“Don’t be mad at me. It was too late to heal her,” she answered in a whisper.

“Karina, what did you do?” reiterated Reece.

“I tried to turn her,” confessed the lilitu girl. “I’m sorry. I never would have done it without her permission, but it was either that or let her die. It’s not our way to turn someone without their consent. In the end, it didn’t matter. She died before I could complete the process. It was a long shot anyway. Only certain people carry the requisite genes to become lilitu or vampires. Maybe one in a hundred.”

By this time, not much shocked him anymore. Besides, everything she had just said made sense. He decided quickly that he wouldn’t allow her to worry anymore. She had already experienced plenty of that for his benefit. She had bottled it all up from the moment they had met. Still, he had questions.

“Okay, I understand why you did it,” replied Reece. “But you also said there may be a chance she’s still alive?”

“Technically, yes. The odds are statistically insignificant, however. I just felt like I was lying to you by not saying anything. The thing is, I didn’t want you to get your hopes up over something that is so incredibly unlikely. I’m just so sorry. I’ve seen her in your mind, and I have some idea of what she meant to you. She was really lucky to have someone who cared for her so deeply.”

Emotions welled up anew and Reece felt tears flow down his cheeks as he was forced to remember Aika’s last moments. He felt bad for the lilitu’s conundrum too. Considering it for a moment, he would have preferred the closure of the white lie to the pain and uncertainty of the truth.

“You’ve nothing to apologize for,” said Reece, choosing his words carefully. “I understand why you didn’t say anything before, and I understand why you felt the need to say something now. I know she’s gone. This new knowledge doesn’t change that. Still, thank you for telling me. I think I’ve learned something about your character as well. You really are a good person. The years haven’t taken that away from you. I guess maybe the years have made you a good person. You’d have a better idea than I. Regardless, I’m glad to have met you.”

“Well, those years are what has made me what I am today,” she replied. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Because I’ve lived for so long, I’ve come to see the patterns of maturity that we all go through. For the most part, maturity is a myth. At the end of the day, the only part of maturity that has any worth is the responsibility... the personal accountability. The funny thing is, we do tend to mature with age. Well...that’s how it works out at the beginning of life.

You see, I’ve come to understand that it’s our experiences that define us. The more we experience, the more we learn and understand the world around us. Those experiences refine or shape the context surrounding everything we believe that we know. By that, I mean that it fleshes out our worldview and helps us to define our place within it. That’s how we grow as self-aware individuals.

For instance, you may think that I act immaturely for dressing like a schoolgirl to tease you. Have you ever considered that maybe I enjoy it because it’s fun to tease you? You see, I’ve come to understand that enjoying life is what it’s all about. Here’s the rub. Before long, I’ll realize that life has some other meaning to it. Then, later...another and another before I eventually return to this same understanding."

"It’s a cycle I’ve repeated dozens of times already," continued Karina. "You’re lucky you didn’t find me during one of my selfish streaks. It’s like going through different moods, only they last a lot longer.”

“It sounds like your life has been a bit of a roller coaster,” quipped Reece as he tried to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, pretty much,” she answered. “But you do understand what I’m saying, right?”

“I think so,” Reece replied. “Basically, as we learn new things, we may discover that we were wrong about many things...but later, after learning even more...we may find out that we were correct in many of those things after all, or that perhaps we were wrong but in a totally different way.”

“Exactly,” replied Karina. “I guess they didn’t recruit you just for your good looks.”

“Hah, hah,” replied Reece before sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes at her.

“Now you’re getting it,” responded the girl to his goofy joke.

Reece started laughing and before long Karina was giggling along right along with him. Relief flowed through Reece’s being. Relief that he could still enjoy moments like this and that he had found someone he could share these moments with. With the world all but destroyed, despair had been creeping into his psyche without him realizing it.

Reece chuckled to himself that it had taken someone who looked like a young girl to be able to snap him out of it. This world may be odd, mad even...but at least it wasn’t all bad. They continued talking for hours before sleep finally began to overcome Reece.

“I need to get some rack,” he said somewhat sadly, lamenting that their conversation had to end.

“Okay, you’re right. I’ve kept you up for far too long. Get some rest,” replied the girl wistfully.

Reece got the sense that she was also feeling unhappy that their long chat was at an end. That cheered Reece a bit as he covered a yawn with his forearm. Karina’s demeanor changed subtly as she watched him. The look only lasted a moment before it was gone again. The girl now appeared deep in thought, as if considering something. Her look changed again as she seemed to come to a decision about something.

“Say, could a get a nightcap?” she asked, seemingly offhand. “I’m thirsty.”

“Of course,” replied Reece as he dropped to one knee and offered his neck to the lilitu girl.

Whatever she was up to, Reece knew she needed to feed. He also felt that he could trust her after all they had already been through. Slowly, she rose and glided to him, snaking her arms around his head as she pressed her body to his and nestled her face into the crook of his neck. Reece felt a sharp sting as she gently bit into his neck, but it only lasted a moment. She drank more deeply than he expected before pulling away like she had to force herself.

“Odin’s balls!” she swore as she pulled away to face him, her eyes growing large. “You taste incredible.”

She looked at her arms in wonder as she flexed her fingers.

“I feel wonderful...powerful even. What have you been eating?”

“Um...ravioli,” replied Reece as he shrugged before pointing at the empty can of salty tomato paste and bland pasta still sitting on the mahogany table.

“Well, something is definitely different about you. Has anything happened to you of late?”

“I haven’t the foggiest idea, but I’m glad I was tasty...I guess,” replied Reece, a bit taken aback. “Now, I was tired before two pints got sucked out of me, so I’m going to get some sleep before I collapse right here. Good night little lady.”

Reece trudged upstairs to the master bedroom and sat on the king-size four-post bed he found there. He yawned again as he kicked off his boots and let them drop on the hardwood floor. As tired and weak as he was, he barely managed to remove his shirt and drop it to the floor as well. It was all that he could do to stand back up and pull the covers to the side so that he could fall back onto the bed. His head hit the oversized soft pillow and he was out. He didn’t even have a moment to enjoy the comforts of the high-class bed. Sometime in the darkness of sleep, a new dream played out.

A huge field of wildly growing grass, gold in color, stretched in every direction. Reece found himself crouched down in the middle of the field as the grass swayed in a light breeze. He found himself on all fours as he hopped up and began to run. He was amazed as he charged through the grass at an incredible speed. The grass whipped against his arms and legs, but he didn’t feel any pain.

He looked down and saw that his arms ended in paws and they were covered in dark-brown fur. That shock was followed by the fact that he had some type of animal’s muzzle extruding from his face as well. He could see the soft fur and whiskers just within his field of vision.

He looked past the snout to watch the golden grass whip by as he continued loping through the field. It wasn’t long before he came upon a beautiful woman wearing only a thin cream-colored summer dress, her skin the color of jade. The young woman’s hair had all the colors of late autumn and she beckoned him to come to her. He swiftly obeyed and as he approached, he felt fire flow through his veins and enter his muscles, altering them. He stood on his hind legs as he drew nearer to the woman.

By the time he was next to her, he could tell that he was now standing as a man. The woman smiled before embracing him. As she touched him, he could feel her warmth on his cool bare skin. It felt nice, safe...like home. They stood like that for a while before she pulled away and looked him in the eyes.

“Time to wake up,” she said with a silvery voice full of promise.

As he woke, his mind twisted the scene. He and the woman went gently from standing upright to laying on their sides on something soft as the field gave way to a bedroom. The jade-skinned woman’s image blew away as if it were dust in a strong breeze, uncovering the face of the equally beautiful lilitu. Once the dream-image was no more than a memory, he watched the forever youthful lilitu sleep, her smaller body closely curled up with his. The warmth from the dream was still there, as were the feelings.

He was finding that he really liked her and was finally beginning to see her as who she was, a woman with the experiences and memories of a multitude of lives. He smiled and kissed her on her forehead. Her eyelids fluttered open as she quickly woke up. Smiling, she looked back at him, her piercing red eyes filled with affection.

“Good morning,” he said, smiling back at her.

“Morning,” she whispered as she sat up and stretched.

She had found a pajama shirt from somewhere and had slid it on sometime during his sleep. Reece noticed that the sleepwear clinging enticingly to her had pink and blue bunnies on it, but he was glad that at least she was wearing something.

“Penny for your thoughts,” she offered with a smirk as if she was already reading his mind.

“I just noticed you put something on,” replied Reece, feigning indifference.

“No, not that...what were you thinking about before, when you just woke up?” she pressed, still smiling wickedly. “I already know what you were thinking just now.”

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure,” replied Reece, choosing to ignore her snarky comment. “I was dreaming, but I’ve already forgotten what the dream was about. Something green, but somehow with the colors of autumn too.”

He tried to recall anything else, but whatever had been there was now gone. Karina was looking at him with a thoughtful expression on her face. He had seen this same look a few times before and it was always a precursor to some wise suggestion of the ancient girl. This time was no different.

“I noticed this house has some leisure activities,” said the lilitu as she grabbed onto Reece’s arm. “Why don’t we try some of them out? I think that you could use a little distraction. Trust me, we’ll have fun.”

“Fine,” agreed Reece. “Show me what you’ve found.”

Karina smiled and beckoned him to follow her. They spent the rest of the day talking, playing various games, and strategizing. The house had a game room in the basement, and it was hooked to a geothermal converter. Whoever had built this place had taken his games seriously. Reece tried dagger-toss, but Karina’s aim was far superior to his own and she quickly schooled him in the game. They played pool for a bit. He was able to beat her a couple of times with that, though she was still better. A game of virtual reality tennis and a few holes of VR golf also helped to pass the time.

Despite losing most of the time, Reece still enjoyed the distractions. He was just glad that it let them forget about the world. They spent several more days like this, just hanging out and talking. The myriad activities allowed them to let loose and release the tension built up over the past few days. With both in an improved frame of mind, they got to know each other much better.

It wasn’t all pleasant, however. With time to think, Reece was finally able to grieve over Aika and Pasha. Karina let him be for a bit when he got depressed, but she was there to snap him out of it if it went on for too long. She seemed to know just what he needed and when he needed it.

As the days continued to pass, Reece became more and more comfortable with the routine. He had to be honest with himself, he missed routine. Ever since the incident that led to Angel’s death, his world had been constantly changing. He was always working towards one insane goal after another and he was tired of it. Just the thought of traveling to the Cape made him sick.

He knew he had to go eventually, but the mansion was getting more and more comfortable with each passing day. He had finally felt some joy in relaxing for the first time in years, and he was enjoying getting to know Karina. She had lived an extremely long and amazing life and he loved listening to her stories.

Despite what Reece was thinking, the day did come when it was time to go. He had just finished some canned yams for breakfast and was preparing to try a new VR game in the mansion’s gaming room. It was a fighting game and he reasoned that he could get some combat training through its use. Karina was waiting for him in the hallway on the way.

“Hey Karina,” Reece smiled. “Good morning.”

“Where are you going?” she asked plainly, ignoring his friendly greeting.

“I’m going to try some VR combat training, you know, to better prepare for whatever’s to come.”

“Oh, sure you are,” she replied. “Have you ever stopped to think that you’re just procrastinating?”

“Pffft, what are you talking about?” Reece said incredulously.

“We’re as prepared as we’re going to get. Everything is ready and we’ve gone over plans and contingencies a dozen times each. The problem isn’t preparation. No. You want to stay here because you feel safe not knowing. You’re afraid of what you’ll find,” she answered. “You’re scared it’ll break you.”

“So, what if I am?” he asked defensively, with a little more venom than he intended. “Look, we’ll go soon enough. What’s a few more days, right?”

“Oh, what’s a few more days, huh? It’s a few more days for the infected to kill, maybe people you know,” she replied without missing a beat. “It’s a few more days for you to grow soft, making you more and more ineffective in the coming battles. And oh, I promise you...there will be battles. We’ve been here for over a week and we’ve recharged. We’re good. There’s no good reason to tarry any longer. We’ve got things to do, don’t we?”

Reece knew she was right even as she spoke the words. He instantly felt embarrassed for allowing his fear to get the better of him. Leaning his back against the nearest wall, he let out a long breath and swallowed hard as he considered her words further. He had taken his eye off the ball. If it wasn’t for the lilitu, he didn’t have any idea how long he would have stayed.

Realization struck him then. The realization that he was hiding in the mansion, ducking his goal of finding his still unaccounted for crewmembers. He also felt like he had disappointed Karina. For some reason, he didn’t fully understand that shame was even worse and shook him to his core.

“You’re right...of course,” he said, chuckling to himself as he made up his mind to rejoin the fight. “I think I was deluding myself. Thanks for waking my dumb ass up. Give me a few minutes to gear up and we can get out of here.”

“Take a knee,” said Karina.

Reece looked at her quizzically and she merely raised an eyebrow as she waited for him to comply. Shrugging helplessly, he fell to one knee and waited for whatever the girl had planned. With no warning or explanation, the girl took four steps to stand right in front of Reece and look at him eye to eye. Reece could swear he saw a gleam in her eye as she cocked her head cutely to the side and smirked at him.

Before he had the chance to ask what she was up to, she leaned in and planted a warm, wet kiss right on his lips. Before Reece could recover and kiss her back, it was over. She stepped back and smiled again.

“That’s your reward for making the right decision,” she explained before turning and walking away. “Now go get ready. It’s time we leave this place. We’ve got important things to do.”

She didn’t look back as she left the hallway. Feeling a new energy coursing through him, he swiftly collected his things and prepared to leave. He caught up to her as he pulled the Helios out and primed the bike for travel. Karina walked around from the other side of the mansion, all ready to go. Each nodded at the other. They had rested, planned, and prepared and now it was time for them to resume their journey.

Reece looked back at the brick mansion with fondness, a touch of sadness, but also relief that he hadn't given up. Then he energized the solar cycle and the pair set out. Karina went on ahead and propped the gate open again, and Reece rode on through the passage. As soon as he hit the highway, he opened the bike up and took off at a good speed. A few seconds later, Karina was running along alongside him. The moment he noticed her, she glanced back and winked at him. He just smiled to himself.