Sally wiped the blood from her eyes with her sleeve, staring at Jesse.

“Don’t move,” she commanded, her voice grating. She couldn’t think around the wailing and the babble in her head. “What’s going on with you?” It suddenly occurred to her for the first time that she had a flashlight; damn all that fucking noise!

“Back up. Get several steps back. I’m going to take out a flashlight.” Jesse nodded and stood again, walked backward. Ululating screams filled her head until she nearly screamed herself.

Lavinia, can you at least shut up? she thought with frantic desperation. But Lavinia’s vague voice droned on. Stop him thinking, stop his thoughts. Sally got the flashlight out and shined it on Jesse.

His face was his own again but his throat was a bloody mess. He looked miserable, drawn with pain. His eyes squeezed in the glare. Pressing his hand on the wound, he managed to push out the words, “Lavinia … ordered me … to bite you … wound reopened… sunlight should … fix it.”

Fresh blood gleamed between his fingers.

Sally’s head felt like lead. “Lavinia ordered you, how, why?”

But Jesse could only force out two more words: “Just … enough…” Gasping, he pressed his hands to his throat.

“And Walter, where did he go? Can you point? With your foot, if nothing else?”

He managed to shake his head.

“You don’t know where he is? Or you’re still protecting him?” Something in Sally snapped. In an instant she flitted to him and jerked his head back.

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“I’m sorry if it hurts, but I’ve got to know now. He really was the monster who killed Jeremy’s little brother, wasn’t he? You covered for him all these years, didn’t you?”

Jesse sagged wearily. It wasn’t true, he’d only suspected recently. But on another level, it was true. He had taken Walter back every time, without questions. And two days ago, knowing at last what Walter had done, he’d forgiven him.

Sally saw the word “forgive” on Jesse’s lips and went mad. “You fucking worm. Does he turn you up and spread your faggoty little cheeks so good as that?!”

Jeremy’s words, so unlike Sally. Heedless of the pain, spraying blood again (but less than before) Jesse gasped, “I love him. He’s a good man but he … opened himself to the darkness…”

Not sure why she was so angry, Sally screamed at this man who had comforted her on the worst night of her life, “My father tried to fuck me when I was a girl. He fucked my sister like she was his little whore. He died a pathetic wretch and I can never forgive him. When I was seventeen I was raped, fucker beat the shit out of me, if I could cut his balls off, I would to this day. You don’t forgive some things!”

Somehow Jesse’s whisper stopped her rant. “Not even Lavinia…?”

The silence rang for a few moments.

“That was different!” But she couldn’t sustain the rage. More quietly, she went on, “When she did bad shit she couldn’t help herself.”

The last drops of blood dribbled from Jesse’s throat. Eerily vampire now, he said, “She could have … resisted … if she’d tried hard enough.”

They both had defeat in their eyes. Sally eased him to the ground. “And you don’t know where he is?” she asked dully.

With sad hopelessness, he shook his head carefully. “Only that he disappeared into the woods and there wasn’t a trace of humanity in his eyes.” He nodded in the direction Walter had vanished. He’d headed out of the clearing by the only path.

Back toward where Lavinia lay. While she’d spent time in this pointless rage at Jesse.

Standing quickly, she bellowed at the top of her lungs, “Lavinia! Watch out! He’s coming for you!”

And a shuddering, scraping, ravening sound from below told her that she could no longer ignore whatever was in the crypt.