My darling boy. I knew - I knew from the moment I first saw him. That darkness - it's a mistake to think that you make a person evil simply by making them a vampire. Instant creation of true evil is not possible, not that easy. I know - I've tried.
Nature has to give you some help. I removed the light, but the darkness? That was already there.
She sags in his grasp, and I know it's all over. I make my way through the crowds. The boy has done well and deserves some privacy in his moment of triumph.
(It hurts.)
(Don't fight me. I'll take the hurt away, I promise.)
I came almost as I entered her; the restriction, the heat and the throbbing of her heart were so real. So unlike Darla. The spasm was brief, but it echoes; it rebounds and reflects within me as I drink from her throat; it won't go away.
She slips into unconsciousness. I know I've won; she didn't refuse me in the end; but equally I realise it's not enough. I drag my mouth from her neck, where the sweet blood is pumping, and kiss her lips once more. I savour the moment: this forbidden thing, this decision. I have to decide what to do with her.
She's still breathing. There's still time. He... I... we could have this forever.
(Anna, will you stay with me?)
(What about her?)
(She's nothing.)
(She's here.)
(No.)
(They're both here. We're not alone.)
A force buffets me from one side, and my head feels like it's come off. Then something hauls me up and throws me through the bulge of the merchant's window. I land on a pile of rolled silks, tumble onto the floor, and look up groggily to see what hit me.
"What's your name?"
A diminutive woman dressed in men's clothing stands above me. I reach out to grab her ankle and she stamps her booted foot on my wrist, crushing the bone. I writhe under the pain.
"Don't tell me then. I saw Darla on the bridge. Are you with her?"
Dread, dark and budding, inside me. "I know who you are."
She kicks my broken arm from beneath her right foot and traps my knee under her left, grinding the bone against the floor. "Good. You've gone to a lot of trouble to bring Anna here. Why?"
I spit at her, "Childhood sweethearts."
"I see. A test. Proving yourself worthy, are you?"
I say nothing, but make a determined lunge at her legs. She lands a kick on my chin and my head flies back and hits the floor. When I open my eyes again, she's crouched over me, pinning my arms to the floorboards.
"You won't get Anna. She's under our protection now."
I manage a laugh. "You're chasing Darla. She told me. What's Anna to you? Nothing but good vampire bait."
She doesn't answer that, but continues, "I'd tell Darla you did it, if I were you. She doesn't take failure well. She kills her own, if they fall short of the mark." She bends to whisper in my ear, "She's known for it. One day, you'll wake up and find your bed has been moved into the sunrise."
I watch as she tears a quantity of scarlet satin from one of the rolls, and jumps back through the shattered window. A crowd is amassing outside. She stoops, out of my vision, in the doorway, and when she stands, she's holding Anna, wrapped in a red silk blanket, as if she weighed nothing. They disappear into the crowd.
(Anna, stay with me. Don't ever let me go.)
(I never will.)
"I should have killed him."
"And then Darla would have come after her for revenge, and she would be in worse danger. You did right. You were clever, as you always are."
"She's waking. ssssh."
"It hurts."
"I know. It will stop. Soon, I promise."
"Joe, more laudanum?"
"No, I don't think it would help."
"Who's that?"
"A friend. My watcher. You remember - I told you about him? You're going to like him, I promise."
"He looks after you. I like him already."
An hour has gone by since I left the bridge. Where is he? He should have come straight home. That boy, he hasn't got an obedient bone in his body. I'm pacing these apartments, worrying, when he should be here, with me, sharing the victory. I should be the first to see the finished article.
Jet black. Shiny and empty and whole.
Instead, he's out there taking in a few more prostitutes, I dare say. He'll roll in just before sunrise coated in fog and reeking of mercury. The price of a woman in this town will have doubled by the time we leave.
Paris I think, then St Petersburg, then on to Prussia. I have a craving for noble blood warmed in animal furs.
(Liam, the people...)
(Ignore them...)
(They're watching.)
I open my eyes and focus on Joe. Behind her stands a slightly plump, prosperous-looking but soberly dressed man. He has grey hair and a worried frown.
"Oh God. Oh God."
"She remembers, Sir. Leave us alone?"
The grey man nods and leaves the room. I notice the room for the first time, a study, lined with books. A large fireplace with a roaring fire. It's good that there's so much to look at; I can't look at her any more.
"Joe. How can you... I... with him... right there."
"I know. I know what happened. Don't cry."
She kisses my hand and holds it in her lap.
"She was there. Watching us. Oh God, how could I be so wanton? He's with her."
"Yes. I believe he is."
"Molly told me how it was between them. I should have known."
"Hush... it's all over now. He won't be coming back."
"How can you bear to look at me? After what I did?"
She smiles. "Because you're still the same person I loved yesterday." She kisses the back of my hand again. "A little battered around the edges. But you're safe now."
"I can still hear him."
"It'll stop. Soon. He'll go back to her. He'll have to stop, then."
"You don't think I've gone mad?"
"I think he might. Not you. Rest now. Try to sleep."
(Are you well?)
(It hurts, Anna. She hurt me.)
(I know. Forgive me.)
Under the bridge, the river laps at my feet, putrid and oily. My knee is painful but usable, and the bones in my wrist have made an acquaintance with each other again. I'll be able to move my hand soon.
I concentrate with all my faculties and imagine her blood slipping down my throat, the flood waning to a trickle and finally a hard-won sip, barely enough to coat my tongue. I step back, and she slips from her perch and lies, curled at my feet in the doorway, used, broken, lifeless, and I leave her there and saunter home. Without a backward glance.
If I can see it clearly enough, it happened. Darla will think it happened.
(I have to go back. To her.)
(I know.)
(I can't be caught. She'll... I don't know what she'll do to me.)
(Quickly then... I loved you. Don't forget.)
(I won't. Goodbye, Anna.)
What really happened - with her - I can't ever think of it again.