ANNVILLE

1996

The purr of the turbocharged V8 rumbled all around Anna causing her to grin wildly. Anna adored her Mustang- her last one had four legs and didn't make such a satisfying sound. She hasn't always thought Ford was such a brilliant company. The first car they put on the streets was slower than the horses they wanted to replace.

Miles of highway flew by, streaks of green through the window, as she wove through trucks and equally impressive sports cars manned by less adventurous drivers. San Francisco to Annville was supposed to be a day's drive without stops and longer if you had to keep reading a map. Luckily Anna memorized the drive the first time she visited her father in Texas. Now she saw the 27hr time mark as a challenge. She did it in under 24, under 22, under 20. This trip was looking to be a little over 19 hours- a new personal best

Anna had no love for Annville and hadn't seen her father in nearly a year as a result. Recently though, he had her worried. After 6,000 years, he seemed to have lost his desire to live. She didn't worry about him committing suicide- God had ensured that wouldn't happen: "Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." So Anna was more concerned with her father's happiness. At least she had known the life she was choosing when she first prayed to Lucifer, the fallen morning star.

Turning onto the main road, Anna first thought the town had been deserted. It would be just like him to move without telling her. He could have snapped and killed everyone and also not told her- they didn't speak much even when she visited. A glance at the dashboard clock told Anna she had overreacted. Everyone would be at church- one of the chronic symptoms of a small town in the Bible Belt.

The white building looked at derelict as ever. Jesse had improved it when he took over as pastor nearly five years ago, but you could tell he didn't care enough to finish and maintain it. Anna pulled down her tight dress as she stepped out of the car. Despite her efforts to look acceptable for the community, the hem ended just below her ass. The clicking of her thigh-high boots on the wooden floor interrupted the sermon. Jesse looked up from his place at the pulpit and gave Anna a small nod while the rest of the congregation attempted to ignore the intruder. She smiled and returned a small wave before sliding into one of the back pews where her father sat. He looked the same as ever: gray hair threatening to hang over his eyes, hunched but broad shoulders. Perhaps he did seem a bit more surly. He looked over at his daughter, nodded, and returned his attention to the preacher. Satisfied, Anna kicked up her feet and reclined, unconcerned with the blatant disrespect she was demonstrating. Despite Jesse's words promising to be better for the community, Anna knew God wasn't in his heart- at least not entirely.

Cassidy had been laying down in the pew, hands behind his head. He watched the pair of bare legs walk by him matched to the sound of high heels. He always liked a girl in heels- nice to look at from behind. Intrigued, he rose to an upright position- a compliment he hadn't afford his new friend throughout the service. He watched as the girl took a seat next to an old goon. Cassidy had recognized the girl immediately. The tattoos were new as was the shorter hair and she should have been about eighty-five years old, but he knew it was her. Across the aisle and one pew in front of him, sat Anna in bloody Annville, Texas.

"Well fuck me sideways," he murmured.

His mind began racing with the possibilities of what happened to her, how and why she was here, if she remembered him. Then all his thoughts came to a screeching halt when the realization hit him that he had no idea what he was supposed to say to her. That locomotive had jumped the tracks, crashed into the side of a building, and went up in flames, killing all the passengers along with it.

Jesse finished speaking and stepped down from the pulpit. He exit the church down the aisle and the congregation followed. Cassidy waited at the end of the pew until he could get to Anna. He had never been a planner, never had a goal other than getting the English out of Ireland when he was sixteen, but now he was determined to reach her before she made it outside into the sunlight.

Jesse smiled politely to the congregation as he walked through the pews, stopping at the back of the church. "It's nice to see you again," he said to Anna.

"Finally down with this whole preacher-thing, huh?" she laughed, referencing his sermon as she hugged him. Wrapping her arms around him, her attention was diverted by the sun glinting off of a piece of jewelry. Upon closer inspection she saw that it was a gold hoop earring worn by a man with a mess of orange hair. Although Anna couldn't see his eyes behind the red-tinted aviators, she knew it was him- the man from New York 65 years ago. Anna pushed Jesse away without waiting for his answer. She crossed the aisle and took the man's face in her hands. "You should be dead," she muttered more to herself than him. "Or at least rotting in a gurney, pissing in a bag."

"I wos asking myself the same about ye." Cassidy's lip curled up into a lopsided grin.

Anna laughed and grabbed his hand meaning to follow the rest of the churchgoers outside. They had gaped for a moment, but easily became bored with the spectacle of the too short dress- it would be more interesting to talk about than watch.

"You have to tell me everything," she said as she pulled him along.

Cassidy, though, yanked his hand from her, refusing to pass into the sunlight that streamed in through the open door.

"Well that would explain it then," Anna smirked. "Vampire."

"Now- now that is uncanny, that is." He peered over his sunglasses at her.

Anna only smiled wider. "We'll catch up. I'll buy you a drink."

"Tomorrow. Eight o'clock then. Ye better show up this time round, yeh?" Cassidy agreed. There was no need to specify location- towns like these only ever had one bar.