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"Hello," I say to this person I haven&039;t spoken to since the dawn of history

"Did you enjoy ?" he asks, his back still to ," I say

He nods as he turns "I want it to end, Sita"

The years have not changed his appearance Why does that surprise ed mine? I don&039;t know Yet I scrutinize hi in so many years, I think He cannot be the beast that he was He ses, the essence re Krishna told e"

"It is because we are unnatural"

"Yes Nature abhors the invader We are not welcome in this world"

"But you look well"

"I am not I am tired I wish to die"

"I don&039;t," I say

"I know"

"You tested ht"

"Yes"

"But I passed the test I don&039;t want to die Leave here Go do what youto do with it"

Yaksha shakes his head sadly, and that is one change in hi his eyes less cold Yet the sorrow scares lee used to Yaksha was always so full of life for a being that would later be labeled the undead

"I would let you go if I could," he says "But I cannot"

"Because of the vow you took with Krishna?"

"Yes"

"What were his words?"

"He told race if I destroyed the evil I had created"

"I suspected as much Why didn&039;t you destroy me?"

"There was time, at least in my mind He did not put a tio"

He watches me "You are very beautiful"

"Thank you"

"It warmed my heart to know your beauty still existed somewhere in the world" He pauses "Why do you ask these questions? You know I didn&039;t kill you because I love you"

"Do you still love o"

"I cannot I am sorry, Sita, truly"

"Is it so irave "It is why I cahoran priest did not call me, I caet away frorace"

"But you tried to destroy Krishna?"

Yaksha shrugs as if that is not important "The foolishness of youth"

"Was he God? Are you sure? Can we be sure?"

Yaksha shakes his head "Even that does not matter What is God? It is a word Whatever Krishna e both knoas not soesture to the waves "Then the line has been drawn The sea meets the shore The infinite tells the finite what is supposed to be I accept that But you are faced with a problem You do not knohat Krishna said toThe truth is obvious He told you not to make another of your kind, and he would protect you"

"Yes It is a paradox If you try to destroy ainst his word If you do not try, then you are damned"

Yaksha is not moved by my words He is a step ahead of me; he alas He points to the house with his flute Ray continues to stand beside the atching us

"I have watched you particularly close the last three days," he says "You love this boy You would not want to see hi in this moment But I speak harshly "If you use that as a threat to force me to destroy race It will be as if you struck me doith your own hands"

Yaksha does not respond with anger Indeed, he does see to you while you are protected by his grace I will force you to do nothing" He gestures to the setting sun, "It takes a night to ain, I will come back for you, for both of you By then you should be done Then you will be mine"

There is scorn in my voice "You are a fool, Yaksha The temptation toyears, and always I have resisted it I will not forsake my protection Face it, you are beaten Die and return to the black hell from where you came"

Yaksha raises an eyebrow "You know I alances toward the house, at Ray, then raises the flute to his lips He plays a single note, piercingly high I shake with pain as the sound vibrates through lass Theagainst which Ray is leaning I turn in tie headfirst onto the concrete driveway sixty feet below Yaksha grabs my arm as I move to run to him

"I wish it did not have to be this way," he says

I shake off his hand "I have never loved you You race before you die, but you will never have that"

He closes his eyes briefly "So be it," he says I find Ray in a pool of blood and a pile of glass His skull is crushed, his spine is broken Incredibly, he is still conscious, although he does not have long to live I roll hi from his mouth "I fell," he says

My tears are as cold as the ocean drops on my cheeks I putI wanted for you" "Is he going to let you go?" "I don&039;t know, Ray I don&039;t know" I lean over and hug hiles to scrape past it Just as the breath of his father struggled before it failed I remember I told the man that I could not heal, that I could only kill But that was only a half truth, I realize, even as I grasp the full extent of Yaksha&039;s plan to destroy me Once he used my fear to make me a vampire Now he uses ht, he is no fool I cannot bear to watch Ray die knowing the power in my blood can heal even his fatal injuries "I wanted to save you," he whispers He tries to raise a hand to touch round I sit up and stare into histo put love into them, where for so many years with so many other mortals I have only tried to put fear

"I want to save you," I say "Do you want me to save you?"

"Can you?"

"Yes I can put my blood in your blood"

He tries to sh my tears "Yes, you could become like me"

"Would I have to hurt people?"

"No Not all vampires hurt people" I touch his ruined cheek I haven&039;t forgotten Yaksha&039;s words about coreat deal"

"I love " His eyes slowly close He cannot finish

I lean over and kiss his lips I taste his blood

I will have to do more than taste it to help him

"You are love," I say as I open both our veins