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Sabastian held his fist poised to crush Thomas' head,
but didn't move. His fist stared to tremble, as if he
didn't want to throw the blow, but someone or
something was trying to force him.

Elizabeth cried, "Sabastian, please, you're
frightening me."

As she ended her sentence, Sabastian's body relaxed.
He looked over at Elizabeth and she saw that whatever
had taken hold of him had left. Sabastian was back.
But, as suddenly as it left, the cloud of anger
returned.

Sabastian tensed again and his fist began to shake.
Just as he began to throw the punch, Elizabeth
screamed, "No!"

Thomas closed his eyes, Mary smiled, and Night ran to
her sire's side.

The force of Sabastian's hand was so strong, his arm
went completely through the cement block wall. With
his arm all the way to his shoulder in the wall, he
released his grip on Thomas' neck.

Thomas slid down the wall and opened his eyes. It had
been hundreds of years since he had felt true fear.
Since someone had credibly threatened his life. He
looked up at Sabastian, who's body was still shaking
with anger.

His arm had just missed Thomas' head. Still unable to
speak, he crawled to Night, who helped her sire up.
Without a word, the pair fled.

Neither Mary nor Elizabeth moved to stop their escape.
They both just watched Sabastian.

After several minutes, Elizabeth climbed to her feet
and walked to him. She was afraid to touch him, but
did anyway, saying, "Sabastian," as her fingers
caressed his hair.

As soon as she touched him, his body relaxed. He
pulled his arm from the wall and slumped down against
it, his face hidden in his hands. Although there was
cement dust all around him, there was none on him.
Not even on the hand he thrust into the wall.

Elizabeth fell behind him and put her arms around his
body. She held him for several minutes before he
dropped his hands from his face.

"They wanted him dead," Sabastian said so weakly that
Elizabeth didn't hear him.

"What, my dear?"

Slightly louder, he said, "I could not control them.
They wanted him to die."

"Who wanted Thomas to die?"

Sabastian stood up and walked across the room. "The
souls," he said, looking blankly at a wall. "The
souls."

"I don't understand," Elizabeth said, standing and
walking toward him. She no longer cared about her
nudity and the pain of the attack had already
subsided.

"I need to be alone. I do not understand what has
happened. They, they have never done this before."

"Done what?" Elizabeth asked, reaching out to touch
Sabastian.

"The yelling, the anger, all of them. All at once. I
could not fight it. I could not contain them."

Mary, who had been watching silently up until that
point, got up and took Elizabeth by the arm. "We
should get you cleaned up."

"Sabastin needs me," Elizabeth protested.

He turned to her and said, "No, I need to be alone."

"If... If that's what you want," she answered.

He turned away saying nothing.

"Come, you should clean yourself off and put some
clothing on," Mary said, leading Elizabeth up the
stairs.

"I'm worried about him," Elizabeth said to Mary.

"It's too late for that."

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen our kind act like this before. He's going
insane. The power of the blood is too much for him."

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