Love In Death

by Elizabeth Stokes

  “He’ll be back,” Georgia said.

  “I know.” Allison knew she couldn’t rest completely until the Sieve was dealt with for good... if they were even capable of doing that. But at the very least, she knew that she and Xander had to vanquish him as best they could. And now that they were reunited, Allison knew they were stronger than ever. She just hoped it was strong enough to finish off the Sieve.

  Allison started to sit up, but Georgia immediately put her hands on her shoulders.

  “Slow down,” she said. “Six broken bones, remember?”

  Allison shook her head. “I’ve got to prepare for tonight. There’s no way the Sieve isn’t coming for me.”

  “Relax,” Georgia replied. “It’s ten in the morning. There’s plenty of time.”

  Allison ignored her, fumbling at the bar on the side of the hospital bed, trying to adjust it lower. Georgia put her hands on Allison’s. “Hon,” she said, softly and gently. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  Allison looked at Georgia, concern welling up inside her. “I’m fine. Really. I just need to –”

  Georgia interrupted: “That’s the drugs talking, Allie. You may be in a world of the fantastic, but you’ve had an incredible shock. You need your rest.”

  Allison stubbornly continued to fumble with the controls of the hospital bed. Georgia then pulled her friend against her with a strong hug. This caused Allison to stop fumbling and freeze for a moment.

  “I have no idea what you’ve gone through these past few days,” Georgia said, gently stroking Allison’s hair, which had become uneven and curled in the heat of the fire. “But I know it was traumatic. You need your rest. Believe me.”

  Allison’s hands left the bar of the hospital bed and slowly, reluctantly wrapped themselves around Georgia.

  It was not often that Allison asked for help, and even when she did, she did not like to acknowledge she needed it. But Georgia was giving it to her, nonetheless, and Allison needed the comfort. Her body may be healing, but the trauma on her mind this entire year had become overwhelming. She had moments of repose with Xander, but this was different. This was not carnal expression. This was friendship. This was comfort. This was unconditional support, literally a shoulder to cry on.

  And that’s exactly what Allison did. After being so close to death, and feeling its sting multiple times against the man she loved, Allison was given a release.

  She began to weep, her face buried in Georgia’s shoulder.

  And Georgia simply held her, which was exactly what she needed at that moment.

  CHAPTER 33

  By the time the sun began to set and the last vestiges of light broke through the curtains in Allison’s hospital room, the mood had lightened quite a bit. As it is after any good cry, her spirits had been raised, and Georgia provided an additional service by just allowing them to talk like normal people again. Unlike the last time that Georgia had swept her away from a dangerous situation, Allison was not broken emotionally from what she thought was the final death of Xander. Now, she knew she just had to wait.

  In the hours that followed, Allison had eaten twice, and the two women spent some time relaxing in the safety of the day-lit hospital room. It was a strangely impromptu day off that Allison had forgotten was so essential to mental health. Forget all the miracles of modern medicine. Sometimes the best medicine is comfort food, trashy daytime TV, and the company of a good friend.

  Soon, night was upon them, and Allison felt so much better. It was almost uncanny how good she felt, considering the punishment she withstood the night before at the Sieve’s house.

  When the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, revealing the bright full moon framed by thin clouds in the sky, Allison felt nervous and excited. Like a teenager waiting for the boy she liked to call her, Allison anticipated seeing Xander again in a far less stressful situation. It seemed like an eternity since she had seen him whole.

  And while Allison knew that it would take him some time to emerge from hiding and travel to the hospital, it seemed impossible to wait.

  Soon enough, though, the door to her hospital room opened, and a familiar dark figure stood in the doorway.

  “Allison,” he said quietly, stepping into the room.

  Allison practically leapt from the bed, but Xander was too fast for her. He seemed to appear immediately at her bedside, and she threw her arms around him, nuzzling her face into his muscular chest.

  A million words spun through Allison’s mind as she searched for the right thing to say, the perfect way to express how much she had missed him, how much heartache she felt at him being gone again, and the joy and pain she went through to see him alive again but in such a ruined state.

  But those words were lost in the maelstrom of her mind. All she could manage was: “I love you.”

  Xander held her tightly yet gently. He lifted her up almost effortlessly and slid into the bed with her. He then laid on his side, facing her. She lifted her head to look into his eyes. He was whole again. No scars. No burns. It was as if all the horrible events of the past couple days had never happened.

  “I love you too,” Xander said, leaning in and kissing her deeply, gently stroking her cheek. Allison felt tears of joy pour from her eyes as she kissed back. She had Xander again. The same touch. The same smell. The same taste.

  Allison broke the kiss short and gasped for air, then nuzzled into his chest again. She looked up at him.

  “But how?” she asked, realizing that she was not able to ask this earlier.

  “I don’t know,” Xander said, sitting up. He turned his head to see Georgia still sitting in the corner, an awkward look on her face.

  Georgia mouthed the words Should I go? and cocked her head towards the door. Xander smiled back.

  “Please stay,” he told her. “We have a few things to take care of before anything more happens between us.”

  By the time Xander turned back to Allison, she had sat up in bed. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “Just that,” Xander said. “I don’t know how I survived any more than the Sieve knew how he survived after I killed him months ago.”

  “You had decapitated him,” Allison said. “And he staked you and burned you. I thought those were the sure-fire ways to kill a...” she paused and looked at Georgia. Just then, Allison realized that she never actually said the truth to her friend. However, now didn’t seem like the time to get skittish about sharing things with her. She continued, “Kill a vampire.”

  Allison watched closely to Georgia’s reaction. She was unfazed.

  “I thought so too,” Xander said. “Now, I can’t speak for the Sieve, but I can assure you that when he staked me and set me on fire, I had only one thing on my mind...” he looked deep into Allison’s eyes. “You,” he finished.

  “Me?” she asked.

  “Yes. You were in the water, very vulnerable. The Sieve was going to kill you for sure. I couldn’t let that happen. The last thing I remember thinking was that I had to save you.”

  “But you burned away,” Allison said.

  “Not all of me,” Xander replied. “Vampires have remarkable healing capabilities, and it takes a long time to completely burn a body to ashes. There was enough of me to stay alive, apparently.”

  “It was an act of will,” Georgia said quietly.

  “Exactly,” Xander said. “And that makes sense for the Sieve’s return. His head was severed from his body, but we never completely destroyed it. The Sieve has a singular and maniacal sense of purpose. He had unfinished business here, and he was not going to let death stop him.”

  Allison nodded. “So when he did return, he started to build up his power structure again almost immediately.”

  “Yes,” Xander said.

  “But why did he keep you in that cellar?” Allison asked.

  “Just because we came back does not mean either of us knew why at the time,” Xander said. “When I reformed from my ashes, the Sieve was there. It was the only
time he had ever seen another of our kind do that. And he had to know why. He wanted to unlock the secret of true immortality.”

  “So he experimented on you,” Allison said.

  Xander nodded. “Fortunately, he did not do it for long. But he did it enough. He held me captive in that boiler, burning me into oblivion only to let me regenerate.”

  “Why couldn’t you let go?” Allison asked.

  “Because I had to see you again,” Xander said. “I had to make sure you were okay. I could not leave you again.”

  Allison nodded. She suddenly realized the irony of the entire situation. Xander knew nothing of her fate, and the Sieve – being a man who loved his secrets – would have let Xander forever wonder if she were still alive. She was the only thing keeping him alive. Had the Sieve managed to kill her – or if he simply told Xander that she had died – he would have lost his golden goose.

  “Never again,” Allison said, taking Xander’s hand. “Never again will we lose each other.”

  Xander raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

  “Never again,” he said. He paused, then added, “But if that’s the case, then we have a job to do.”

  “The Sieve...” Allison said.

  Xander nodded. “He will not rest until he knows this secret. And he will not rest knowing that you and I are still alive.”

  “He’ll be coming for me,” she said.

  “He’ll be coming for both of us,” Xander added. “And I prefer not to just sit around and wait for him to appear.”

  “I’m not leaving you again,” Allison said.

  “I’d prefer to bring you with me,” Xander said tenderly. “But you’re still healing. And this will be dangerous.”

  “No!” Allison said, starting to get out of the bed. Xander immediately moved around to her side and held her back. She stubbornly refused. “No!” she said. “I’m not letting you go get yourself killed.”

  “Shhh...” Xander said, holding Allison tightly. “Remember what I said the other day?”

  Allison sighed. She remembered. When they were preparing to attack the warehouse. Xander’s words echoed in her mind: We have no surprise left. He will be expecting us to be cautious. I say we throw caution to the wind and do something he won’t expect.

  Still, Allison shook her head. “Let me come with you. I feel fine.”

  “Six broken bones, hon,” Georgia said from the corner. Even though Allison didn’t feel like she had six broken bones (and knew immediately that Georgia would remind her this was from the painkillers the doctors had administered), she knew her friend was right. She was in no shape to take on a regular criminal at work, let alone the Sieve and his quest for immortality.

  “Don’t worry,” Xander said. “You’re in good hands with Georgia. And her friend...?” He looked over at Georgia at this point.

  “You remember Max?” Georgia added.

  Allison nodded reluctantly. “You mean your one night stand from the other day? But he’s just a man,” she said.

  Georgia chuckled. “Trust me, Max is plenty good in a fight, even against someone like this Sieve. He’s had his fair share of dealing with the strange and bizarre.”

  Xander looked back at Allison. “Max is downstairs,” he said, “keeping an eye on the outside of the building. If the Sieve tries anything while I’m gone, Max will see him coming.”

  Allison’s shoulders slumped. She refused to believe it, and she was not happy about it. But she also realized that she would not be able to stop Xander from leaving on a hunt for the Sieve.

  So she did the only thing she could think of. She hugged Xander. She hugged him tighter than she thought possible, pressing their bodies together.

  “Be careful,” she said, sobbing softly. “I can’t lose you again.”

  “You won’t,” Xander said, holding her.

  And then he let go, pulling away from her. Allison did not try to stop him.

  Soon, he was gone once more.

  CHAPTER 34

  After Xander left, Allison was understandably uneasy. She tried to watch television, but the relaxation of the day had left her, and the screen seemed to make her uneasiness worse. After about an hour, she asked Georgia to turn down the lights, leaving them in the dimly-lit room, with only the glow of her IV pump to keep her company. Dinner had already been served earlier in the evening, and the nurses had done their nightly rounds. It would be hours before she might see someone in the room again.

  As if by habit, Allison tried to fall asleep, but her nervousness kept her awake. Any conversation she would now have with Georgia would be moot as Allison’s mind was firmly on Xander and what might happen to him.

  Eventually, Allison noticed that Georgia had dozed off in the chair, her head dipping uncomfortably to one side and letting a tiny snore escape her lips. Allison decided again to try and join her, and she closed her eyes.

  She would have sworn that she hadn’t fallen asleep, but her body jerked suddenly, and her eyes popped open.

  Allison rubbed her eyes with one hand and figured she had lost consciousness for just a moment. Then, she looked over to see the chair in which Georgia had been dozing was empty.

  Surprised, she looked towards the bathroom and saw immediately that it was empty. The door to her room was closed, and she could hear nothing more than the soft white noise of the hospital’s heating system and the steady pump-hiss of her IV.

  But a moment later, she heard another sound. This one was trying to hide, but Allison’s ears seemed extra sensitive tonight. She heard the soft click-click-click-e-click-click of the doorknob being slowly turned.

  No one sneaks into a hospital room for a good reason, she thought. If it were the hospital staff, they would be quiet but not sneaky. If it were Georgia, she wouldn’t be so cautious. And if it were Xander, he would move with more determination.

  Allison laid back down and closed her eyes almost completely. She was essentially trapped with no escape but the window, and the room was several floors up. Playing possum seemed like the smartest move at this point.

  From her bed, through a thin slit of her eyelids, Allison watched the door open slowly to reveal a dark figure. However, unlike the welcoming dark figure of Xander earlier in the evening, this one came with a feeling of dread.

  Allison recognized it immediately: The Sieve.

  The vampire walked slowly into the room, letting the door close softly behind him. When the latch engaged, he turned and started to walk towards the bed, eventually standing over Allison.

  She could still see slightly, and his scarred face leaned over her, illuminated by the small lights on her IV pump.

  “I know you’re awake, Detective Pratt,” the Sieve said. “Your breathing gives you away.”

  Allison’s eyes popped open, and she immediately reached for the nurse’s call button. The Sieve allowed her to press it, and he chuckled.

  “I’m sorry to tell you that no one is coming,” he said.

  “You didn’t...” Allison gasped.

  The Sieve looked suddenly hurt. “Kill everybody? What kind of monster do you think I am?”

  Allison responded with silence.

  The Sieve grinned. “Much too crass a display for my tastes. I mean, honestly Detective Pratt? How would it look to kill two dozen people in a hospital? That wouldn’t exactly take place under the radar.”

  Allison realized this made a lot of sense. The Sieve’s operation required anonymity. Killing that many people in one place would bring a lot of attention.

  “Then how?” she asked.

  The Sieve shrugged. “Your boyfriend may have some surprises in him, but he still hasn’t figured out how to effectively manipulate people. But getting inside people’s heads is one of my specialties. Dulling their senses so they don’t even see me is the easiest trick of that type. They don’t even know I’m here. Walked right by them, and they didn’t even bat an eye.”

  Allison understood. The Sieve essentially made himself – and his actions
– invisible to them. An alert from her room wouldn’t send them running any more than her crying out for help.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “I’m going to kill you,” the Sieve said flatly, his face suddenly grim and serious. “You’re causing some real problems for me, Detective Pratt.”

  “But if you kill me, you’ll never learn how Xander came back.”

  The Sieve nodded. “So be it. It’s not worth the trouble any more. That will be something I will have to answer on another day with another subject.”

  With a sudden, fluid movement, the Sieve leapt off the ground and landed on stop of Allison, straddling her and pinning her to the bed. He grabbed her wrists with his clawed hands, holding her against the sheets. Then he leaned close.

  “He will find you,” Allison said.

  “I’m counting on it,” the Sieve said. “But not before you’re gone.”

  Allison struggled to pull her wrists from his talons, but they held her fast. The Sieve leaned forward, close to her face, and she shook her head to move away. She could smell his rancid breath and dead flesh. The scarred face from where she had stabbed him with a pencil what seemed like ages ago glistened in the dim light. If there were any victory she could have, it would be that she had permanently disfigured him, no matter how much he regenerated.

  The Sieve leaned close to her, and Allison turned her face away, inadvertently exposing her neck. Even though the Sieve knew she was marked as Xander’s he still leaned in close to her exposed jugular vein.

  But as he was almost upon her flesh, he paused, and his body slightly relaxed.

  The Sieve pulled back and looked at Allison, confused.

  “But that can’t be,” he said.

  Allison looked back, equally confused.

  The Sieve leaned in again, this time, inhaling through his nose. He pulled back and looked into Allison’s eyes.

  “You’ve changed,” he said, bewildered.

  “What did you say?” she asked softly.

  The Sieve leaned down to her throat and sniffed along her neck like a dog foraging for food. Then he pulled back and sat up.