Blaire Reynolds:

I am writing to ask that Sauda Emera receive an internship at the Extermination Society of the Government. It has come to my attention that she does not have all the credits required to attend such a program, but I personally suggest her admission based on passed grades and extracurricular involvement in the University of Abstract Research and community service. Please feel free to contact me at my old email address with any further questions.

Steven Williams

I chewed anxiously on my nail as Aaron slid into my seat at the busy café and read it over quickly. Despite his new knowledge of who I had been and what I had done, Aaron was still with me and showed no signs of the hatred and doubt I had assumed would follow. Some part of me scolded myself at even thinking Aaron would do that, another part was still quite wary. Not that I thought Aaron would ever betray me, I was just… I mean, I was a murderer for Christ's sake!

However, there was something wrong with Aaron. He was paler lately and Coriander had told me a couple days ago that his plate was coming back only half eaten, expressing her worry sharply. Conway had reminded me of the circumstances before Aaron had come to live with us once again, how someone had died at his house or something, but every time I went to ask about it, either someone walked in, or Aaron brought up a different topic.

"This looks fine," Aaron said, "can I push send?"

"Sure." I watched the screen change and nodded grimly when it was done, motioning for Aaron to delete the history of the computer. "Now that that is done, what should we do for the rest of the day?"

"Could we… go somewhere to talk?" Aaron asked shyly, letting someone else take our computer. I took his hand as we left the café, and walked the short distance to my small car. "I wanted to tell you about the man that died…"

"Of course, I've been meaning to ask you for a long time," I said, opening his door for him.

"Then why haven't you?" Aaron asked when I slid into my own seat and started the car.

"People walked in, you were tired, you started talking about something else…" I shrugged and carefully pulled out onto the road. "Lots of things. Sometimes it felt just mean to wreck your mood."

"I…I didn't want to tell you for fear of the same thing." Aaron sighed. "But I'm afraid it will hit you a lot harder than it hit me."

I thought about that seriously for a moment and nodded grimly. "Should I pull over?"

"No…I – go to your house."

"Our house," I corrected softly, glancing over at Aaron. He smiled wanly, tears in his eyes.

"Now, Aaron, what is this all about?" I asked gently, sitting him down on the bed.

"I think you should be sitting down." Aaron said calmly, although his skin had bleached to a pasty color and his pupils were dilated. "I'm serious, Terrence!"

"Just tell me who it was, Aaron," I urged softly, taking a seat.

"Hakan."

I blinked, feeling winded. "H-Hakan? Hakan is dead?"

Aaron started crying, face in his hands. "I – I failed you, I'm so s-sorry! I let your uncle die… right before me. I – I c-couldn't do anything-g."

I swallowed harshly, feeling tears sting my eyes. "Oh, god, Aaron…why didn't you tell me sooner?" I whispered, throat rough.

"I couldn't," Aaron sobbed quietly. "I couldn't look at y-your face…I…" he trailed off weakly. "Don't hate me, Terrence, please, I tried…"

"Aaron, it wasn't your fault." I forced myself to get up and go to him, holding his tear streaked face in my hands. His grey-blue eyes were red with tears, his whole body trembling underneath my hands; tears ran over my fingers. "Tell me how…tell me how he came and how – how he died."

Aaron looked at me, then nodded, looking small and defeated. "It was three…or four hours before I came to your work… and he stumbled into my house and scared Mary witless. He was bleeding so much – I was so scared, Terry, I didn't know what to do. Mary was crying and Hakan was dying and my mind wouldn't work." Aaron took a shuddering breath and let it out with a little sob. "He gave me something, Terry, which he said to give to you. S-Said you would understand?"

"What?" I forced out, mouth completely chalk dry.

"It was a p-pen, he told me n-not to touch it." Aaron looked up at me hesitantly, eyes wide. "Does that mean anything to you?"

I was silent, knowing exactly what he wanted me to do. "I need you to get the key from my thigh."

Aaron jerked away from me, fear written over his face. I grabbed his shoulders and wrestled him down onto the bed, trapping him underneath me. "No! I won't do it!"

"You don't have a choice, Aaron! Listen to me! Hakan was holding the pen when he was attacked – Deidre should be able to See what happened – Aaron!"

Aaron was shaking his head back and forth restlessly, trembling uncontrollably and muttering something. "I c-can't do it, Terrence. I c-can't."

"Yes, you can. Hakan was my uncle!"

Aaron stilled and looked up at me. "Don't you think I know that, Terry?" His voice was broken. "Don't you think I want to know how Hakan died, too? But you're not thinking about what Deidre can do to us in this state!"

That startled me. "What?"

"You aren't thinking clearly! Deidre feeds on emotions, and with ours so riled up, she won't be able to see anything!"

"Damnit," I snarled, blinking back tears. "Why did it have to be Hakan? Hakan actually cared about me."

"Perhaps that's why," Aaron whispered, wrapping his arms around my neck and pulling me down so he was completely covered by my body. "Terrence, I'm scared of what killed Hakan." His body shuddered so hard I thought he was convulsing. "He was torn to pieces…all that flesh…"

"Shh," I soothed shakily. "Don't talk about it, Aaron. It'll be all right, I swear."

Aaron shivered but said nothing.

The blade of Aaron's surgical knife slid down my thigh two inches, then cut to the left swiftly. I hissed and clutched at the chair I was sitting on, swearing loudly.

Aaron glared at me and told me firmly to, "shut the fuck up or I'll stick you where it'll really hurt."

I gave him a wide-eyed look of horror and Aaron grinned at me. "Just kidding. But you should watch your mouth around the house – Kaethe or Tabby could be listening in."

"ME? You just said the f-word!" I let out a cry of pain as Aaron gave a quick twist of his blade and exposed the key. It was silver and old – but not rusty, of course, since there was no way Aaron was going to put something rusty in my thigh. The odd engravings on the key's side matched the carvings on my attic's door, and held a spell of containment and sleep. When the door is unlocked, the spell would be deactivated for a while.

"You'll live," Aaron said pitilessly, removing the key gingerly from my flesh. Blood stained on his clean latex gloves as he pulled his hand away from my thigh. He set the key down in a bowl filled with a sterilizing liquid and peeled off his gloves.

"Ow, ouch," I muttered to myself as I peered out of the corner of my eye at the small incisions on my thigh. There was a lot of blood, and I couldn't see much beyond that. Aaron took an alcohol swab and sterilized the cuts, much to my displeasure. "That STINGS!"

"You're such a baby!" Aaron snapped, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "YOU wanted the key kept there in the first place, if I can remind you."

"Don't, please," I grumbled, releasing my death-hold on the chair.

Aaron wiped the excess blood away and bound up my thigh with gauze; blood spots leaked through. "It should stop bleeding soon, Terry," Aaron patted my head in a patronizing way.

I grabbed his waist and pulled him down onto my lap, nuzzling my face into his neck. "It still stings. Kiss it and make it better."

"No way," Aaron said playfully, shoving at my chest. "Don't forget what we got that damned key out for."

"I haven't," I said, resting my chin on his shoulder. "But Deidre can't work with sad emotions."

"So she can work with postcoital?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing, let's just get this over with."

"We can have make-up sex," I offered.

"We weren't fighting!"