0200

Mary and Elizabeth went to the living room, only to find the dead
bodies of the two guards. The third guard's body was still on the
front stoop, and could be seen through the open door.

"We should get the other body inside, where it isn't visible to the
humans," Elizabeth said.

"Sit," Mary said, "I'll take care of it."

While Mary was dragging the corpse of the other vampire inside,
Elizabeth said, "This is typical of how Thomas acts. I'm surprised
Night was allowed to live, except that he needs her.

"In his mind he's been humiliated. He's probably decided to kill both
of us when he has the chance."

"Well," Mary said, dropping the Enforcer's arms and closing the door,
"I'm sure he wants me dead. You, however, seem to have a little more
leeway with him."

"He and I have been through a great deal together, but nothing like
these past few months. And what he was doing to me... He's never
treated me like that. He can be mean and brutal, but it was never like
that before."

"You were never his slave," Mary responded. "Let's get you cleaned up
and dressed."

Walking upstairs, Elizabeth asked, "Did he treat you like that often?"

"Yes, but that's over now. I'm sorry that you had to see the darkest
side of your sire, but I assume you can understand why I hate him."

"Yes. Yes, I do," Elizabeth answered, walking into the bathroom. She
turned on the shower and dropped the rags she had around her. Her body
was bruised and bloody. She had open wounds on her back that she could
only see in the mirror, but could feel constantly.

Her breasts were bitten and clawed. In some places he actually chewed
flesh from her body. She could still feel the burning in her rectum.
She didn't dare look to see what damage he had caused.

Her pristine body was marred and violated. She hated him for it. She
understood Mary's hate. Part of her wanted to give up and die, part of
her wanted revenge, and still another part wanted to pretend that it
had never happened. The wounds, however, would take years to heal, so
she knew she wouldn't be able to forget what the beast did to her.

Mary, who was standing in the doorway watching, said, "It's not your
fault."

Elizabeth looked up before stepping into the shower. She said, "I know
this isn't about me. It's him. It's just that these wounds are going
to take forever to heal. I'll probably be able to feel them for
months."

After finishing her shower, Elizabeth stepped out to find Mary sitting
on the toilet holding out a towel. She took the towel, saying, "Thank
you," and began to dry herself off.

Mary stood up and unbuttoned her shirt. She exposed her breasts to
Elizabeth. "That's your sire's brand," she said, pointing to her scar.
"My sire wanted me to let it heal over before he made me. I told him
I wanted to keep it so I could remember."

Elizabeth held her towel to her chest and said, "At one point I would
have asked why you wanted to remember, but now I think I understand."

Buttoning her shirt, Mary said, "Sometimes it gives me the strength to
go on. Even if that strength comes from hate."

"In some way, it seems we are sisters," Elizabeth said.

"In a most unfortunate way," answered Mary.

Without saying anything else, Elizabeth walked into one of the rooms
and started to dress. Mary followed and helped. It was difficult for
Elizabeth to put clothing on, but she managed to wear a loose fitting
shirt and a skirt.

"I'm worried about Sabastian," Elizabeth said quietly, buttoning the
last shirt button.

"So am I," Mary responded. "We've both seen this before."

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