Lena awoke to the sound of Hal counting.

"189…190…191…192…"

He was doing some kind of exercise in his room. She hopped out of bed and went to his door to see what was up. As she touched it, she heard him call to her with panic in his voice.

"Stop! Don't open it!" And suddenly he was there, against the door. She heard him rest his head on it and inhale deeply. He was drawing in her scent.

"What's up?" she asked, knowing full well the answer.

"I seem to have regressed," he replied.

"How much?"

"I considered tearing through the wall to get to you while you slept."

"But you didn't."

"I suspected that the noise would alert you to my plan, thereby rendering it ineffective," he said. "I also feared that a hole in the wall would lead to another round of extensive renovation that my nerves simply cannot handle at this point."

"Both excellent and logical thoughts," she said. "So you are thinking clearly, which means you are doing better than you were last night."

"Yes," he said. "I want your blood."

"You can't have it."

"Just a sip would do, I assure you."

"Not happening."

Tom and Alex appeared in the hall, drawn by the conversation and by their concern for their friends.

"Good morning Tom," Hal through the door.

"Mornin' Hal. How ya feelin'?"

"A bit thirsty, Tom. I don't suppose you can hand me a glass of Lena's blood? A small glass will do. A dram. A sip."

"Sorry mate, I don't think she'd like me tryin' that," Tom replied.

"Alex?"

"Fuck off, Mr. Creepy," she replied.

"Ah. It seems we are at an impasse," Hal said.

"I'll have to draw off the curse again," Lena said. "Stand back so I can open the door."

"I had hoped I wouldn't have to put you through that again," Hal said sadly, "and I'm not sure that I won't leap at you as soon as the door opens."

"We'll give it a minute, then. Do you have a shirt on? Your pert little nipples started this whole mess, so I'd appreciate it if you put a shirt on before I come in."

"Just a moment," Hal said, and he forced himself two steps away from the door and got his shirt off the bed and put it on. He returned to the door and leaned against it, his hands splayed along its surface, searching for her through the wood.

Lena stood against the door, eyes closed, humming "We are the Champions" by Queen. She was convincing herself not to give up on this whole endeavor, not to open the door and be just a bit careless, a second too slow, and give Hal the chance to have the blood he so desperately wanted. Nobody would know the difference; nobody would blame her. It would be easy, and she would have her life back. All she had to do was let him die. She sighed. The problem was, she didn't actually want him dead. When did that happen?!

"Well, shit," she said more to herself than anyone else. "I'm coming in."

She opened the door and saw him, wild-eyed and tense, the curse dark again and beating in time with her heart. He held out his arm like a traffic cop at a crosswalk, warning her to stop. She didn't stop.

Lena held out her own arm, palm toward his, and walked slowly forward. She hoped to make contact before he turned on her. Hal took a step back and threw out his other arm as if he were trying to push her away. She raised her other arm to match his. Good. More contact area.

Tom and Alex watched them from the doorway. Lena knew that there was no privacy here, no chance to recall Nastusia. She would have to do this the hard way and hope they all lived through it.

Hal's eyes went black and his nostrils flared as he prepared to leap at her, but she had reached his hands with her own and she twined her fingers through his, locked them together, and drew off the curse as he wrestled to free himself from her grasp.

She pushed him back against the wall and kept him at arms' length as the vampire hissed and howled at her, but she could see the curse moving off of him and she felt herself getting heavy with it again. She didn't want to hurt him like she had when the curse had first attacked her, the kiss from hell in the chair when they first met. She didn't feel the hunger overpowering her. It was much weaker today. She could manage it.

Lena watched his eyes and waited for them to become human again. "Come on, Hal, come back to me," she said. "I know you're in there. Come on, man, we can do this, we got this, come back to me, man, come back to me." She spoke the words as a litany, to give him something to reach for, and he did. His eyes cleared and his tension eased and finally he was back to normal, which for Hal meant that the curse was a pale quiet blush over him.

He smiled at her sadly. "Thank you."

"You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen on a man," she replied. "Now excuse me while I go puke some blood."

She walked out of his room and went to the bathroom to throw up. She didn't want to waste the energy on traveling elsewhere. She finished quickly and flushed and scrubbed the toilet, wiped down the floor just in case, washed her face and brushed her teeth, and returned to Hal's room. Alex was already there, yelling at him.

"What do you mean, she has to throw up blood? She has to throw up blood?! What have you done to her?"

"It is an unfortunate by-product of dealing with the vampire curse, Alex. I can't help it, so for Christ's sake stop yelling at me about it!" Hal replied.

"He's right, Alex. It is what it is, so lay off him, alright?" Lena said as she looked at him. "You okay?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to get dressed, then." She did so and rejoined them shortly in her standard jeans and t-shirt ensemble. Today's shirt advertised Bob's Bait and Tackle, Home of the Original Wriggly Jiggler Lure, Guaranteed to Catch Fish or Your Money Back.

"I'm headed for the kitchen. If I don't get my coffee pretty soon I'm likely to tear someone a new asshole," she said in her usual refined manner. They went downstairs together, with Alex ahead of them. Tom was already at breakfast.

"You are an endless fountain of colloquialisms. Would you like me to cook your breakfast this morning?" Hal asked with a wicked little smile as they walked into the kitchen. "A nice fry-up, perhaps?"

"Bleurgh! Fuck you, Fangboy, I'll be lucky to keep down dry toast after the start I've had." But she laughed and he joined her, glad to see that she could joke with him again. It meant that she was doing okay.

"You two are disgusting!" Alex said. "I can't even decide which of you is worse. I'm going to work with Tom today. At least he knows how to behave."

Tom looked quite pleased to have Alex's company. "Maybe we can work on your tangibility, if you like," he said.

"You're working on your tangibility?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, it was Tom's idea," Alex explained. "Whenever I touch something I have to tell him what it feels like, so I have to make myself feel it."

"Sometimes I just throw stuff at her," Tom said happily, "and she has to catch it with her hands. She's getting real good at it, hardly ever misses."

"Tom says that the best thing is to catch me off guard, so I do it before I think that maybe I can't," Alex explained. "It works pretty well. I think I'm gonna try kissing next."

"Alex, you already know how to kiss," Hal said as Tom blushed and lowered his head. "We've established that."

"Yeah, but that was you kissing me, being all smooth and sexy and I wasn't thinking," Alex replied. "That's why it worked. I want to be the one to do the kissing, but Tom won't cooperate."

"Aw, Alex, we're mates," Tom said. "I don't go around kissin' me mates."

"C'mon Tom, who else am I gonna practice with? I've got to be ready, in case I find a ghost who knows how to shag."

"I'm late for work," Tom said, and he rushed out the door with Alex following him.

Hal shook his head as he watched them go. "Poor Tom."

"Why?" Lena asked.

"Tom has a very limited understanding of the world of adult sexuality and virtually no experience," Hal said. "His father kept him woefully in the dark."

"Haven't you told him anything?"

"I mentioned the birds and the bees, but he didn't get the connection," Hal said. "I believe he went to the library for some basic research."

"I'll sit him down and have a talk," Lena said. "He's got to know what he's getting into." She looked at Hal, expecting him to agree with her, but he simply looked puzzled. "You saw Alex. One of these days she's going to figure herself out, and she's going to ride that boy until he breaks."

"Oh, shit." The lightbulb went on in Hal's brain. "She'll ruin him, corrupt him beyond all recognition. We must prepare him for the onslaught."

"Right. We have the talk. Tonight."

# # #

Before the talk with Tom came the conference call with the team Lena had assembled to track Hetty. She gave Hal a headset for his laptop so he could join the video conference when introduced. She sat in the boudoir chair and he took the desk in her room, with the assumption that he might want to take notes while getting caught up on the team's activities. She logged them on and saw the split screens containing her empty desk chair along with the team leaders from each of the populated continents.

"Hello all, thanks for setting aside the time," Lena began. "and sorry for the construction noises in the background. We are doing a renovation. Nevertheless, I want you to meet the man I believe will be a big help in our efforts to find Hetty."

"Will he be joining us soon?" asked her African team leader.

"In fact, I am already here," Hal replied. "You won't be able to see me on your screens. I am a vampire."

Lena ignored the shocked expressions on her team leaders' faces and continued her introduction. "This is my housemate, Hal Yorke. Hetty has put a substantial price on his head, so we would like to find her as quickly as possible."

"As an Old One, I have in the past been privy to Mr. Snow's worldwide network of hideouts and escape routes, as Hetty would be also, of course," Hal said. "I had been out of touch with the Old Ones for several decades before their demise, but Mr. Snow was a creature of habit, and I would imagine that a substantial part of his network is still in place as I remember it. Hetty is very likely using it to move about undetected."

With that, Hal took control of the meeting, got everyone's names and geographic coverage areas, and spent the rest of the morning detailing where on each continent and within each region they should concentrate their efforts. His memory was astonishing.

Lena eventually left the video part of the conference so she could work on other things, but she maintained an audio link in order to follow along. Hal didn't need her for this.

He did need her to monitor the curse, and as the day progressed she saw the particular darkening and throbbing that signaled his awareness of her heartbeat and increased hunger for her blood. She slid her hand across the desk so they could make contact. He shook his head; he wanted to control it for himself. She narrowed her eyes and gave him the 'don't make me come over there' look.

He reluctantly placed his hand over hers and she grasped it and drew off the curse until he was back to himself. It barely affected her, and she decided that catching it early might be the best idea.

The conference lasted through lunch, so Lena excused herself briefly and ran to the kitchen for food, after which her team leaders got to watch the invisible man eat while continuing to direct the meeting.

Finally, nearly six hours after it had begun, everyone was satisfied with the information Hal had provided and plans were in place for renewed efforts to track the elusive Hetty. Lena took over the meeting in order to bring it to a close.

"Right, we will communicate as usual, daily emails through the secure server, general messages on our closed Facebook group, and tweets for immediate contact," she said. "And don't forget Tumblr for any photographs and notes that need immediate worldwide dispersal." She looked at Hal. "We have several roleplay accounts that allow us to speak freely. Our encryption/decryption software is quite good."

"How will we communicate with Mr. Yorke?" asked the South American team leader.

"He's already set up and I'm sending you the links to his email, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts," Lena replied. "What do you think I've been doing all day?" She turned to Hal. "Welcome to the company, Hal. You're my employee now."

"In that case, we should discuss my salary," he said coolly.

"Tell me what you think you're worth," she said, "and don't lowball the figure, because you just became the guy in charge of the worldwide hunt for Hetty."

Her team leaders nodded their approval of her decision. They were already comfortable with the idea. Hal, on the other hand, was shocked and glad that nobody could see the look on his face except Lena. "I'll—have to think about it," he replied.

"Think about it while I walk you through our communications network," Lena replied. They ended the conference call and she showed him the accounts she had set up for him. He spent the rest of the afternoon reviewing and learning about the team's efforts since its establishment immediately after Stoker's. Lena had been telling the truth. She had been after Hetty for months.

"Why have you been so focused on Hetty?" he asked.

"I thought she was the last Old One," Lena explained. "My long-term goal is the extinction of your species, and with you gone I planned to get back into it. Just wasn't sure how, yet. Catching her was my first step."

Lena gave Hal the job of finding Hetty because it looked like he could handle it, and because the more he had to do, the less time she had to spend babysitting him. It was a simple as that for her. She wasn't trying to compliment his leadership skills or show her faith in him, she just wanted to keep him occupied. As Hal had both a vested interest in finding Hetty and some management experience, it seemed like the best job for him.

Hal read much more into her decision than she had intended.

# # #

Lena didn't get too worked up over the idea of having 'the talk' with Tom. She figured something would present itself, and she was right. She and Hal were washing up the supper dishes while Tom put away leftovers when Alex got the ball rolling.

She asked, "Hal freaks out over your blood, yeah? So what happens when you have your monthly?"

The question brought Hal to a standstill as he considered the ramifications of what Alex was saying. Lena wasn't fazed, however.

"I don't have a monthly."

"Ah, too old, eh?" Alex asked, a bit snidely.

"Nope. I never have had one."

"So, no kids then," Alex said.

"I've had children," Lena said calmly as she continued to dry and stack the dishes.

"How's that work? You just get pregnant whenever you have sex? Is that why you lived alone for so long?"

"For Christ's sake, Alex," Hal snapped, "do you not realize how intrusive this is?"

"It's okay, Hal," Lena said. "This isn't the first time I've dealt with these questions. No, Alex, I don't get pregnant every time I have sex. Most women don't, for that matter."

"So, how does it work then?"

"Well, Alex, when a man and a woman love each other very much they decide to become a daddy and a mommy and they call the stork who drops by with a perfect healthy baby," Lena said sarcastically. "What do you mean, how does it work?"

"I know how it works, but how does it work with you? Do you like, lay an egg or something? How can you have a kid without a monthly?"

"How can I do most of the things I can do? All I know is that when I'm in a relationship, a solid, long-term relationship that feels like it could last for the lifetime of my partner, I'm able to get pregnant. I can't explain it any more than I can explain how wings appear when I need them. It just happens." Lena sat the kitchen table with a cup of tea as she spoke, and Tom sat down across from her.

"Where are your kids?" he asked. "Do you see 'em much?"

"I have outlived them," she said quietly, and watched Tom's eyes fill with sorrow. He knew what it meant to lose your family.

"Aw, Lena, I'm sorry," he said, and he quietly put his hand over hers.

"Thanks. I keep track of most of my descendents, though," she added with a weak smile. "I still have those, at least."

"I only had McNair," Tom said. "I don't know about having descendents."

"Tom, it occurs to me that you may not know much about having children in general, or the process that is involved," Lena said.

"I don't." Tom shook his head in honest agreement with her. "McNair said that virginity was a precious flower, and I shouldn't pluck it for just anyone. But he never told me about the plucking when I found the one I wanted to pluck with. I went to the library, but the diagrams was confusing."

"Okay, so what do you want to know?"

"Everything?"

"Then let's start with the mechanics of sex," Lena said. She noticed that Hal and Alex had refrained from joining them at the table and had chosen instead to stay across the kitchen. Hal leaned against the sink with his arms folded and Alex perched on the countertop. Cowards, Lena thought.

"So Tom, are you interested in girls, guys, or both?"

"Girls, just girls," Tom replied hastily. He was already beginning to blush.

"Great. You spent a lot of time in the woods growing up, so you must have seen animals mating, right?"

"Yep."

"People have the same basic equipment as most mammals, as you probably have noticed."

Tom nodded.

"So the question is, how do your parts and her parts fit together, right?"

He nodded again.

"Okay. You know, Tom, a penis is multi-purpose. You can pee with it when it is just hanging around, and you can have sex with it when it is erect."

Alex snickered at Lena's description of the male anatomy. Hal gave her a 'shush' look. He thought Lena had done a good job and explained it in a way Tom would understand.

"Women have two separate holes for those things, a small one for peeing and a bigger one for sex. The one for sex is also the one that babies come out of and the one that our monthly blood comes out of, for those of us who have that. You know about a woman's monthly and about the womb and babies, right?"

"Yeah. I found pictures at the library," he replied.

"In order to have sex you have to find your partner's vagina, that's what the channel to the outside of our bodies is called, and push your penis into it," Lena said. "

Hal shifted uncomfortably as Lena's explanation became specific and graphic. He wasn't expecting her to be so matter-of-fact and had hoped for more theory and less step-by-step detail. Alex was now staring determinedly at the floor.

Lena continued, "There's more to it than that, obviously. You need to have an erection for it to work right, and you don't just sit there. You want to move back and forth and maybe a little side to side, depending on what gets you excited. The goal is to get very excited so you can ejaculate, which puts your sperm inside your partner so she can get pregnant."

"What if I don't want her to get pregnant?"

"Use birth control. Every time. You can still enjoy sex with your partner if you're careful."

Tom nodded and so did Hal. Good advice for a young man. No longer necessary for a dead man, of course. There were benefits to being a vampire.

"That's the mechanics of sex. It is also the least important part. The most important part is that you respect yourself and your partner, and treat each other well, and be kind to each other. Sex will be a disaster if you don't."

"Tom, your body is the first thing you possess when you come into the world and the last thing you give up when you leave. It is a very valuable part of yourself. Do not give your body away lightly, or trust strangers to treat it well. Because they won't and you will get hurt."

"You sound like McNair," Tom said, "only nicer and not as nervous."

Lena laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Sounds old-fashioned to me," Alex spoke up from the counter. "What's wrong with having fun, you know, a little drink, a little sex, a little party? That's what we do these days." She was clearly suggesting that Lena was out of touch, for which Hal casually backhanded her on the arm. "Ow, that hurt," Alex said as she rubbed her arm and glared at him. Tangibility had its disadvantages.

"This is hardly the first culture to encourage sexual freedom, Alex," Lena said. "And it all sounds fun and harmless until you wake up after a blind drunken orgy with no idea how many dicks you've had or in what orifices."

Lena realized she may have said too much when she saw the shocked expressions on Tom and Alex's faces and the blatant desire on Hal's. She hastened to add, "Which only happened once and which is why I will never touch passum again."

"There's a reason I don't drink Kia-Ora," Hal said with a conspirator's smile. He could personally relate to her story.

Lena decided to forge ahead with her lesson, so she turned back to Tom. "When you have sex with another person you share the most intimate part of yourself, and you give a piece of yourself to your partner. You can't undo that. It changes you. Great sex is the best thing on earth, but bad sex will ruin you, so be careful. And if your partner ever pushes you to do something you don't want to do, throw her out, because she does not have your best interest at heart."

Tom nodded. "I think I know what you're saying, but I still have some questions."

She waited for him to ask one, but he didn't. He just squirmed in his chair and blushed.

"On to anatomy then, shall we?" Lena asked with a knowing smile.

Tom nodded, relieved that he didn't have to speak.

"Your anatomy is easy, Tom, it's all pretty much out there for anyone to see. Your partner shouldn't have too much trouble getting you excited, as long as you let her know what you like and don't like when she touches you."

Alex snorted. She could vouch for the ease with which men got excited. She hadn't found much that a guy didn't like about being touched. She looked at Hal. He appeared to be lost in a memory, a half-smile on his face.

"But a woman's anatomy is a whole different thing. We are like buried treasure, you have to invest some time finding us," Lena said. "A woman has folds of tissue that cover her sex organs. You have to get in between the folds to find them. You need to carefully feel your way along. She's very delicate in that area, so you don't want to hurt her. You'll find her vagina; it will be moist, hopefully very wet and a bit slick if she is excited. It self-lubricates to prepare for sex."

"That's dead convenient, ain't it?" Tom said, marveling at the wonder of the female body.

"It is very handy, and it is a good signal that she's as interested as you are. If she isn't nice and wet, you'll have to work on getting her to that point, so it won't hurt when you stick your penis in her."

"How do I do that?"

"She will probably be able to tell you. Most people like kisses, you have to try out a few and see which kinds you like best. Some people like to have their necks and shoulders kissed—"

"Unless you're dating a vampire," Alex muttered, for which Hal casually backhanded her arm again.

"—some people like to have their ears kissed or nibbled on. Most people like to have their breasts touched. Really, any area that feels good when you touch it with your hand is probably also a good area to kiss. Finding out is part of the fun."

"Okay, got it." Tom was invested in the lesson now. His embarrassment was gone.

"So, you found her vagina and it is nice and moist so you know she's interested. But you want her to be really, really interested. Move up from her vagina, toward the front of her body just a bit, and you'll find her clitoris. It is a little bump of tissue that is loaded with nerve endings and is extremely sensitive to touch. Like the tip of your penis."

Tom's eyes got big and his eyebrows nearly leapt off his head. He understood the reference.

"Invest a little time with it, Tom, and your partner will be very happy. When you have spent time enjoying each other and when you are sure you are both ready, you have sex. With birth control. Unless you are certain that you want to have a baby." Lena sat back in her chair, the lesson ended.

Hal breathed a sigh of relief. She really had been very explicit and he had been able to visualize it very clearly as she spoke. He was beginning to get hungry, and not for a sandwich. He suspected that the curse was giving him away to Lena's ever-observant eye.

"So that's it? That's everything?" Tom was impressed with how easy it had all been to understand.

"Well, it's enough to start, at least," Lena replied. "Some things are best discovered as you go along."

"Thanks Lena, thanks for tellin' me," Tom said as he stood up and started out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Tom? One more thing," Lena said as she also got up from the table. "Masturbation is perfectly normal, for men and women. Just don't make too much noise and clean up after yourself, okay?"

"Okay!" Tom strode over and gave Lena an awkward hug before running up the stairs to his room.

"You don't think he's going to—" Alex didn't finish the sentence. "You know what? I don't want to know. You did great with him, Lena. Not a stutter or a blush."

"I've had children. I'm an old hand at the talk." Lena shrugged off the compliment.

"I wish my mum had done half as good," Alex said as she hopped off the countertop. She went to the living room to watch television, and to think about what Lena had said.

"That was quite impressive," Hal said. "Much better than I could have done, and frankly I wouldn't have said anything about respect or kindness, as they aren't a consideration for vampires. You prepared him well."

"I hope so."

"Now, about that blind drunken orgy…"

"Never in a million years, Fangboy. Not one more syllable will I utter." Lena looked at him. "Can you tell it is getting strong again?" The curse had darkened and was moving in time with her heartbeat again.

"Yes. I should not have paid such close attention to your discussion. I'm not sure which I want more right now, your blood or your sex. Actually, drinking your blood while having sex would be perfect," he said matter-of-factly.

"Of course, you will be getting neither my blood nor my sex. I can offer to remove some of the curse from you, but you are on your own for the rest," she said.

"Right. Don't make too much noise and clean up after myself. I was paying attention," Hal replied sarcastically. "Are you quite certain you wouldn't like to have sex? I'm very skilled. You would enjoy it, I promise you." He had moved closer to her as he spoke; his voice had become a seductive purr.

Lena ignored the thrill down her spine and the empty ache in her belly; she also ignored the voice in her head that was screaming 'Of course you're skilled you jackass! Who do you think taught you those skills?' She wondered how many thousand women had fallen for that voice and those skills and died because of it. She shook her head.

"And yet respect and kindness aren't a consideration for you. No thank you, Hal. I require more of my lovers than just skill. Hold out your hands," Lena said, and she took his hands and drew the curse of her blood from him again, for the third and last time that day.

The following day Hal only required her assistance twice. After that the hunger was manageable and no longer reached the point that it required her intervention. Whenever he touched her, however, her blood sang to him, a tantalizing melody that harmonized with the humming of his own body and warned him that if she ever allowed him to get close to her he should avoid kissing her neck.