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Jereht Jessica wondered if Mary had ever known just what a friend she&039;d had
By the tione, herwhat comfort he could fro roo to wait for Except for Nancy and Jere they weren&039;t the right ones
Jessica sat with the Jeremy and Nancy for several minutes in near silence She had voiced her sorrow and had nothing left to say She felt stunned, though she knew she shouldn&039;t have been How could she have been so blind? But Sean had sent an officer, who had been on duty all night
Then Jere and told her that no one had been there but him, that he&039;d had horrible dreams every time he dozed, but no one else had been in the rooht grip on She pried his fingers open, then gasped when she sahat it was
Mary&039;s little silver cross
Again she da herself to speak, she asked, "Do you knohat the arrangements will be?"
His eyes were red, his face daht away, butit may be several days before the hospital releases the body"
"Oh?" Jessicato be an autopsy"
"I see"
"She&039;s in the hospital ue now"
Nancy looked at her helplessly "She died because of Transylvania I&039;ested softly
"Yes"
"Coet out of here Letto eat"
"I couldn&039;t I couldn&039;t s," Jeremy said
"You need to"
He looked at her blankly "Why?"
"Because you&039;re alive," she said softly "Whether you want to be right now or not And you have to do the things people do when they&039;re alive" She stood, pulling hi hilad to have a leader, stood, as well Jere?"
"My office We&039;ll order so"
Twentyfor pizza Jereh Jessica was afraid the alcohol ht enhance his misery, she knew he deserved a drink if that hat he wanted, so she ran down to the street and bought a six-pack
He looked a lot like Mary had, just staring ahead, occasionally sipping his beer
Suddenly he looked at Jessica
"They were vaht they were vampires, not nut jobs who like to drink blood Vampires"
Jessica exhaled softly, her expression skeptical
"You weren&039;t there You didn&039;t see," Nancy said, glaring at her She looked at Jere to die" She turned to face Jessica again "They&039;ll co her spine, but she hesitated, knowing she needed to speak carefully "All right," she said at last "Say that such creatures do exist Was either of you actually bitten?"
Jeremy and Nancy stared at each other
"No," Nancy said
"No," Jeremy echoed
Another silent moment passed
"Good God!" Jeremy said sickly
"What?" Jessica asked
"She&039;ll becoreed "Mary will beone of the undead" Her words were so dramatic that they would have been funny, if the situation hadn&039;t been so tragic
"It&039;s the truth," Jereht, listen Often truth is simply e believe it to be," Jessica said
"Don&039;t start with the psychobabble," Jererily
"I&039; as true-and I&039; to try to tell either of you that you&039;re mistaken or it&039;s all in your minds-then, in your life, at the very least, itis true So let&039;s say vampires do exist Make a list of ways to deal with them"
Nancy and Jerearlic?" Nancy asked
Jessica sious?"
"I was raised Catholic," Jere silver crosses would be good, then," Jessica said
"What if Mary was Jewish?" Nancy asked suspiciously
"Then I would suggest a great big Star of David," Jessica told her
"I see Because what&039;s important is that I believe that would stop a Jewish vaain, Jessica answered carefully "Here&039;s one way to look at it There is a supreument, we&039;ll ood But there&039;s evil in the world, and good or evil are in a constant battle for supreood, and that whatever killed Mary is evil So as representatives of good, you have to coarlic?" Nancy asked
"With whatever you believe ork," Jessica said
They needed to believe they could fight She was pretty sure she had accomplished that, at the least
"So what should we do now?" Nancy asked
"Go back to your doret what you need, then co set up for you No one will know you&039;re here" She paused, then offered a rueful sends, so don&039;t invite anyone in Anyone at all"
"Right A vampire can&039;t come in unless invited," Nancy said
"That&039;s the traditional thought," Jessica agreed
"We need holy water and crosses," Jere you need for a good night&039;s sleep," Jessica assured theain," Jeremy said
Jessica placed a hand on his "I wish I could riefit&039;s soes, but you have to live, too You have people who love you Think of how badly you&039;re hurting You wouldn&039;t want to hed deeply "Of course I want to live, of course It&039;s instinct, isn&039;t it?"
Oh, yes, he was right about that
She acknowledged his words with a slight smile and a nod Just then the pizza arrived, and both Nancy and Jeremy found themselves able to eat
In the
Nancy held him Jessica sat silently
Her heart seemed to bleed He was truly in misery
And he was truly afraid
There was little he could do
Little but be frustrated
Bryan chafed irritably through the rest of theand the early hours of the afternoon Jessica had befriended Jeremy and his fellow students, but he barely knew the to offer them after their loss
Jessica, pale and shaken, had been out of the house as soon as he finished telling the the sky all the while
At last the afternoon waned He had checked the tied, and, thanks to y, he had found the blueprints for the hospital online, as well as the current delegation of space
He arrived with ti his way first to the cafeteria
It was busy, which was good He took his tirab his opportunity when it ca a key card frolected to realize he had left it on his tray
After that, a supply roos Again, he took his ti he looked more like a MacDonald than a DeVries, Garcia or Gustafson Hell, maybe it didn&039;t matter This was America
After that, he walked down the halls with coht staircase and then reached the y had done little to alter the character of the place
There was a lone attendant, a youngoffered up his narossed in a sci-fi novel When Bryan entered, he glanced up looking guilty as his eyes fell back to the pages Then he dragged theain
"Sorry," he , DoctorMacDonald"
"Evening I need one of the bodies that cairl as over in Europe"
"Second cubicle on the left They&039;re all clearly tagged"
"Thanks"
Bryan started into the roohts suddenly went out, pitching the ue into a cold sea of blackness
An autopsy ue Jessica hoped and prayed that Mary ht not have becomewhat she was about to become, but the truth was, sheknew
The very fact that Bryan MacAllistair was here was a warning
But Mary hadn&039;t been alone at night That was the puzzle
In the end, it didn&039;t irl&039;s corpse That night
By day, there were so ht about calling Sean, but she decided she didn&039;t want him involved He was on his way up the cop ladder, and he didn&039;t need any questions being asked about his integrity Or his sanity No, this was so she had to take care of on her own
In a supply roo-crew jacket She already had a fake identification She also took a bucket and asolution She put on a head scarf and a ainst the fumes, and mumbled a feords with a French accent to the attendant on duty at the ue
She could hardly ask for the location of the body she was interested in; she would just have to find it
She urneys Five held the earthly re heart that the sixth was draped with a sheet but otherwise ehts went out
David Hayes swore softly in a blackout? And if so, why hadn&039;t the ehts kicked on?
Was it the whole hospital? Or just the ue?
He started to stand, then felt a hand on his shoulder
"Hey, handsome"
The whisper was soft, feminine and totally sexual He froze, even as her voice awakened his libido
Who the hell did he knoould seduce hiency lights flickered on to illuminate the room
His eyes widened His jaw dropped Lord
The most beautiful creature he&039;d seen in his whole life was standing in front of him
Totally naked
Blond and beautiful, with enormous breasts and a tiny waist Not an ounce of cellulite on her Her complexion was pale and perfect Her eyes were enor his lips "I&039;ve been waiting We&039;re alone, aren&039;t we?"
They weren&039;t alone, he thought There was a cleaning lady sohts would come back on anyyou," she said softly Her fingers trailed down his face He needed to tell her that they weren&039;t alone, but he couldn&039;t
He needed this job It was his way of h school He liked it He sat at the desk, and he read It was quiet, and it paid well, and it beat the hell out of sweating to death in a coffee house or a burger joint If he got caught, he could kiss it goodbye
He needed to tell her
But his lips wouldn&039;t work
He could only stare at her
Her hands were cold