a cell for so long. A hundred years earlier and she would have been burned—I would know—burned at the stake for her visions. In the nineteen-twenties it was the asylum and the shock treatments and the salt baths and the therapy circles and the constant beration of one's own mental hygiene as sullied, incorrectably filthy—when she opened her eyes, strong with her freshhot youth, it was like she'd never seen the sun before. The old vampire made her a strong new vampire, and there was no reason for me to touch her then." He sighed. "Even though I really wanted to. With my plans ruined, I had little choice but to destroy the old one in vengeance."
"Alice," I breathed, astonished.
"Yes, your little friend. I was surprised to see her in the clearing. So I guess her coven ought to be able to derive some comfort from this experience. I get you, but they get her. The one victim who escaped me; quite an honor, actually.
"And she did smell so delicious. I still regret that I never got to taste... She smelled even better than you do. It was like a freshly cut peach, perfectly ripe... Sorry—I don't mean to be offensive. You have a berry nice smell. Floral, somehow..."
He took another step toward me 'til he was just inches away. He lifted a lock of my hair and sniffed at it delicately. Then he gently patted the strand back into place, and I felt his cool fingertips against my throat. He reached up to stroke my cheek once quickly, with his thumb, his face curious. I wanted so badly to run, but I was frozen. I couldn't even flinch away. Literally!
"No," he murmured to himself as he dropped his hand, "I don't understand." He sighed. "Well, I suppose we should get on with it. And by it, I mean sucking out all of your blood into my mouth. Then I can call your friends and tell them about it, and where to find the video. Something tells me they'll want to see it."

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Chapter 22

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