Miriam woke a few minutes before her alarm was due to go off at 6am. She lay there thinking about what she needed to do that day and planned out her timetable in her head.

As much as she enjoyed Eilidh's company, she loved the quiet hours in the morning before the store got busy. She always had. Well, as far back as she could remember anyway.

Miriam got up, showered, dressed, and had a couple of pieces of toast with her morning coffee. The first and the last cup of the day always tasted the best to her.

When Miriam entered the Quill & Query she turned on the coffee machine on her way to the counter. Her regulars wouldn't be far away and they wouldn't be happy if they couldn't get their free coffee. But they were out of beans, she must have forgotten to stock up last night before she finished work. Eilidh wouldn't have thought to check.

Shit. She couldn't sneak out to the store to grab coffee this early in the morning but she was sure that Eilidh would have enough coffee upstairs to tide them over until she could take a break from customers.

She was nearly at the top of the stairs when a sudden pain bent her double. She felt like her whole body was on fire.

What the fuck is this?

She had never experienced anything like it before.

Miriam dropped to her knees and crawled up the next few stairs. The pain was becoming unbearable, it felt like her blood was literally boiling.

She managed to get Eilidh's door open while still on the floor but there was no answer to her shout. Miriam wouldn't have called for Eilidh normally, there was usually no point at sunrise, but by this stage, she was desperate for help and Eilidh was her only option.

Then she saw her. Eilidh. Standing in the morning sun.

The sliding doors were open and Eilidh was standing in the doorway. Just standing there, burning.

Burning!

Afterwards, Miriam couldn't explain how she'd managed it, but before she knew it, she was at the door and she was dragging a weakening Eilidh back inside.

"Eilidh! What are you doing!"

There was no answer. Eilidh was dead.

*****

Dead, for a vampire, is their natural state during the day. And when they've been involved in some trauma, such as near final death, there's no waking them until they heal.

Miriam stayed with her, wondering what she should do. And as she did, Eilidh's body started to heal. Her skin regenerated, her burns became scabs and then healed completely. The whole process took a few hours and the only time Miriam left her was for a few minutes when she rang Karah and asked her to come in to mind the store.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Miriam couldn't bear to leave her alone even though she knew she'd be fine. Well, physically fine. But, she couldn't understand why Eilidh would deliberately walk out into the sun. Maybe it was a spell? Some kind of compulsion? Was the same person who killed Reagan coming after Eilidh now?

Miriam knew she wasn't going to get any answers until Eilidh woke up and she was tired. Her own pain had gone but it seemed to have taken all her energy with it. She grabbed a pillow from the couch she was sitting on and laid down beside Eilidh.

And slept.

*****

Eilidh woke just before sunset and for a moment she was confused. She was on the floor of her living room, staring at her fireplace. The last thing she remembered was walking into the sun.

How did I get here?

Eilidh did a quick body scan and realized that she was perfectly healed. Not a mark on her, not a scar. She'd survived.

Oh God, I don't want to be here. I shouldn't have survived. Why am I still here?

That was when she saw Miriam. Eilidh grabbed her by the hair and dragged her up to her feet.

"You did this! You! Why?"

Miriam looked stunned, "I thought you must have been spelled or something. You wouldn't kill yourself. Would you?"

"Why not? What have I got to live for? My daughter is dead! Because of me! Why should I continue to exist? I'm a vampire! An abomination! I shouldn't even be here!"

Eilidh stormed into her bedroom and then came storming back out into the living room. She was furious with the girl and needed to pace.

Why do humans fear death so much? Is it because it comes so early to them? How dare she? How fucking dare she?

"You know you can't stop me forever, don't you? How did you even stop me this time? You're only a human, you don't have the strength. Who else was here?"

"No-one Eilidh, no-one. I…I don't know…I was feeling like shit, like…really ill. And I crawled up the stairs to get to you and then…I don't know. I saw you and then…I was pulling you back inside. Believe me, I don't know where I got the strength from either. I was feeling so bad."

"I don't care how you were feeling! It's not your place to interfere with anything I'm doing. I make my decisions, not you! And I want to die!"

Eilidh collapsed onto the sofa and cried. Genuine, blood red tears fell down her cheeks as she cried as if her heart was broken.

Because it was.

After a few moments, she felt Miriam's hand on her shoulder.

Really? Didn't I just tell her it's not her place to land hands on me? But she found the gesture oddly comforting. She decided to let it go this time. After a few more minutes she got herself under control.

"Eilidh?"

Eilidh slumped against the back of the couch, "What child? What now?"

"Why do you want to die? I mean, I know you're grieving for Reagan and you've said that you blame yourself, even though I'm sure it wasn't your fault. But why is death your best option? I thought you wanted to find Reagan's killer?"

Eilidh stared at her daylighter, "Why do you even care, Miriam? With me gone, you're released. You can go back to the life you had before you came to me. Don't you want that?"

Miriam stared off into the distance as if she couldn't quite catch a memory she was looking for.

"No, Eilidh. I don't want that. I'm happy here. With you. Working in the store. I love it all. There's nothing, and nobody, that I want to go back to. I don't want you to die, Eilidh. And I'm sure Reagan wouldn't want you to either."

Eilidh scoffed, "Would she even care? She hasn't spoken to me in months. Maybe she would have been happier with me dead."

"I doubt that, Eilidh. And even if that were true, you must live for you. Not for anyone else, not even for me."

Eilidh couldn't understand why she meant so much to the girl but right now, she was hungry. Her vampiric instincts kicked in and she demanded Miriam bring her some blood.

She'd drink that and then think about her next move. She knew now that she had to be more careful about where Miriam was when she walked into the sun.