Myka's first call the following morning was to Abigail Cho's office. She made an appointment for later that day. As soon as she hung up, there was a knock at the door.

"Sheriff?"

"Yes, Claudia."

"Can I…do you have a minute?"

"Sure. Come in, close the door."

Claudia sat down in the chair facing hers across the desk, squirming uncomfortably.

"What is it?" Myka asked, quietly.

"It's about Walter."

Myka sighed. She could practically feel her blood pressure rising.

"What did he do? Did he touch you?"

Claudia shook her head.

"No. Nothing like that."

"Then what?"

Claudia fidgeted.

"He's been saying stuff about you. Pete overheard him talking to one of the part time guys – Marcus? He has been saying all this…sex stuff. But he also said that you need taking down a peg or two, that a woman shouldn't be doing a job like this. Pete thinks you need to look out for yourself."

"I see," Myka said, steepling her fingers together as she leaned her elbows on the desk. "And why didn't Pete tell me this himself?"

Claudia reddened.

"I think…he didn't want to talk to you about the sex stuff. He was embarrassed."

Myka nodded.

"Fair enough. And what do you think, Claudia? Do you think I should be worried?"

"Well, Ma'am…"

Myka glared at her.

"Sorry, Sheriff. There were some stories about Walter when he was younger. Not very nice stories, about girls. But nothing ever came of it. He was never charged with anything."

"So you think I should be concerned?"

Claudia nodded, her eyes downcast.

"Okay, Claudia. Thank you for telling me. And pass my thanks on to Pete. I'll take some precautions."

"Sure thing, Sheriff. We would hate it if something were to happen to you. You're the best thing to happen to this place for a long time."

"Thank you," Myka said softly.

When the girl left, Myka put her head in her hands. What was she supposed to do about one of her own deputies threatening her? Get him to arrest himself? She shook her head against the incessant buzzing of so many minds. Maybe it was time for her to get this thing under control. It would certainly help in identifying threats like Walter Sykes before they got out of control. She put it out of her mind after making a mental note to take some precautions at home, just in case.

Later that afternoon, she made her way somewhat reluctantly to her appointment with Dr Cho. The doctor's office was in the next town over. She drove in a half-daze, her mind churning. She didn't know what to expect from this appointment, and she was off her game, unbalanced, following her conversation with the vampire the night before. And the conversation with Claudia. She knew Walter Sykes was a creep, but was he really an actual threat? Would he try to hurt her?

The doctor's office was on a quiet road in the middle of nowhere. Everywhere around here was technically the middle of nowhere, but this was more so than most. Surrounded by trees and dry grass, it was set back from the road. Myka got out of the car, glad of the breeze that made the heat a little more bearable.

She opened the door and blinked to let her eyes adjust to the dark interior.

"Sheriff Bering, welcome."

It was the same voice from the other end of the phone, when she'd made the appointment. The doctor answered her own phone?

"Don't be so surprised, Sheriff. I might be the only psychologist for miles, but this is Mississippi. People don't came to get their heads shrunk often. Business is slow," the doctor said with a rueful smile.

She was small and dainty, this doctor. Myka observed her silently for a moment.

"Come in. Let me get you some coffee."

Myka nodded. She realised belatedly that she was still wearing her hat, so she took it off and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. She felt way too tall next to this woman.

The therapist gestured for Myka to go through the door ahead of her. She sat down in one of the chairs, looking around her silently. Everything was shades of beige. It was supposed to be soothing, she guessed. But it didn't soothe her. She thought, involuntarily, about the vampire's quiet presence.

"So, Myka. Mrs Frederic sent you to me, huh?" Dr Cho smiled.

Myka nodded.

"Do you find her completely terrifying, or is that just me?" Dr Cho asked.

Myka smiled wryly.

"I would say you're not alone in that reaction. My first week, I spilled a full cup of coffee on my pants because she scared the bejesus out of me. I had to sit there the whole time she was talking and pretend I was fine while my legs felt like they were on fire."

Dr Cho laughed.

"She does have a way of showing up when you least expect her, right?"

Myka nodded, smiling.

"So, she sent you to me. Do you know why?"

"I think so. Do you?" Myka countered.

"I do."

"Do you believe it?"

"What? That you're a telepath? I've seen stranger things, believe it or not."

Myka studied her carefully for a moment.

"Okay."

"I understand that you have some issues surrounding this ability."

Myka nodded, her face tight. Her fists clenched spasmodically.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Not really," Myka said, her jaw tense.

"Okay. I guess this is going to be difficult for you, so why don't you take a moment, drink some coffee. Take a breath. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I'm here to help, okay?"

Myka nodded. She sipped her coffee, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Again, she thought of the vampire's cold presence, the stillness that surrounded Helena. It helped Myka to calm herself, to find some sort of balance inside the chaos, to quiet the buzzing a little.

"You…you just went somewhere that made you calm. Where was that?" Dr Cho asked, curiously.

"Are you reporting everything back to Mrs Frederic, Dr Cho?" Myka asked.

"No. Only things that might harm you or others. And please, call me Abigail."

"Okay then. I was thinking about someone I met. A vampire. I can't hear them."

"You can't hear what they're thinking?"

Myka nodded.

"Why does that make you feel calm, Myka?"

"Because I don't have to worry about whether I might hear something."

"So because you can't read the vampire's mind, you feel calm around her?"

"Yes. I…feel different, when she's there. She is calm and so still. There's no noise. I can just…be."

"That sounds nice."

"Yeah. It is."

"Is she a danger to you, this vampire?"

"No. She's helping with an investigation. She didn't have to help. I don't think she has any ulterior motives."

"Okay. Then there's no need for me to mention it to Mrs Frederic or anyone else. What I'd like you to do, if you are feeling too tense when we talk, is to think about that stillness, how you feel when you're with the vampire. Can you do that?"

Myka nodded.

"So why do you worry about using this ability?"

Myka looked at her hands.

"Well, first of all, it was my dad. He believed me, but he said people would think I was crazy. I told him that a man in the bookstore liked him."

"Liked him…what, sexually, you mean?"

"Yeah, although I didn't know that at the time – I was only 7. I just heard him say that my dad's ass was nice. So I told my dad, quietly. I wasn't allowed to say ass, so I spelt it out. He stared at me, for the longest time. And then he told me to go upstairs. When the store closed, he came up and asked me why I said that. I told him that the man said it in his head."

Abigail nodded, silently urging her to continue.

"He tried to make me stop hearing voices. But I was a kid, I didn't understand. My parents abandoned me when I was 12 years old. They called a social worker or someone, I guess, and gave me up for adoption. I don't really know how it worked, but one minute I was in the apartment above the bookstore, and the next, I was being taken away by this nice lady who was talking in her head the whole time about how much of an asshole my dad was, and how I seemed like such a nice kid, how could they just abandon me like that. Anyway, I was placed with a foster family, and I can't really remember how it happened, but the dad – he worked out what I could do. He made me – he made me listen to people's thoughts, their secrets. Their bank details, the PIN for their card, the combination for their safe. The first time I said no, he busted up my face, broke a few ribs and my arm. He blamed the injuries on a fall downstairs. After that, I did it a few times, just out of fear. I told him people's secrets, where their money was hidden or whatever. After a while, though, I realised that it was pointless to do what he said. It was hurting other people and it didn't matter whether I did what he wanted or not; when he got money from someone, he got drunk and beat the crap out of me anyway. So I started refusing, and I swore to myself that I would never listen again. I made this little room in my brain, I imagined myself inside it. I told myself that it was soundproofed, so I couldn't hear anything. After a few months, all I could hear was buzzing. I could still feel the emotions, but not hear the words. He had a few near-misses with social services after that, but then he learned to always hit where it could be hidden under long sleeves or whatever. He had this belt, and he had this way of flicking it so it always cut into my skin." Her voice was toneless, dull, as she continued. "Thankfully, a few years later there was a new social worker who was more vigilant, and she eventually moved me to another place. They were the Secords – Jack and Rebecca. I stayed with them and they adopted me, eventually."

"Did you ever tell them about your ability?" Abigail asked softly.

Myka traced the scar on her right arm with her left thumb.

"No. I wanted to stay with them. I thought if they found out, they would send me back."

Myka looked at her shoes, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

"So, what happened from then on? How did you end up here?"

Myka pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath.

"You know, Dr Cho, I think I'd like to go now. This has been…a little too much talking for one day."

Dr Cho tilted her head sympathetically.

"Sure, Myka. Same time Monday?"

"Okay. Is this covered under my insurance, or…"

"Don't worry about it. Mrs Frederic is taking care of it."

"Fine. Thank you, Dr Cho."

"Take care, Myka."

She drove home in a haze. Memories that she had been trying to suppress were bubbling back up, threatening to break through the walls she'd so carefully constructed. Her father's words, her foster father's fists. The moment she had been adopted, and the fear that they would find out and send her back.

She made some food that she barely tasted, and went to sit on the back porch, swaying back and forth gently on the swing. Her stray dog friend came along after a while and sat in front of her silently. When the sun went down, she waited.

"Good evening, Sheriff."

Myka inclined her head slightly.

"May I?"

"Sure."

The silence was long and full and delicious. Myka lent her head back and closed her eyes. After a while, she found that she was crying, and she opened her eyes to look at the stars. They blurred together through her tears. The relief of the quiet, it seemed, was too much for her after the day she had endured. The vampire turned to her, but said nothing. She simply lifted Myka into her lap, wrapping her in strong arms. Myka buried her face in the vampire's neck, the cool skin pleasant against her hot cheeks. After a while, she felt the throat vibrate against her as the vampire spoke.

"Do you want to talk?"

She nodded. The vampire set her down and told her to wait. She came back with some hot tea (camomile) and a wet cloth. She wiped Myka's face gently, cleaning away the tear stains and soothing her headache.

"I can hear people's thoughts," Myka said into the silence.

"Can you hear mine?" the vampire asked, curiously.

"No."

"Then why are you not afraid of me? You can hear other human's thoughts, which means you can anticipate their actions. You cannot anticipate mine," Helena said after a moment of thought.

"I don't know. But I'm not afraid. Do you want me to be scared of you?"

"No," she said, in her cold, rich voice. Myka's resultant shiver had nothing to do with fear.

Helena spoke after another moment of silence.

"You must never tell another vampire about this ability, Myka. They will kill you without thought, without remorse, if they think there is even a chance that you might be able to hear their thoughts – or worse, they will try to use your ability for their own ends, regardless of your own wishes."

"Thanks for the warning, Helena, but my ability actually doesn't work – or at least not really. I blocked it when I was younger and I don't know how to fix it."

Myka talked. She told the vampire of her abandonment by her parents, of the countless beatings from her foster father. She told her about the block she'd put on her own ability, the ceaseless noise that she lived with, the fear of being abandoned again that led her to always hide who she was. She told the vampire all about the shame and the sadness of her young life.

"And Sam? Who was he?"

Myka looked at her, this creature who had listened to her without a word for hours, and wondered why she was so interesting to an immortal being.

"He was my partner. I worked really, really hard at school, then I joined the police force. I made detective quickly. My ability – it would have been invaluable, I guess. But I couldn't use it. I did well - I'm pretty smart and I worked hard. Sam was a rookie, and he was partnered with me as soon as he made detective. We worked well together. He worked more on instinct, I worked on detail, evidence. We came up against this organised crime gang. They were working the local high rollers, a mixture of cons and robberies. Sam tried to infiltrate them. He thought he was in. He called me, and I met him for a drink. We were seeing each other, for a while. Some of the gang – they saw us while we were out together, so he introduced me to some of them as his girlfriend. If my ability had been working, I could have listened then. If I had, I would have known. They knew who he was and they were planning to kill him. And because I didn't – because I blocked my gift, that's exactly what they did. Shot him in the back of the head and dumped him out by Bear Creek. I left the force straight after. Everyone thought it was because of Sam dying, but it wasn't. Not like that, anyway. I could have saved his life, Helena. I let him die because my damn parents abandoned me and that broke me so badly that I can barely function."

The vampire stroked her hair soothingly, her cool fingers touching Myka's scalp and making her shiver.

"You were not to blame. You have an ability that is inborn. You did not choose it. Your parents were fools. Your partner's death was unfortunate, but it was no more your fault than my becoming a vampire was mine. They were both incidents that were beyond our control. You are not to blame."

"But I could have saved him, Helena," Myka almost whined, her headache lessening under the vampire's ministrations.

"Perhaps. But your ability does not guarantee that you will hear what you need to hear, does it?" Myka shook her head.

"You hear what a person is thinking at that time, is that correct?" At Myka's nod, she continued. "So it is not necessarily true that any of those criminals would have been thinking about killing your partner at that exact time when you, Myka, were listening, is it?"

Myka frowned. She hadn't thought of it that way.

"I suppose not. But I blocked my gift, Helena. I'll never know."

"No. You will never know. But what you do know is this; your parents abandoned you because of your gift. As a result of that abandonment and your foster father's abuse, you blocked the ability over time, so that you wouldn't be abandoned again, a perfectly understandable reaction from a child. If your ability had been working, and these gang members had thought the right thing at the right time, allowing you to become aware of their plans, then Sam's death would not have occurred. It was, therefore, the fault of the people who stopped you from using your ability. That is, your parents and your foster parents. Had they allowed you to grow up a happy and healthy individual, as they should have done, it is likely that you would have used your gift and it would have then been available to you when you met Sam's killers."

Myka thought for a long moment. She had been beating herself up over Sam's death for such a long time. Could the vampire be right? Was it her parent's fault? Had they never abandoned her, it was true that she would probably have simply continued listening to the voices around her, and she might have been able to save Sam's life.

"I…that kind of makes sense," she said, finally. Helena's hands were still in her hair, playing idly with the curls and scratching lightly at her scalp. Myka's headache was almost gone.

"Yes," Helena agreed.

After some more blissful silence, she spoke again.

"My daughter had curls. Not like these. Ringlets, I suppose you would call them. It would be straight until it reached a certain length, then it would curl up. It was beautiful."

"Did she look like you?"

"Yes."

"She must have been beautiful."

The hands paused.

"You think I'm beautiful?"

Myka took a breath.

"Yes."

The hands resumed their movement. Myka relaxed again.

"So you have an ability to hear thoughts. More of a disability, now, since it does not function and in fact causes you only difficulty. That is part of why you are different. But there is something else about you."

The cool fingers brushed the nape of her neck. Myka shivered.

"Something else? Like what?"

The vampire paused for a moment.

"I don't know."

She sounded frustrated.

"What makes you think there is anything else that's different about me?"

The vampire considered, turning her body to look at Myka. Her gaze swept Myka's body, pausing at her long throat.

"You should be frightened. Humans are always frightened of what they do not understand. And you, who can understand so much more about your own people, should be more frightened of one whose thoughts you cannot hear. And yet you are…fascinated. You wanted to touch my fangs, instead of recoiling from them. You are interested in me, without guile, without fear. And you smell…"

Her fangs extended, and she turned her head away.

"I apologise. I did not mean…"

"It's okay," Myka said, touching her hand gently. "Tell me."

Helena turned her head to search Myka's eyes.

"You…humans. You have a scent, unique to each of you. But yours is different. It is wonderful," her voice trembled on the last word.

"Thank you. I'm not sure what it means, exactly, but I'm glad you find it appealing," Myka said lightly.

She thought for a moment, taking a moment to enjoy just looking at the other woman.

"You don't consider yourself human, then?"

"I have not been human for a long time. Well over a century. Vampires have very little in common with the human race."

"Why do you say that?"

"We are predators, Myka. We are separate from you. You are our prey."

"We are predators too, Helena. Ask the other species on the planet."

"You make a good point. But you are our prey. They are yours. You do not consider a cow to be your equal, do you?"

"Are you comparing me to a cow?" Myka said, her eyebrow lifting.

Helena winced a little.

"Perhaps that was a hasty analogy. We – the vampires - are different, that is all I am saying. We have no natural predators."

"I guess it must have been hard. To live outside humanity for so long. Are you lonely?" Myka blurted, without thinking.

Helena turned away.

"Yes," she said stiffly.

"I'm sorry. That was thoughtless of me," Myka said, aghast.

"I should go."

"You don't have to. I really am sorry."

"I know. Goodnight, Myka."

Before Myka could say anything else, or move, or breathe, she was gone. Myka sat back, regretting her thoughtless words. Of course Helena would be lonely. She was lonely, and wonderful, and she was the only person Myka wanted to spend any time with, and now she'd gone and spoiled it with her stupidity.

Myka sat still, staring out into the dark. She thought about her conversation with the psychologist, and her conversation with Helena. Oddly, it was what Helena said that made her feel better. Her family had started this by abandoning her because she was different, and her foster parents had made matters worse. In doing so they had collectively caused her to block her ability. Sam's death wasn't her fault. The thought was so freeing that she relaxed enough to fall asleep right there on the porch.