Sally wrestled with the mindless creature who wore her beloved’s face.

“Stop it, stop it, you’re Lavinia!” she screamed.

She nearly went under and let Lavinia bite. They would be vampires together, just like she’d wanted.

But this church, if that was what it was, had turned Lavinia into a soulless undead thing. That would happen to her if she became a vampire now.

Teeth scratched across her skin as she shoved that cold wet mouth away and sprang up. She snatched her duffel bag and swung it into Lavinia’s belly, slamming her against one of the stone walls. She crouched and grabbed the flashlight while Lavinia recovered.

Sally came within a hair of saying, “You are no longer welcome, I cast you out.” Would Lavinia smash against a wall, blast through it, sweep over the cliff?

But she turned and ran, awkwardly carrying her belongings. Lavinia’s hissing breath was close behind her neck. Cold hands grabbed at her shoulders. She slammed the duffel bag back into Lavinia’s stomach again. Then she dropped it, realizing that speed was the only thing that mattered.

Into the cold tunnel she plunged once more, across the dark misty courtyard, under the stone lintel and onto the path along the outer wall. The thought of descending those stairs in the wobbling beam of her flashlight made her stop and turn to make her stand.

Lavinia slammed into her. She fell back to the lip of the staircase and could have used Lavinia’s momentum to push her over the rim and down the stairs.

Instead she gripped Lavinia’s arms and held the vampire on top of her.

“You’re Lavinia,” she insisted. The face above her held only animal cunning. The mouth opened, the ridge of teeth moved toward her. Sally pushed back.

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“We’re out of that church, you can come back. You’re Lavinia Starr, your family name was Strajewski, you’ve had tons of sex, more than I’ve had in my whole life, you probably had a threesome with that Helga bitch, you, um,” Sally floundered for more memories. “When you were five your pet turtle Sammy the Wanderer died and you cried all night, I bet you were a cute little girl, in fact I saw that picture on your wall, you were a cute little girl.”

Over Lavina’s shoulder the mists parted for a moment revealing the ancient face of the moon. The cunning on Lavinia’s face faded, then smashed into horror. “Tiger? Oh my fucking god, tiger, what’d I do, I, fuck, I hurt you!”

Sally released her push and let Lavinia collapse on top of her. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay…”

“No, it’s not! Jesus Christ, don’t tell me it’s okay, I hurt you, I chased you, I would have killed you!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I love you, it’s okay.”

Lavinia wept like a baby while Sally stroked her back, shifting because of the hard stones beneath her.

Why had the old buildings affected Lavinia so when the cross in Rainbow’s store hadn’t? She was sure the Brothers who had lived here had been good men, maybe with a jerk or two among them as any group has. But their Christianity had probably been very little like the Church today. The Renaissance and the Reformation were still in the future. Had Islam even been around a thousand years ago? Sally thought so but her grasp of history was shakier than she wished.

The wind up from the sea rippled over them and Lavinia was cold like frost on a grave. Finally Sally said, “Babe? It’s cold, it’s dark. I need to go back in there and get our stuff. Whatever came over you, are you safe out here?”

But Lavinia still shook so Sally forced herself to hold on, until she was numb with the cold. When she forced herself to speak again, she realized that she’d waited too long. “Buh-babe, I nuh, I need.” Her mouth wouldn’t work.

Lavinia stiffened. “Jeez, what a bitch, I’m sorry, what do you need, tiger?” She tried to hug Sally tighter and Sally got out the word, “freezing.”

“Aw shit.” Lavinia released her. “Up, kid, run back and forth, get some heat built up. What the fuck happened to all the sunlight I took in today? That damn church sucked it all out?”

Teeth chattering, cold and hopeless like she would never be warm again, Sally forced herself to her feet. She couldn’t make herself run, not with that drop-off beside her, but she walked up and down.

It wasn’t enough. “G-gotta go get more clothes. B-b-back quick.” She turned.

“Wait!” Shaking, Sally turned back. “If I’m not here, call me with the words you used in the dream, huh? If I’m, um, lying in wait for you, maybe that’ll bring me out of it.”

Sally gave a brisk nod.