Chapter 6: The Confrontation

I was right! ‘She’ lives here. ‘She’ lives with a man and a boy, as a girl. But how does she feed? I need to find out how she feeds. Then I need to finish her. No mistakes next time. She has many human friends she cares about. That is her weakness. I can use them to get her. All I need to do is wait and watch. Oskar could feel the Other One’s lustful thoughts turn towards Jack and Henry, could feel him fantasizing about…doing things to them, feeding on them, then leaving their small lifeless bodies on their doorstep. He couldn’t understand; he sensed the dark sexual hunger, and the strange attraction the Other One had to children, but simply couldn’t interpret it. Suddenly, through his eyes, Oskar could clearly see them all laughing and splashing in the pool, as he circled the house from a great height, admiring their slender, lithe bodies. Ah, children! The easiest marks of all. Such a delight to play with and feed on. No struggles, just a bit of poking and prodding, then a quick, soft, easy meal. I long for the good old days, when children in London were so often not missed. So many to pick and choose from. Civilization with its new sophistication has greatly reduced my recreation and feeding options. It’s not nearly as much fun as it used to be. Chilling, sadistic, awful memories floated in vivid detail in Oskar’s head for a moment, until he pushed them away in horror and disgust. The Other One’s sinister thoughts turned finally to him. I’m going to make her watch as I slowly feed on her young friend – after I’ve made him regret that he’s such a pretty boy. Watching her face as I feed will more than make up for her having made a fool of me. Their deaths will certainly fill the newspapers for a while but it’s a safe distance from home. Oskar suddenly saw Eli’s room from outside the window. He could see through the Other One’s eyes as they panned the room, taking in all the details. He watched them sleeping with his predatory eyes. They sleep together. What a fool! Why would the boy feel safe with her lying next to him? He must know. They must know. He turned and silently dropped off the roof, flew back across the street, circled twice over Jack and Henry’s house noting all the entrances, then headed toward the river. After a few minutes, his thoughts gradually faded from Oskar’s mind.

Eli! Wake up!

Oskar? What’s wrong? Oskar held her, kept her from moving.

Eli, the Other One was here! Outside the window! He knows where we live!

Eli sat up in bed, “Oskar! Why didn’t you wake me while he was here? How did you know it was him?

Oskar took her hands in his and closed his eyes. He flooded her with the horror and sadism of The Other’s thoughts and memories, and worst of all, his plans for both of them.

Eli jumped out of bed. “We have to tell Papa.” They raced down the stairs and burst into the study. “What on Earth…?” Dawson looked up from his desk, startled.

“Papa, the Other One was here! He knows who we are. He wants to kill Jack and Henry, and all of us!”

They joined hands and Oskar repeated everything he had heard once again.

“I was wrong,” Dawson said solemnly, “I’m sorry. If I had known, I would have done something immediately, before he could find us.” He thought for a moment, “He must have returned to watch, about the time we came searching for you. He probably wrote down our license number. And my Oxford sticker number. As sadistic as we know he is now, I’m sure he wanted to be nearby when you went up in flames. By the time he realized, along with us, that you were no longer on the roof, he had to get away from the sun. He knew he couldn’t kill us all that close to home; it would attract exactly the kind of attention he didn’t want.

“But how could he have found us with only those numbers?” Oskar asked.

“He’s been around a long time Oskar. I’m sure he has human acquaintances that can get him that sort of information, especially if he pays well.”

“I don’t know, Papa. I really don’t think that’s what he would have done. If he had seen you trying to rescue me, he would have immediately killed you and Oskar and maybe driven your bodies to a different location in your car. All he would have to do is move you far enough away to keep the police from looking too closely at the cemetery. He had plenty of time to do that before dawn.

“Then how…”

“I don’t know! He’s lived much longer than I have and was turned when he was older. But he found us. That’s all that matters! I’m strong now. I’ll go after him. He’ll never come here again! I’m much stronger now!” Eli stood up with her fists at her sides and her cat-eyes blazing.

“No, Eli. We have to plan this very carefully. Oskar may be the key. He can read him. He seems to have an ability, at least with vampires, that vampires do not have: REAL telepathy, at least on the vampire wave length.” He smiled, “That’s why he can read you so easily, Eli, and he could read the Other One for miles without detection. We HAVE to do this together. We have to take advantage of his weaknesses and our strengths.”

“Are we going to kill him?” Oskar asked.

“I…don’t see any other option,” Dawson said quietly, “We clearly can’t reason with him, and his abilities make it a certainty that, unless stopped, he will eventually get what he wants. But there are great risks involved, including exposure to the authorities.

“If only I had listened to Oskar and not gone flying that night! If only I hadn’t teased Seth and humiliated him, I wouldn’t have been burned and weakened, and Oskar wouldn’t have nearly killed him. I’m the cause of all our problems since we got to London. How can I be so stupid? And now everyone I care about is in danger because of me. I have to do this myself!”

Oskar looked at her sternly, “No Eli, you need to listen to Dad and do what he says. All the trouble we’ve caused him has been for exactly the same reason. We are both only twelve years old. No offense, but some of the mistakes we’ve made since we’ve been together have almost gotten you killed three times. That’s more often than Dad, and he’s not even a vampire.”

Eli felt deeply hurt. “But …I’ve only done what I thought was right.”

Papa put his arms around her, “Eli, what Oskar is trying to say is that wisdom comes with maturity, and through no fault of your own, you will never physically mature. He’s not finding fault with you. You know how much he loves you. His ‘Gift’ makes it impossible for him to lie to you about these things. Please, give me a chance. Trust me and we have a good chance of getting through this intact.” He shuddered as he thought about Jack, Henry, and their Mother. Sadly, he knew that, if they got through this, they would have to back away from close relationships until the disease was cured. There were too many complications.

“First things first. We need to establish for certain where he lives. But we’ll do it in daylight. Oskar, do you think you can find him while he’s sleeping? Like we found Eli that night?”

“I’m sure of it! I know him now. I would recognize him anywhere!” Oskar’s anger and hatred was simmering just below the surface. He wished his self-infection had been completely successful, so he could kill the Other One himself. Or at least he and Eli together could do it.

That’s it!! Perhaps we can! A plan began to form in his mind – a plan that he knew Dad would never approve of. He and Eli needed to discuss it and do a bit of ‘practicing’ but he was sure it would work. His own admonition of Eli was immediately forgotten in his excitement.

“Ok, then,” Dawson continued, “Tomorrow is Saturday. Oskar and I will take a trip to the cemetery and find out where he is. Eli, you will stay here. I don’t want you out in your suit in that area unless absolutely necessary. He was probably back in his tomb before I brought the suit from the car, but we can’t take any chances on him making the connection. We don’t want him to know our strengths.”

“But I have to go! What if…”

Oskar squeezed her hand, subtly shook his head and gave her a cautionary look, “Dad’s right. It would be much safer for us to go alone.”

“Eli, I want you to write down all the weakness you are aware of as a vampire, as well the limits of your strengths. Think it through carefully, and we’ll go over it when we get back from the cemetery. That’s all we can do for now. Let’s all try to get some sleep.”

Oskar took her hand and pointedly led her upstairs to his room. They climbed into bed together as Oskar began whispering excitedly. “Eli, I have an idea about how to do this. Tell me what you think. I don’t think Dad will like it, though.”

She looked at him solemnly, “Will Papa be safe?”

They talked far into the night. From outside the room, an occasional giggle could be heard – snippets of conversation. “We can practice tomorrow!” and “It’ll be like that last night in Karlstad! We can do this!” Finally, silence. The moon shone through Oskar’s window, casting friendly shadows on the walls as the breeze blew through the trees in the back yard. It shone down on the small bed in the corner, where Oskar and Eli lay in each other’s arms asleep.

===

As Dawson walked into their room the next morning, it took him a minute to figure out what was going on. Eli and Oskar were standing in the middle of the room facing each other. Suddenly, Eli would swing at Oskar with her open hand, whereupon Oskar’s hand would meet it simultaneously in mid swing with a loud smack. She started slowly with random swings, speeding up until her superior strength-related speed overwhelmed him. Then, instead of meeting her swings, he would anticipate them and duck or dodge away. It almost looked like a weird dance of some kind. “What on earth are you two doing?” he asked.

“It’s just a game we invented, to see who has the better reflexes.” Eli lied, “Of course, I always win in the end.”

“Well, I’m getting better,” Oskar grinned.

Papa eyed them suspiciously, but decided to let it go for now. If it was a real game, Oskar would be much more irritated by losing, and Eli would be gloating more. “I just came to let Oskar know we would be leaving for the Cemetery in an hour and a half. Do you want some breakfast, Oskar?”

“No thanks! I already had some toast and a glass of milk.” He turned back towards Eli, “Ready to go again?”

Dawson shook his head and headed back down the stairs.

“This time, do it with your eyes closed,” Eli said. They began again, with almost identical results. “Bravo, Oskar! Now, the other game.”

Oskar put a blindfold on her, moved the furniture randomly around the room and stood in the doorway. “Go!” he shouted. Eli began running around the room faster and faster, dodging the furniture as she went. Occasionally, Oskar would step in and move something quickly as she ran. By the end, she was moving so fast that her feet were beginning to lose their grip on the floor as she took a turn too sharply. She finally stopped suddenly in the center of the room, spun around a couple of times with her arms out, and sat down in a chair just as Oskar was reaching for it. She pulled off the blindfold laughing. “That was great fun, Oskar! Weird, but great fun. Let’s do it again. Your turn.” She put the blindfold on him and they repeated the exercise. Oskar did just as well as Eli, but, of course, not at the same speeds.

“Now we have to figure out how to do it as a three-way exercise.” Oskar instructed her, “Too bad you don’t have any vampire friends you can call on.”

“Ha, Ha! One vampire ENEMY is all I can deal with right now. However I have thought of a way we can get Papa involved without making him suspicious. We’ll talk about it when you get back from the Cemetery.” She stood up and faced him, “Now, let’s start again!”

========

They parked a block from the cemetery and walked quickly through the main gate toward the section containing the gravestone of Dr. Llewellyn. Oskar felt for the Other One in his mind as they walked. They crisscrossed the area several times, but he felt nothing. Finally, they stopped and sat down on a bench, frustrated. “We can’t cover the whole cemetery in a day. We have to think this through.” Dawson said, his head in his hands, thinking.

Oskar let his mind wander. The cemetery, at least in this area, was kind of pleasant. There were small brick-lined, irregularly-shaped patches of flowers along the path, and a flower-lined path winding up a small hill a short distance away with a well-kept white crypt sitting on the top. “Dad! Could that be it?” he pointed toward the hill.

“Oskar, you’re a genius! Let’s give it a try.” They had hardly gotten half-way up the gentle slope when Oskar stopped.

“He’s here! I can feel him. Oskar ran for the crypt.

“Stop, Oskar. Let’s do this more systematically.” He carefully marked their location, then they walked together toward the crypt, passed it and continued on down the other side of the hill, until Oskar could no longer feel him. They stepped back up the hill to the center of the line. The crypt was almost 40 feet behind them, further up the hill. “See Oskar? We might have made a mistake if we hadn’t taken the extra time. Let’s finish this.” They made a right angle turn and began again. They quickly zeroed in on a slightly smaller black crypt that was overshadowed by the larger one, but 30 feet further down the hill and a little to the right. Dr. Llewellyn’s gravestone was clearly visible, and even a bit closer to this tomb. Dawson walked around it several times, inspecting the foundation carefully. He identified at least two places that might be an entrance, but he kept his distance. He wanted there to be no chance that the Other One would see any disturbance. A thin line of dead grass parallel to the base of one stone made it an easy final choice. He motioned to Oskar and they quickly headed for the cemetery entrance. On an impulse, he suddenly made a sharp detour and went directly to Eli’s old hiding place. He took out his pocket knife and carefully scraped away the dirt around the entrance stone. Sure enough! The penny was gone. The Other One had been here and discovered Eli’s old hiding place. He shuddered to think that Eli’s worst fears would almost certainly have come to pass; he would have found her and finished the job the next night if he and Oskar hadn’t saved her. He also noticed a small nail wedged in the crack on the other side of the entrance stone. He smiled as he realized that the Other One, even as he had fallen for their trap, had set one of his own.

They returned quickly to the car and headed home. Dawson was already working on a plan of action.

========

Eli was waiting for them in her room. They quickly sat down and filled her in on the details. “I see he didn’t really give away where he was living. He knew I wouldn’t be able to find him based on Dr. Llewellyn’s tomb alone. There were too many possibilities. He didn’t count on Oskar being on our side.”

“You’re right Eli, which is why we can be sure we’ve found him. Now, a few questions for you. You remember the acid that Hakan used on himself? What would happen if something of that nature were used on a vampire?”

Eli shuddered, “It would probably hurt a lot and cause a lot of damage, but it wouldn’t kill me and I would quickly regenerate.”

“How quickly?”

“I’m really not sure. How long does it take the acid to get used up? I mean, how long before it stops burning?”

“Initially, probably five minutes or so, but to a human, damage could continue for hours, even days.”

“Then in five minutes, I would start repairing myself, and in less than two after that, I would be normal again.”

“So then, directly in the eyes, it would give me five to seven minutes of incapacity.”

“But I would still be able to hear you and smell you, and come after you, especially if you were in my tomb in a small space. I would be able to easily find you.” She glanced quickly at Oskar.

“When you…slept during the day, how easy was it for you to be awakened?”

“About like me,” Oskar interjected. “After sleeping with her during the day in Karlstad all that time, I found that getting up quietly didn’t wake her up, but nudging her or slugging her on the arm would.”

“Oskar’s about right, but when I slept on my own, I was a bit more sensitive to small noises. Oskar kind of ‘domesticated’ me.” She smiled at him. “But, many times, I was awake when you thought I was asleep.”

“So if we quietly removed the stone over his entrance, and I went in with a five-gallon can of gasoline, verified his presence, and then poured it on the floor, do you think he would wake up?”

“She nodded, “Yes, as soon as the fumes filled the room he would most likely wake up quickly.”

“That’s a risk I will have to take, then. I’ll also bring in a jar of Hydrochloric acid as a backup, just in case. I’ll have a rope around my waist and you can pull me back through the entrance if I get into trouble. Did I mention that we would be doing this in the early morning, before the cemetery is likely to have people wandering about? You will need your suit. There’s still a chance we could be spotted by others, but we’ll just have to deal with that possibility.” He paused for a moment. “What do you think? It’s just a preliminary plan and needs some work, but do you have any other suggestions?”

“But why do you have to go in? Couldn’t we just pour it down his tunnel?”

“Eli, we don’t know the layout of the tomb, and we don’t know what precautions he may have taken to protect himself. We have to be absolutely certain.”

Oskar and Eli looked at each other. Finally Eli couldn’t stand it any longer. “Papa, I won’t let you risk your life for us like that. If he gets hold of you, you’ll be dead in an instant. I can’t bear the thought of losing you,” she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. “Oskar thought of a much better idea.”

“Eli, don’t!”

“We have to, Oskar. We really need his help with this.” They sat him down and went over it with him briefly.

“So Oskar would be out of harm’s way, and you’d face him alone? In your old tomb? I don’t like it.”

“But Papa, Oskar would be helping me. And that’s the only way we can make sure he’s dead. He could actually survive a fire in his tomb, if he were able to climb into the stone sarcophagus itself. He would just wait there until the fire burned itself out. And when he came after us he would be even angrier than before.”

“So that’s what those ‘games’ were all about,” he said, “Were you going to tell me, or just try it on your own?” he sounded exasperated.

“I don’t know!” Oskar cried, “but Eli and I won’t let you risk your life for us! You mean too much to us. Please let us do this.”

Dawson paced back and forth. He realized that Eli hadn’t survived as long as she had by relinquishing authority easily to someone else. It was her cross he was now having to bear himself. He knew finally that he couldn’t change her – at least not fast enough to help in this case. He sat down in front of her. “Ok, we’ll do it your way, but only under the condition that we add a few of my own ideas.”

“Papa, I promise you, Oskar will be safe and the Other One won’t be able to kill me. With Oskar, we have a real advantage. But we need you to make sure it will work. You need to practice with us.” She sat him down and explained Oskar’s idea to him in detail. He realized immediately that they were really on to something. The more he listened the more certain he was that they stood a very good chance of succeeding.

“Ok, what do you need me to do?”

They sat in a circle. Oskar closed his eyes and kept them shut. Ready Eli? He took Papa’s left hand in his. “Ok, Dad, I want you to try to slap Eli.”

He swung his right hand at her as fast as he could, but she caught him around the wrist before his hand had passed his shoulder. He tried it again and again from different angles and different pause times, with no success.

“Now try it again without me, Eli.” He let go of Dawson’s hand. Sure enough, he was able to connect about half the time, although her reflexes were good enough to stop him the rest of the time. “Sorry, Eli!” Papa said, apologetically.

“Didn’t hurt! Do it again!”

They tried it over and over again. Dawson suggested other tests, and even insisted that they try them without Oskar holding his hand. It was midnight when they finally called it a night.

“I want you to close all your drapes tonight. I don’t want him to be able to see anything in the house until we make our move. Eli, what specifically happens if he comes in without permission?”

“If he stays long enough, he’ll die, but the instant he walks in uninvited, he loses all his strength. Even Oskar could handle him then. He would never take the chance.”

“Good! Let’s get some sleep then. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” Dawson figured they would practice for a couple more days, pick up a few items he felt would be useful, and plan on confronting the Other One on the third day, hopefully before he could put any of his own plans in action.

======================

It was one hour before dawn. Eli knelt down beside the Other One’s tomb; a one-gallon can of gasoline at her side. Oskar and Papa were already in position near Eli’s old tomb. She took a deep breath, listened intently, then grabbed his entrance stone and jerked it hard, pulling it completely out of position, then threw it 20 feet away where it landed with a dull thud. She grabbed the wooden hatch from beneath it and hurled it after the stone, making as much noise as she could.

As soon as the Other One woke up, Oskar made the connection. Run, Eli! She heard Oskar in her head.

She deliberately left the open gas can and box of matches, and ran as fast as she could toward her old tomb, not looking back. She smoothly removed her stone, watching as the nail fell to the side in plain view, and quickly slipped inside. She pulled the stone back into place, checked to make sure everything they had placed there earlier was where it belonged, then sat down in the back corner of the chamber to wait for Oskar’s signal. It came quickly.

Suddenly, she could see what the Other One saw and hear what he was thinking, as clearly as though she were him. When he emerged from his crypt, he had seen her disappearing into the trees in the direction of her old tomb. He bounded down the hill directly towards her, filled with rage. That stupid child thought she could burn me out? Am I ever going to enjoy this! He ran even faster. He slowed down quickly as he rounded her tomb, searching the ground until he spotted the small nail. There it is! She’s now trapped inside. She could feel the sadistic joy well up in him. Even so, he carefully walked around the tomb twice, listening intently before he crouched down and gently removed the entrance stone and plate. He sniffed the air. She’s here! He slowly extended his claws and talons and moved steadily through the tunnel into the chamber. He stood up just inside the entrance and immediately saw her huddled in the back corner. Eli stood up and made herself look as small and defenseless as possible.

He put his hands on his hips and began laughing, “Did you really think I wouldn’t find you? That I wouldn’t wake up when you tried to burn me?” He started toward her. She simultaneously moved around the wall, keeping the sarcophagus between them. He quickly switched directions, as did she. He snickered, “Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be, or I’ll spend a few more hours playing with you than I had planned on.” She may be a eunuch, but there are many other ways to have fun with her. And she IS pretty; and to think I missed my chance when I had her before. “Just step on over here…” He leaped over the sarcophagus and grabbed the air as Eli quickly moved to his old position. He leaped back, felt her hair brush his cheek as she dodged past him, and again she was gone.

She put her hands on her hips and laughed at him, “Getting a bit slow in your old age? Maybe you’d like to take a break? So you can catch your breath?”

He feigned to the right, then leaped over the left end of the sarcophagus. Once again, he grabbed air and Eli taunted him, “Can’t even catch a small child? What’s the matter? Not used to dealing with one you can’t screw and have for dinner? If word gets out, what’s this going to do to your stellar reputation?”

“Well, actually I have had you for dinner. We’ll explore that other option in a few minutes.”
She could feel the fury building in him as he calculated his next move. He leaped across the sarcophagus, pushed off the wall breaking loose large chunks of marble, and immediately leaped back, catching the edge of her sleeve with a claw, but once again missing her. Eli stood in the corner next to the wooden box, laughing at him; her eyes were now black holes, and her fangs were showing. “Wanna try that one again, pussy?” she said in a deep gravelly voice.

His fury reached the boiling point and he lunged for her, claws outstretched. He swung at her in midair as she suddenly raised a sharpened eight-foot stainless-steel rod off the floor. He felt it pierce his chest and emerge from his lower back as his momentum carried him forward. He swung again, and felt his claws rake across her chest. Got her! She’ll not get away this time.

Eli, with blood running down her chest, lunged forward, jammed the spike into the sarcophagus and, with all her strength, wedged the other end tightly against the crypt chamber wall, leaving his feet dangling six inches off the floor. “Well, now!” she mocked, “You look just like a shish-kabob. All you need is a little seasoning, and you’ll be good enough to eat.” She stepped back just out of his reach and reached into the box. She lifted out a large glass jar and slowly unscrewed the glass lid. She stepped toward him, effortlessly ducked as he swung at her, and calmly poured the Hydrochloric acid directly on his face. He screamed in rage and grabbed blindly at her as his face burned away and drops of acid sizzled and smoked on the marble floor, creating tiny pools of boiling brine. As he struggled with the spike, Eli calmly poured the rest of the acid on his claws and back and stepped back out of the way as his claws blackened and deformed and his vertebrae became visible as the skin on his back sloughed away.

“Papa! Oskar! Its time!” she yelled. Oskar’s head appeared at the entrance, and he handed Eli another jar and the end of a chain. His flashlight reflected eerily off Eli’s iridescent eyes and sprinkled the walls with flickering fireflies of light. Eli took the jar, removed the lid, and calmly poured more acid over his claws and talons, down the center of his back, and finally on his face once again, ignoring the muffled screams of pain and rage. By now, the air was thick with the acrid smell of acid, brine, and burning flesh, and the still-sizzling marble floor was alive with tiny volcanoes belching white fumes. She placed the jar in the corner, secured the chain around his waist, and nodded to Oskar, who turned and yelled, “Ok, Dad.” then disappeared through the tunnel; Eli heard the car engine rev up as the chain became taught. She kicked the spike lose from the wall, guided the end towards the tunnel, and watched as the Other One was dragged with increasing speed through the entrance, where he quickly disappeared in a shower of broken marble and black dirt.

She calmly picked up the extra spike, surveyed the tomb carefully, and carried it and the box with the empty jars through the widened tunnel to the surface, where she could see the sun just touching the top of the nearby high-rise. She turned and methodically replaced the steel plate and the entrance stone, carefully setting it in place and brushing dust into the cracks. Then she turned, dug her talons into the ground and grabbed the blunt end of the spike. She lifted the Other One completely off the ground, paused for a moment, then drove the sharp end of the spike three feet into the ground, just as he had recovered enough to begin struggling. Oskar’s back was against the tomb as he stood there transfixed, watching Eli, wide-eyed, his mouth hanging open. Is this the Eli that killed Jonny and Jimmy at the pool? He looked into her black eyes and felt...fear? Awe? Adoration? An odd mixture of emotions that, for a moment, made him deeply uncomfortable. Her exhibition of raw, primitive, unchecked power left him weak-kneed. He wondered if his Eli was still a part of this…creature.

“Eli, don’t. Please! We have this under control. There’s no need for overkill,” Dawson said, as he backed away from her.

“She turned towards him, eyes as black as coal and fangs bared, then turned back, stooped and picked up the other spike with a clawed hand, and drove it through the Other One’s body just above the groin and pushed it deep into the ground. He swung at her but she easily stepped out of the way. His face was almost recognizable again. His fangs grew quickly and he hissed at her.

“Let’s go!” Dawson said urgently. “We haven’t got much time.” He unhooked the chain from the bumper, and quickly moved the car onto the service road and loaded up their gear.

“Oskar, would you get my suit?” Eli’s voice was low and intense. Oskar snapped out of his trance, quickly stepped over to the car and brought the suit to her.

Eli turned toward the Other One as she gradually transformed back into the small, beautiful child she so desperately wanted to be, and with a cocky smile on her face, calmly took off her torn, bloody, and acid-burned clothes until she was standing pure white and naked in front of him. She put her arms out and turned completely around, mocking him, then slowly put on her suit, her eyes glued to his. She put on her helmet, boots and gloves, but left the visor open so he could see her face clearly. She looked up at the descending sun line on the high-rise, then turned to Dawson. “Papa, please try to understand. I have to do this. Please, take Oskar and wait for me outside. We can’t have anyone see the car when he…”

Dawson was relieved that her voice and body, at least, had returned to normal. But he knew her black eyes were still watching the Other One.

“Dad? I’m staying with Eli. You go ahead.” He hesitated a moment, then carefully, as though she were contagious, put his arm around her waist.

“Oskar…” he finally understood where Oskar’s recent strength had come from; it had come from hate. He was terrified that he may have lost Oskar forever to it. Courage founded on hate was unstable; the hate would eventually turn inward, resulting in unexpected victims closer to home. He sighed, got in the car, and slowly drove toward the cemetery gate, fearing for the children’s future lives and the real challenges they had yet to overcome.

Eli and Oskar sat down together arm in arm, cross-legged in front of him, listening to his curses, watching him struggle more powerfully as his strength returned. “You think I’m going to beg you to release me? You think I’m going to grovel?” He raged at them.

No! I think we’re going to watch you die! Oskar screamed at him in his mind. The Other One jerked, as Oskar forced him to see himself through Eli’s eyes, immersed in her hatred. Then, through his own, as his rage rose up and he relived everything, including his part in the Other One’s destruction. He relived Eli’s torture, despair, and near-death at his hands, Oskar’s and Papa’s deep devotion as they rescued her, then cared for her, Henry and Jack and their warm, unassuming friendship, and his blind hatred of the Other One, raging just beneath the surface since the day he found Eli, alone and shivering in the tomb.

“What are you?” he hissed at Oskar. “You’re not a vampire. How can you do these things?” Oskar smiled at him as he hugged Eli. He turned her face to him and kissed her gently. She kissed him back and hugged him extra hard. Oskar watched as the sunlight touched the Eagle’s unbroken wing; then he gently lowered her visor and snapped it in place. They sat there watching patiently, as the sunlight slowly wrapped around them, casting long shadows across the grass. An explosion of light! The white-hot flickering firelight bathed their faces with its radiance, pushing back the chilly night air. Finally, they got up together and walked slowly out of the cemetery, dragging the spikes and chain behind them. A wisp of black smoke still hung in the air above Eli’s tomb.

====================

The drive home was a silent one. Dawson was almost repulsed by their emotionless response to the Other One’s horrible death. Eli, having succumbed to her vampirism, and with 200 years of resignation and self-possession built up, he could understand, but Oskar? This was a side of Oskar he had never seen before. Anger was one thing; stoicism was quite another. He worried about how he, even as an adult, was going to be able to deal with this new darkness in this sweet child. He knew he loved Oskar dearly, but would it be as easy to like him anymore?

He pulled into the driveway and sat quietly for a moment. No one said anything. He turned towards them, and was surprised to see Oskar lying on the seat with his head in Eli’s lap. She was gently stroking his hair as the silent tears streamed down his face and beaded up on her beautiful golden pants. His body was trembling and his eyes were closed. Eli looked up at Papa sadly for a moment, then back down at Oskar, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please forgive me.” she whispered to him.

Dawson quickly got out of the car and opened Eli’s door. She pulled Oskar gently out of the car, lifted him like a baby, placed his head on her shoulder and carried him towards the house. Oskar wrapped his legs around her waist like a small child and nestled up against her neck. Papa opened the door and quickly climbed the stairs ahead of them. He stepped out on the third floor landing and opened Oskar’s door.

Eli moved instead toward her own room and Papa quickly opened the door for her. She gently laid Oskar on her bed, unbuttoned his shirt, then took off his dirty, sooty clothes. She carefully dressed him in her pajamas, took off her suit, smiled shyly at Papa and climbed into bed with him, where she put her arms around his still-trembling body. Only after Oskar had wrapped his legs tightly around her, did his trembling slowly begin to subside. Papa stepped over to the windows and drew the drapes, then turned the light off and quietly closed the door behind him as he left. He stood there a moment, as a feeling of relief washed over him; then he headed for his study. All he could think about was their pain, and how inadequate their child-like defenses against it would be in their long journey ahead together in immortality. But he knew for certain that he had been completely wrong about Oskar: it wasn’t the courage born of hate that drove him; it was the courage born of love. And he was now paying the price for what he felt he had to do in its name.