No. No. I would have felt it. I would know. I would have felt it the second Reagan suffered her final death. I would know. No.

Eilidh sat in the living room of her apartment over the store and stared at the wall. Her daughter couldn't be dead. Flip had made a mistake. It wasn't true.

"Eilidh. Listen to me. Why would I tell you Reagan was dead if she wasn't? Why would I do that?" Flip was pacing the floor, too agitated to sit still.

Eilidh continued to stare at the wall. "I don't know, Flip. Why would you? Are you mad at me? Is this some kind of punishment? Did you seeher? Did you see actual, physical, evidence that Reagan was dead? Or is this just another silly rumour?"

Flip looked as if she was about to cry but Eilidh didn't care. She had no room for anyone else's feelings right now.

"Eilidh, honey. I went up the Cephas Mountain and saw Warin De Courcy. He did some digging for me and he spoke to someone high up in the Arcane Guild. He didn't give me a name, but this person said they'd received notice that a Reagan Taplin had been attacked by three witches in Venice and, as a result, had met her final death. The Guild are investigating the murder and you know they don't get involved in rumours. They only investigate if they know they need to. I'm so sorry, Eilidh, I wish it was better news."

"What witches? Why would witches attack Reagan? What was she doing in Venice? None of this makes sense! If she's dead, why does she still feel alive to me? Why don't I know she's dead? Why can't I feel it?"

"I don't know. I don't know! I wish I had some answers for you but I don't! The Guild are investigating the witches and you know they always get answers, we just have to wait. But, as for why you can't feel she's dead, I don't know, Eilidh. I truly don't. Maybe its because you two were…"

"What, Flip? What were we?"

"Estranged, shall we say. I don't know. Maybe these witches that killed her are behind why she wasn't talking to you? That would make sense, wouldn't it?"

"As much sense as anything else about this does, I guess."

The two vampires sat in silence for the next 10 minutes as each ran over the situation in their minds. Silence between vampires was never uncomfortable, it was their natural state, after all. Silent. And dead. But not gone. Not like Reagan now apparently was.

Eilidh felt the red warmth of tears on her cheeks and she reached out for her sire-sister's hand.

"She's really gone, Flip? Really?"

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Flip sat down beside Eilidh, "Yes, honey, she's truly gone. I'm so, so, sorry."

Eilidh and Flip wept bloody tears together.

*****

Karah grabbed the warm paper as it exited the printer and read the contents out loud to Miriam.

"Closed, at night, due to bereavement. The Quill & Query will be open only during daylight hours for the next few weeks, between 9am and 5pm. We thank you for your patience during this difficult time. What do you think?"

"That'll do it, Karah. If we put a copy on the door and another two or three on the windows, hopefully, they'll get the message. It will no doubt piss the vampires off, they're used to getting what they want, when they want, but they'll just have to lump it. Eilidh's what matters right now. God, I feel so bad for her."

Karah nodded her head, "Yes, it must be so hard to lose a child, vampire or otherwise. I know how deeply they love their own even if most of them have such contempt for any of the other races. Oh, and I've put a banner on the website too, so, people should get the message reasonably quickly."

"God, lets hope so. Eilidh will be on a really short fuse for the next few weeks and if the customers start griping she's likely to explode and start a war here in the Lights."

Karah laughed nervously. "You seem to know her quite well. How did you come to work for her? If you don't mind me asking…it's not really any of my business, I know. I'm just curious."

"Oh it's fine," Miriam said. "We met…umm…huh. Well, I can't remember our initial meeting, it just feels like I've always been here, looking after Eilidh. Weird. I'm sure it'll come to me, I'll get back to you then."

Karah thought it was strange that Miriam couldn't remember when she'd met a powerful vampire like Eilidh Moss but then she'd seen a few strange things since moving to Redbough.

Besides, it was none of her business really. It was only that she was starting to like Miriam and she loved working in the store. Being surrounded by books was her idea of heaven.

Karah said her goodbyes to Miriam and promised to be at the store bright and early the next morning. She intended to do some work on the internet site from her home that evening.

*****

Karah was on hyper-alert as she walked quickly towards the Village. It wasn't quite light yet but there would be plenty of night creatures wandering around. She would be much safer once she got to the unofficial boundary of the Village. It was almost as if there was a line there that the vampires wouldn't cross. They seemed to think that the Village, and its inhabitants, were beneath them. But then, humans were food to them.

Twenty minutes later Karah arrived at the small blue bus she called home. She felt the same sense of calm that she always did at the sight of her flower pots surrounding the steps into her home. She didn't notice the eyes that were watching her from the forest. She never did.

Vampires could also feel deep love. For their sire-siblings, their sire-born and they could even fall in love with other vampires. It was rare, but it did happen.

Eilidh certainly loved her sireborn and that bond was strengthened due to the fact that she hadn't had children before she was turned at 16. She knew the pain of losing Reagan was going to stay with her for centuries. And she knew that her other daughter, Gianna, was going to feel that pain too.

"Will you come with me to tell Gianna?" Eilidh asked Flip. She really didn't think she could manage the task on her own and she knew this conversation needed more than a phone call.

Flip nodded her head. "Of course I will. We'll go tomorrow night as soon as we rise. But tonight, we need to rest."