will pass once you eat."

She nodded her understanding. "If it's okay then, I think I'd quite like to eat."

"Of course, come on." He didn't bother to dress but just pulled a dressing gown on, handing her his spare robe.

They settled in the living room with a container of blood and two small glasses, and Lilith nervously twisted her hands together as he filled both glasses.

"So, what happened, exactly?" she asked.

"There's time for all that later, after you've fed. Here," he handed her a glass but she didn't take it.

"And Elric's really dead?"

"Yes. We put his body in the garden just before dawn and I watched him turn to ash."

Lilith still didn't take the proffered glass.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know. It just feels… strange. I know the effect this can have on your guys and… well, I'm not an alcoholic or anything, but I did used to misuse drink when I was younger, to give me courage and kill the pain; they call it self-medicating. And I've heard people say that heroin is so good, all it takes is one hit to get you addicted. What if this is like heroin to someone like me?"

"Darling, if you don't eat, you'll die. Just sip it slowly, see how you go."

"What if I'm like Ava?"

"You won't be, you care far too much to ever hurt anyone."

She stared at the glass, as if hypnotised by it.

"Lilith, do you trust me?"

She looked into his eyes and after a brief hesitation, she nodded.

"Then trust that I know what's best in this situation, and that I would never let you hurt anyone."

She swallowed down her fears and accepted the glass. Tentatively, she took a sip.

"Oh my God, that's good." She closed her eyes.

"Drink it all," he urged.

"I will." She took another, longer sip.

"Finish it."

"I will. For God's sake, just let me do it in my own time. It's my first time," she said with a smirk. "Let me savour my first time."

"All right, fine." He held his hands up in surrender.

The fact that she knew he had raised his hands, even though her eyes were closed, didn't go unnoticed by her.

She felt the euphoria come on, seeping into her extremities first, making her feel as light as helium. She finished her glass and the weightless feeling seeped deeper into her body.

Adam took the glass from her and a few moments later, put it to her lips again.

"Just a little more, darling, for your first meal."

She was beyond arguing and dutifully sipped slowly as he tilted the glass up.

"How do you feel?" he asked her as he reached for his glass and downed the contents quickly.

"Like I'm flying, floating on air."

"Do you like it?"

"Mmm, it's lovely."

"If you think that's lovely, you should try this."

Then he was kissing her and she was in his arms and she wasn't flying alone.

"My God," she whispered in between kisses.

"Mmm."

AN: I hope you liked that. Now, just one more chapter to go!