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.“I’ve got nothing to be afraid of here, Officer.Trust me.” She gave a small wave, turned back to the door, and made her way inside.* * *Rhes was talking to Tori.He’d always been good with kids, and she seemed to be responding well to him.At least, she was answering his questions with enthusiasm.“Tell me about Melissa, Tori.”“She was my sister! She had black hair and was tall and sometimes she’d come out walking with me and tell me stories.”“And what about Missy?”Tori faltered for a moment.“Missy? She was the same as Melissa.Same thing, Rhes.”“Mmm.No, not quite, Tori … but okay.I guess you couldn’t make the distinction.”“What’s disjunction?”“Distinction.” Two sat down next to Tori.“It means telling the difference between two things, Tori.Like black and white.”“Oh.Okay.”“Who used to read to you, Tori?” Rhes asked.“My big sister.”“Melissa?”Tori look uncertain again.Confused and perhaps even a bit panicked.“No.No, my … my other big sister.”“What was her name?”“I dunno.”Rhes looked at Two, raised an eyebrow.Two shrugged.“Let’s not press it tonight, Rhes, okay? We’ll talk about it later.”“Okay.You want to crash here, Two? It’s late, and the subways will be running slow.The couch folds out, and we’ve got a spare bedroom.I know Molly would love to see you.”“She doesn’t hate me?”Sarah interjected.“No, definitely not.I’m not sure Molly could hate anyone.She was pissed, for a while, that you’d lied to her … but I think she’s come to understand it.She knows you saved her life, Two.”“Okay.You want to sleep over here, Tori?”“Sure!”“Good.We’ll get up and have breakfast with everyone, ‘k?”“Okay, Two.” Tori yawned, stretched, rubbed at her eyes like a kid.She was having trouble keeping them open.Two stood up.“I’m going to put her in the spare bedroom.I’ll take the couch.You guys going to be up for a while?”Sarah nodded.“Time for the grownups to talk? Yeah.We’ll be here, Two.”Two took Tori by the hand and led her upstairs.* * *With Tori settled into the guest room, Two made her way back down to the first floor.Rhes and Sarah were waiting with questions, and they spent another few hours going over Two’s story.They wanted to know more about Theroen, more about Melissa and Missy, more about Abraham.They wanted to understand the events that led up to her standing over the latter’s headless body, holding a machete.Two did her best to answer their questions.Over and over, the conversation kept returning to Tori.She was, of course, the key.She was Two’s proof, the deciding factor that forced Sarah and Rhes to accept the story that Two had provided.“We have to find out who she is, Two.” Sarah said finally.Two sighed.“I know.I just don’t have any idea how to do it.”Rhes spoke up.“Public records search at the library.You said that Tori couldn’t possibly have been a vampire for more than two decades, right? How many girls with her first name and description could have gone missing in that time? Hell, she might be the only girl with that name to have gone missing.It’s not that common.”Two considered this.“I guess that’s true.You think it’ll work?”“It’s as good a place to start as any.” Rhes drained his beer, looked inquisitively at Two.She shook her head.“What do we do once we know who Tori is?”There was silence for a moment, and Two felt herself growing angry.She knew what was coming.At last, Rhes shrugged and said without looking at her, “I think we need to find out if her parents are still alive, Two.”Two grimaced.“You’re not taking her away from me.”“They have a right to know she’s alive.” Rhes’ voice was gentle.He knew she didn’t want to hear this.“Not if it means that.Not if she has to go.That’s not fair.She’s all I’ve got!”“I think they might disagree with you about how fair it is, Two, but it’s not important right now.We don’t even know who they are or whether they’re alive yet.Just … consider it for a while.I think you’ll see that I’m right.”Two looked out the window, frustrated.She knew he was right.She just didn’t care.Sarah stretched.“I’m beat.Haven’t been up this late in ages, not since Rhes and I settled in and got boring.This has been a long, weird evening, and even though I could spend another three hours asking questions, I think we’d all better get some sleep.”“Yeah, no kidding.Thanks for letting us crash here, guys.”Rhes stood up.“No problem, Two.I’ll go grab some blankets.Do you want to go to the library tomorrow?”“I suppose we should,” Two said with distaste.The idea of actively searching out ways to take Tori away from her was painful.“It’s for the best, Two …”Sarah smiled, took his arm, stood as well.“Don’t push it, dear.She said yes.”Two laughed, then got to her feet and embraced each of them in turn.“Thank you guys.You don’t know how much it means to me that you don’t think I’m insane.”Sarah shrugged.“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have my doubts, Two, but you don’t seem insane.Tori doesn’t seem insane.Developmentally challenged, but not insane.Bare minimum, the people you’re talking about existed.That I’m sure of.The vampire thing … I may never believe it completely without seeing it with my own eyes, but I’m trying.We’re both trying.”Two smiled at her.“That’s more than I expected.Thank you.Now go to bed, before we get going again.”Sarah and Rhes headed for the stairs.Two began unfolding the couch.* * *It was late morning when Two awoke, Jake curled at her feet on the fold-out bed, sunlight streaming in through the vertical blinds that covered the brownstone’s window [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]