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"Why did you want to avoid Mary?" Sabastian asked, as he and Susan walked down toward the park in which the beach resided.

"What Mina was doing to you she did to Mary, but Mary's doesn't know it."

"Yes, I assume that is true.  How did you know what she was doing?"

"I just did," Susan answered.

"Yes, of course," Sabastin said with a smile, putting his hand on the little girl's head.  "Still, I am surprised she is so powerful."

"Everyone's special in some way," Susan said.  "You do the same thing with some people.  She's just better at it."

"You are correct, but her ability to control was so strong," he said, as they reached the beach, "I did not know until she attacked you."

"I know."

"If you were not with me, I would have been a willing slave."

"That's why I was with you," Susan said before crouching over to poke through a pile of seaweed that was washed up on the sand.

Sabastian crouched beside her and examined the pile with her.

"You know she didn't tell us the truth, right?" Susan said, as she used a stick to pick up a long strand of the slimy green seaweed.

"Yes, I am aware of that. It concerns me, but I do not believe her lie, or, rather, her lack of full disclosure is a danger to us.  I believe she is hiding something about Thomas and her sire.  I do not think it involves us."

"Not yet anyway," the little girl responded.

Sabastian looked up at her, but didn't ask the obvious question.  He knew that Susan either didn't know what she meant by that statement or didn't wish to share what she did know.

He loved Susan as he loved his own child.  He knew she loved him from what he felt from her and from her actions, especially from her actions.  Susan knew exactly what a vampire was and how powerful they were, and yet she confronted Mina. And not just with words, she physically confronted a being she knew could kill her.

There was something special about Susan, this was clear to almost everyone who knew her.  But there was also something very special about the bond he shared with her.

Sabastian didn't know how to put it into words.  He wasn't sure if he even needed to.  He was sure, however, that his love for this child was deeper than anything he had felt since he was human.  It moved him, consumed him, all that mattered was Susan.  He would give his life for her if he had to.

He knew she would share what she knew when the time was right.

Sabastian broke out of his thoughts as he watched Susan wave toward the park.  Sabastian looked up to see what appeared to be the figure of a man disappear into the night.  Or, at least, it could have been a man.  He wasn't sure.  It could have been a wisp of fog.

"What did you wave at?" he asked.

"Nothin," she said.

"Is there someone watching us?"

Susan stopped what she was doing, looked up, and said, "There's always someone watching us.  I figured you knew that."

"Who is always watching us?"

"God.  Or the other one."




[Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006. All rights reserved.]