After a week in the care of Leylak, Ammon, and their family Lena felt healthy again. Her regenerative powers were restored and she was anxious to get home to her quiet house and garden. Shit, I really am a Hobbit! I'll be calling for second breakfast and shaving my feet before long!
She bought the few things she would need to travel like a normal human and booked a flight to London on Turkish Airlines. She planned a quick trip to Wales to get her bola, another flight into New York, then St. Louis and the drive home. Lena had considered leaving the bola, but it occurred to her that she didn't leave instructions on how to remove it from Yorke. She spent a few minutes picturing the vampire, wrapped in her bola years from now, in a basement, forgotten by the world, begging the rats to come closer so he can have a bite…Stop it! That's exactly the kind of thing Grandpa is worried about! Revenge is bad! Bad!
Ammon drove Lena to the airport, saddened as always to see her go but pleased to see her choosing once again to be among people. After all, she didn't have to take a plane, but Lena had long ago gotten into the habit of travelling human-style unless exceptional measures where required. She had been brought up carefully by a family conscious of her power and of the potential for corruption that lay within it. Consequently she routinely chose human over supernatural behaviors.
Lena in turn had helped Ammon to understand his own nature and the need for human contact to counteract it, a lesson he valued above all others. Too many of the Nephilim bloodline had been lured into monstrous acts by the arrogance and condescension that followed abuse of their powers.
As Lena boarded, she noticed that the jet was half-empty, even though the standard five daily flights had been reduced to once daily. It seemed that nobody wanted to set foot in England these days; she was the only passenger who didn't look nervous and even the pilot was jumpy. She turned her iPad to airplane mode, put in her earbuds, and focused on Adele live at the Royal Albert Hall. How can so much amazing music come out of one woman?
Once in London, Lena stopped at the offices of the London branch of the financial conglomeration of which she was the sole owner for a quick update on the state of her affairs, followed by a conference call with her directors across Europe and Asia. After official business was done she had a private meeting with her London CEO, a Seraphin Nepos who could fill in more of the details of the true state of affairs in the UK. She also wanted to buy a car for the drive to Barry and needed to make sure she had a current driving license (no restrictions). The car itself would be owned by and registered to the business and garaged along with other vehicles in the executive fleet.
Lena spent the night in her private suite at Hotel 41, of which she was the owner through one of her holdings. Her rooms were available to her at all times although their existence was unknown to any but the most experienced staff in the establishment. The double doors opening into her home in London were unmarked and in a corner on the fourth floor, one floor below the rooms used by visitors to the hotel. She had a parking space reserved in the employee parking area on the ground floor of the building and took a private elevator from the hallway outside the business office to her suite. The elevator and suite were locked at all times; she had one set of keys and the hotel manager, also a Seraphin Nepos, had the other.
From London Lena drove to Barry in her new car, which she was able to purchase for a surprisingly low price from a dealer who was thankful to see her. Apparently a good percentage of the weak-minded suicides in England had been well-to-do and his business was experiencing a slump. Lena cuddled up in her gorgeous blue Audi R8 and stroked the steering wheel sensuously. This beast was like hot sex on wheels: luxurious, responsive, wickedly delicious through the curves and fierce as hell on the straight-aways. Lena loved few things more than a great car, and this car was her new obsession. It would return to the States with her if she had to fly it there personally, sans airplane.
Roughly three hours after leaving London Lena parked in front of the expansive brick house clearly labeled "Honolulu Heights." As she neared the front door she could hear the vampire raging within, cursing and threatening in a genuinely glorious stream of filth in three different Germanic languages, at least two Slavic, and a smattering of French that was pure eloquence. Lena paused for appreciation. She was no beginner at foul language, but Yorke was teaching a master class. "Fuck me, but he's good! I should be taking notes," she muttered.
Apparently his housemates didn't appreciate the learning experience with which they were being presented. Lena heard the ghost scream, "Shut Up SHUT UP SHUT UP! Tom, please, I'm beggin' ya. Let's clonk him on the head and put him back in the basement!" The werewolf muttered a negative reply, apparently not wanting to injure his friend.
"Hello the house!" Lena called out, pushing her voice through brick and glass and interrupting the chaos within. Yorke's rage halted in mid-stream.
Tom ran to the window, peeked through the blinds, and smiled when he saw her. He jumped to the door and flung it open, stepped aside, and offered her passage. "Lena, hello. Do come in, won't you?" His speech was clearly rehearsed, but the smile was genuine.
Lena walked into the B&B and for just a moment thought she had been thrown back in time, to about the same decade as her grandfather's horrible shirts. Alex sat at a tiki bar, in the living room. A TIKI BAR. In the LIVING ROOM. Holy shit, Grandpa would love this! The ghost was staring at the vampire, who was strapped to a chair in the middle of the floor. Yorke's eyes blackened, his face contorted, and his fangs gleamed as he hissed at Lena. The vampire curse, blood red and gleaming, draped like a soaked veil across his pale skin and blood-stained clothes.
"Did you do that?" Alex asked, looking at Lena and pointing toward Yorke.
Lena shrugged lightly with a brief half-smile. "That's the typical vampire reaction to my sort. Murderous rage kind of chokes them up for a bit. I'm surprised he spoke to me at the tv station, to tell you the truth; usually they just attack or run."
"I guess you came for your rope thingy." Alex said.
"My bola, yes. I see he's still wearing it," Lena said with a slight chuckle in her voice. She could only imagine the vampire's fury at being trussed like a roast for two weeks.
Yeah," Tom stood next to her and studied Hal. "We couldn't get it off."
"Oh, my bad. I forgot about that." Lena walked up to the vampire and smiled sweetly at him while speaking to Tom. "Are you sure you want me to take it off of him?" The vampire's black eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he strained against his bindings, murder clearly on his mind. The curse, bound by her bola, writhed in fury at her approach.
"Ermm, might let him cool down a bit first, yeah?" Alex suggested. "Would you like some tea? Maybe in the kitchen, away from Mr. Creepy?"
"Mr. Creepy! Hah! I'd be pleased to stay for tea."
"If you don't mind, maybe you can tell us a bit about yourself, like what you are and aught," Tom said as they went into the kitchen.
"Of course," Lena replied. "I guess Mr. Creepy hasn't said anything useful? He knows what I am."
"Yeah, Hal called you a Seraphin something," Tom said, looking slightly cross, "when he was talking to Mr. Rook and the Men in Grey. He ain't said no more, but he ain't himself just yet."
"Maybe this is himself and the Hal we knew is gone for good, Tom," Alex said.
"I won't believe that. He's in there, somewhere. We've just got to be patient."
"Shite, Tom, we've been patient as saints! It was what, weeks last time and he'd only had a little blood. Who knows how long it will take this time. Maybe he's too far gone." Alex slumped at the table morosely, head in her hands. She stared at the swinging doors into the dining area, seeing in her mind the monster at the other end of the house.
"This time? He was dry for a while?" Lena couldn't help asking, even though part of her didn't want to know.
"Yeah, he said it had been 55 years. He was in a good cycle. Then he drank my blood right before we blew up the Old Ones. Tom and me got him sobered up again, or so we thought. We found out he was still drinking blood, he just hadn't killed anyone for it. That we know of," Alex finished darkly.
Tom picked up the story. "Hal and me got jobs at the Barry Grand, where Hatch was livin'. He turned us against each other to get his power back, then Hal went bad and killed a bunch of people just before Hatch tried to take over."
Lena sank into a chair next to Alex. She felt light-headed again, sick to her stomach at the thought of Yorke running loose in the world, killing and feeding. He's supposed to be dead by now, not being given another second chance by these naïve fools. If only she could kill him…torture him, make him suffer like he made so many others…
Tom's voice penetrated the haze of anger and anguish. "…not sure what you want, so here's both." Tom set down milk and a sugar bowl, followed by two cups of tea. Lena smiled weakly. "Thanks." Putting a splash of milk and a sprinkling of sugar into her tea, she continued. "As for what I am…"
Thirty minutes, two cups of tea, and a brief history lesson later Tom and Alex were much more comfortable with what they had seen at the television station. Lena had summarized the origins of the Nephilim as beings that are half-immortal and half-human; she had explained about their descendants the Seraphin Nepos, beings who carried the genetic fingerprint of their immortal ancestors; and she gave them the rundown on the basic range and strength of the gifts that Seraphin Nepos could possess. She had introduced herself as a descendant of Raphael, an archangel whose gifts were in healing and fighting. She admitted to being more powerful than most current Seraphin Nepos, which she put down to a fluke of genetics.
She also admitted that she knew of Yorke before being introduced to him in the studio. In fact, she said, most Seraphin Nepos knew him by reputation if not by sight. Neither Tom nor Alex pressed for further explanation, and Lena didn't offer one.
"So, you're part angel and part human." Alex stated. "Does that mean all that Bible stuff is real?"
"The truth is, my people predate the written Bible or any organized religion for that matter. I use the language of the Bible because it is the human text that was written in the area I am from and the one people in this part of the world are most familiar with. Creatures like us exist all over the world, and we generally explain ourselves in the context of the creation myths that our local cultures have devised."
She continued, "I'm not a god and I don't know everything. I just live and work on this planet in this universe, and I do the best I can. I suspect there is a lot more to reality than just this universe, but that's just me. I'm a Whovian always looking for a blue box."
"Fuckin' aye!" Alex interrupted, adding a quick "Doctor Who, please tell me you know that!" to Tom. He nodded.
Lena continued, "What I know for sure is that the world exists, good and evil exist, and they strive against each other for dominance in the world. I know that physical and spiritual things can be combined in this world, but the physical has a hard time surviving in eternity. It just wears out, you know?"
"So what about other gods and devils and stuff?" Alex asked. "You know, like we learned in school. Zeus and Mars and Venus. Gilgamesh and Buddha."
"And Thor and Loki, like in The Avengers," Tom added.
"Yeah, and Hercules and Xena, Warrior Princess!"
"Slow down, would you?" Lena chuckled. "I'll explain what I can! Mythology all over the world tries to explain the human relationship with creation and eternity, and there's a lot of truth in it. Hercules was half-god half-man, you know. So was Gilgamesh. History books don't say so, but they were Nephilim."
"What about Xena?" Alex asked. "I love Xena. I want to be Xena!"
"Sorry, I got nothing. I've no clue where she came from," Lena said. "But she's awesome!" The two women high-fived in solidarity with warrior princesses everywhere.
"So there's eternity. And a place where good and bad people go when they die," Tom said. "I've seen the doors…"
"Tom, I only know as far as I can see, but I've seen beings, good and bad, that move without time and never age. I've stood before a being who claims to be the creator who put all of this together, and I believe it's the truth. I don't know what might be out there that is even bigger than all this, but I can tell you that what I have seen is far bigger than any myth or religion on the planet." Lena rubbed a hand across her forehead. "People are clueless and they prefer to stay that way. The real world is far too scary for them. They use religion and myth and faith as security blankets against the dark."
"So, what am I? Where do I belong?" Alex asked.
"You are what is left of a person after the physical parts are gone. You are essentially a soul. You belong in eternity. You just haven't gotten there yet." Lena smiled gently at her. "But you will, in time."
"What about Hal?" Tom asked. "He says that he doesn't have a soul."
"He isn't currently in possession of his soul. He has traded it for existence as a vampire. But it exists. Souls are eternal," Lena said.
"I can hear you," a voice called from the other room. "If you're going to talk about me, at least have the courtesy to include me in the conversation."
Alex rolled her eyes. "He's ba-ack."
"I never left, Alex; I've been quietly enjoying your history lesson," Yorke replied.
Tom moved through the swinging kitchen doors. "Comin' mate."
When Yorke spoke Lena stilled herself, not allowing his voice, like butter on gravel, to visibly affect her. She couldn't help the tingles running up and down her spine, however. Some things are timeless, and stronger than hate. Shit. This is going to be harder than I thought.
She moved with Alex into the living room, feeling the vampire's eyes on her as she approached. He smiled wickedly. "Hello again, Miss Seraphin Nepos. Did you enjoy your tea? Have a lovely chat? I think you left something out of your story." He shifted slightly in the chair, and gave Lena a look that broke her heart and lit a fire in her nethers. "You forgot to mention our shared history. You and me, vampire and vampire slayer, the yin and yang of immortality." His voiced lowered a notch. "Have you come to kill me, at last?"
"Would you like me to?" Lena breathed carefully and kept her camouflage in place. He doesn't know me, she reminded herself.
"Not just yet thanks, can I have a rain check?"
"Hal, what's goin' on?" Tom was worried. "She's come to kill ya?" He stepped into position between the two, alert and ready to defend his friend.
"If I had come to kill him, he'd be dead," Lena stated flatly. Her bola tightened briefly around the vampire, making him gasp for breath as he spoke:
"Tom, your new friend forgot to mention that her kind have a long history of hunting down and killing my kind. I'm sure she's familiar with the sport, whether or not she has participated in it."
Lena leaned against the back of the sofa as she faced the vampire. Matching his tone, she replied. "Well, Lord Harry, if I had met you earlier I might have been enticed to join the hunt. Sadly, the sport has fallen out of fashion among my kind, and I gave my word not to harm you when I was called to deal with Caedis Cruciatus. You're safe. For now."
"Really? Why would you make a promise like that, Miss Vampire Slayer?"
"Because I'd enjoy killing you just a little too much for my own good, and I'm expected to avoid such wicked delights. The devil doesn't own my soul and I'd like to keep it that way."
"You called me Lord Harry, so I take it you know my full name. Would you care to divulge yours?"
"Michaela Raquel Perennis," she replied. "Lena for everyday use."
"Hmm, I don't recognize it. Not famous, then, in certain circles?" Yorke was beginning to sound a bit like a snob, but she recognized his real aim. He was fishing for information.
"My name is a choice. Were you hoping to find my surname among the ones you hunted down during the Seraphin genocide?"
"What? What's she talkin' about, Hal? What did you do?" Alex knew what genocide meant. The question was simply a reflex by this point.
"Somewhere around 1700, AD of course, vampires began a campaign aimed at the worldwide extermination of my people," Lena explained, pleased to see Yorke's displeasure at her knowledge of their shared history. "I believe it was Mr. Snow's idea. He gave his protégé here the job of cleaning up Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. It's how he earned his title and his throne."
"It was hardly genocide, more a balancing of the books," Yorke replied calmly. "You had been trying to exterminate us since our creation."
"Yes, well, we had good reason," Lena said. "You are the result of the most powerful self-perpetuating curse ever devised. It's not like you spent your time stealing cookies and tipping over milk buckets, is it?"
"Still, all's fair in love and war," Yorke smirked. "Not that there was any love between our peoples, just the occasional enslavement. Pity it didn't work out, but your sort aren't very cooperative, are you?"
"Aw, shite. I don't even want to know." Alex decided that she was, once and for all, without a doubt, done with Hal Yorke and all of his incarnations.
Lena's features tightened at the word 'enslavement.' She looked at Yorke with narrowed eyes as she stepped closer to him, measuring his response to her presence. "Was that a practice you participated in? Did having one of us on a leash make your day just a little bit brighter? Or maybe you hoped I didn't already know that proximity to my kind can calm the bloodlust in your kind. Sorry, Lord Harry, your attempt to teach me my own history is a complete failure. I know that my blood can kill you and I know that my proximity can calm the beast that rides you."
She took a breath to calm herself. "And as you happen to be…tied up…proximity is something you can't avoid."
"What d'you mean you can calm the blood lust?" Tom interrupted. "You mean you can bring back good Hal?"
"No, I just mean that I can turn down the volume on the hunger, scare it away sort of. Good triumphs over evil. Any Seraphin Nepos can do it." Lena's eyes never left the vampire, even though she was speaking to Tom. She could see the vampire curse thin out and shift away from her.
"Aw, that's brilliant! You can just stay close, then, and he'll be a'right? Maybe long enough to get a wash and change his clothes, even! What d'you think, Hal, can you tell the difference?" Tom was getting far too excited about his great new idea.
"Yes, Tom, I can tell the difference," the vampire broke eye contact with Lena to look at Tom as he spoke calmly, not nearly as excited as Tom thought he should be. "However, I suspect that you have overestimated our guest's interest in my personal hygiene. I'm not sure she would care to follow me into the shower, and I'm certain that she doesn't plan a long-term stay in our lovely abode." Clearly Lena's proximity had no dampening effect on the vampire's sarcasm.
"Oh yeah, right, I didn't think o' that," Tom said, crestfallen.
"C'mon Tom, it was still a good idea." Alex spoke up, feeling badly for her friend. He wanted so much to fix Hal, and it just wasn't going to happen.
Lena stepped back and turned away from Yorke. He was right, she wasn't at all interested in doing him any favors, even if it did mean showering…she swallowed involuntarily at the image.
"There is another possibility," Yorke spoke up as if something had just occurred to him. "I've never tried it of course, but I've heard that a Seraphin Nepos with enough strength can use physical contact to draw a curse out of its victim."
At Lena's expression he quickly continued. "I know, I'm no victim. I agreed to take on life as a vampire and I've made the most of it."
"Don't even think about it, bucko!" Alex jumped into the vampire's face. "You've got some scheme goin', I can feel it. Why do you want her to touch you, huh? What'll it really do?"
"It does what he says it does," Lena replied. "I've used touch to heal people physically and spiritually. It's part of my gift." At Tom and Alex's puzzled looks, she continued. "Let's say Tom fell down the stairs and broke his leg. I'd put my hands on him and concentrate and take away the broken bone. His leg would heal and I would feel the pain in my leg. Then my regenerative powers would take the pain from my leg and everything would be fine."
"Shite!" Alex exclaimed. "Doesn't that hurt?"
"Hurts like hell, that's why I don't do it very often," Lena replied.
"Wait a minute, that sounds like something from Star Trek." Alex was getting suspicious now. "You sure you didn't make that up?"
"You mean 'The Empath' episode from season 3 of the original series? Where do you think Joyce Muskat got the idea? Only television script she ever sold." Lena smiled. "I should have gotten co-writer credit on that one."
"When you heal me leg, will you scare off the wolf too?" Tom was now fully committed to the story of his injury.
"No, that's not possible," Lena replied. "We can see demons and curses so we can tell when someone or something carries one. A strong Seraphin can chase off a demon because they are entities in their own right. Curses don't have a life of their own, they only exist as part of the thing they are attached to. I can destroy a curse when it's attached to a thing. I can remove some curses from people. I can't touch a werewolf curse without putting the human it has infected at risk, so no, Tom, I won't scare off the wolf when I heal your leg."
"What about the vampire curse?" Tom was clearly thinking of his friend.
"The vampire curse is like the werewolf. It can't be removed. In theory the strength of those curses can be diminished temporarily, drawn off in the same way an injury is healed. I had a werewolf friend a while back, and I drew some of the curse off of her one month when we couldn't get her to a safe place to change. Weakened her enough to keep the wolf from running loose." Lena didn't mention that she had spent the night craving chicken until she had been able to expel the wolf from herself.
"So, what about Hal? Could you take some of the vampire out of him, for a little while?"
"I don't know. I've never tried to help a vampire, 'cause I don't give a shit about vampires in general and this one in particular. Besides, I'd have to touch Mr. Creepy for it to work. Not happening."
Not happening because the last time we touched there were fireworks that lasted for 6 months and I couldn't think straight for years. Lena was cursing herself for coming to Wales. It's just a magical heavenly-made bola that comes when called. Not that important really. I should go now.
"Of course. We understand. After all, helping vampires isn't really your forte, is it? You prefer to kill us." Yorke was goading her now, his curse flaunting its strength at her.
Lena knew that she could, in fact, draw the strength of the curse off of a vampire, just as she had the werewolf. She never questioned her ability to do so, just her interest. Suddenly, in the face of Yorke's challenge, she was interested.
"Oh, what the hell. I'll give it a try," she said as she stepped directly in front of the vampire, her legs brushing against the insides of his knees where his legs were tied to the chair. No fireworks. No get-me-out-of-these-clothes-and-fuck-me-now-before -I-explode. Maybe the chemistry is as dead as he is.
She smiled to herself as she leaned forward, resting her hands on his, pleased to see the red veil of the curse thin and retreat behind his back, slipping out of her line of sight until only a pale red shadow covered Yorke's human flawlessness.
She saw his demeanor shift as she leaned in and rested a knee on the chair between his bound thighs. She saw fear enter his hazel eyes, and pain, and hope. He was still in there, buried in the blood of his victims. What would it take to destroy that curse?
"Honey, I'm home," she said with a wry smile, resting her forehead on his. Her battle cry, challenging the evil that owned the man, was answered in a way she couldn't have expected. Yorke's eyes flared black and he kissed her. No lover's touch, his kiss was an assault by the curse, which leaped in recognition of the hatred and anger and bitterness in her soul. A foothold!
Lena saw the curse ripple and flow toward her, spread over Yorke again and onto her, and expand as it reached out for her, dug into her. For a half-second she was afraid. Bullshit! Fuck this! I don't run from anything! Resisting the urge to pull away, she instead grabbed the vampire's head in both of her hands and forced him back in the chair as she pushed back on the curse and dared it to respond. She pushed Yorke's mouth open and her tongue flicked over his teeth but found no fangs. No chance of accidental blood-letting, then. Smart curse!
Lena held on and drew the vampire curse into herself; it faltered and tried to pull away from her embrace. Gotcha! Certain of her control over the beast, she looked triumphantly into Yorke's eyes as they returned to normal, and suddenly she realized that she wasn't being kissed by a vampire any longer, but by a man. The curse was no longer controlling him.
Hal's kiss echoed through her being, into a past she couldn't forget. 500 years and death between them and nothing had changed! She felt him warm under her touch, become human, become hers as he arched to touch her, yearning etched in every line of his body. Tom and Alex stared agape, Tom with hackles raised, as the floor trembled and the air grew electric with tension from the ancient conflict between good and evil.
Their humanity was balanced briefly by the strength of Lena's will, until the weight of the vampire landed in her soul. She began swimming in fire and blood as she drew the strength of curse from him and gave him peace, gave him humanity; she felt the darkness grow in her until it commanded her to tear away his bindings and devour him. Finally accepting that she couldn't control the beast after all, she broke free and stumbled away, dizzy and breathless. She closed her eyes, knowing they were black, and fell to her knees as she fought down the curse she had taken into herself. She clamped her mouth shut over her own fangs. Too far. I pushed it too far.
"Thank you," Hal spoke softly after a few moments, as he watched her struggle. "I can't imagine what that cost you."
"No, you can't," she gasped, slowly dragging herself onto the sofa. "And you have no idea what it nearly cost you." She had been on the verge of killing him. Just a second longer…
When she was finally able to open her eyes again and meet his look, the gratitude she saw infuriated her. How dare he be grateful! And he still doesn't know me!
"What was all that? Proximity my ass!" Alex was plainly jealous.
"Sorry," Lena gave a weak smile, thankful to be brought back to earth. "But damn! He's a good kisser!" She wasn't about to let on to the battle she had nearly lost.
"Aye," Alex agreed, sinking onto the sofa next to her. "Knocked me off my feet too, and I'm already dead."
Trying desperately to find a morsel of ordinary human behavior in what he just witnessed, Tom said, "You must be a pretty good kisser yourself, what with Hal thankin' you and all."
"I was thanking her for removing my bloodlust, at least temporarily," Hal's voice was clipped, polite. "She did me a great service. I haven't felt this…human…in centuries. Not perfectly human, as in our dream world, but approaching normal, somehow." He nodded to Lena. "Again, thank you," he said awkwardly.
"I don't know how long it will take the curse to rebuild its strength in you," she replied. She decided to lower the tension a billion notches by playing it casual. "You should be okay long enough to have that quick wash and change of clothes you wanted. Not saying you need to."
"That would be wonderful," he replied. "I most certainly do need to." Tom and Alex nodded their agreement, but their concern was palpable. Hal added, "If you will stay close to hand until I am secured again…"
"Of course. Although I'm surprised you asked."
"So am I. Hmm. Maybe your touch is more effective than you expected." He ventured a slight, lopsided smile.
"Well, that's a'right then, ain't it?" Tom said happily as he moved to unstrap his friend. "Hey Lena, can you get this rope off him?"
"You might want to use it again later. Maybe Alex should learn how to handle it," Lena said. Frankly, she didn't trust herself to be close to the vampire again, so soon. "Alex, just give it a tug and say 'Let go.'"
"That's it? I can do that," Tom said.
"It won't work for you, Tom," Lena explained as he tugged unsuccessfully at the bola. "You have a curse. It doesn't respond to cursed beings, sorry."
"It ain't a curse, it's a rare gift. McNair said."
"Never mind Tom, the thing's just contrary," Alex soothed the young werewolf as she tugged on the bola. "Let go." It dissolved from around Hal and reappeared, coiled, in her hand. "Cool! Can you teach me to tie him up in it again?"
Hal glared at the ghost as Tom helped him stand from the chair. He struggled upright stiffly and stretched as he went. "C'mon mate, I'll help you upstairs." Tom half-carried the vampire forward.
Alex watched them go, on guard against any sign that Mr. Creepy was returning. Finally she relaxed and turned to Lena. "Seriously, you have to teach me how to use this thing!"