“You get a second chance, though,” she says. “What happened to you with Eagleton...with your family...that wasn’t fair.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Now the vampires have found you, though. The boys have finally caught their mate,” she looks at me and grins. “And I finally get to have a sister.”
I reach for Abigail and hug her, holding her close.
A sister.
It’s something I, too, have always wanted. Always dreamed of. I’ve always wanted someone I could turn to for advice and help and guidance, and now I have her. I don’t ever want to let her go.
Not Abigail.
We sit together talking for a long time. We talk late into the afternoon, well until the sun starts to set, and then she turns to me.
“You really want to be a vampire, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” She asks. “Is it because you want to live forever?”
“That’s part of the reason,” I admit.
“What else?”
“I don’t want to say goodbye to them,” I shrug. “I barely know them and I can’t imagine having to say goodbye before I really get to finish discovering who they are and what they care about. I don’t think one lifetime is going to be long enough to spend with them.”
I can’t really explain how I know this.
I just know it.
Abigail considers me for a long time, and then she speaks.
“There’s a reason vampires won’t always turn their mates. Some of them do. Not all of them.”
“Why not?”
“Because humans are weak. The process of turning someone...well, it’s very painful, and it takes a long time.”
“Are we talking like ten minutes?”
“More like ten hours. There’s no guarantee. Most vampires don’t want to risk losing the person they love, so they wait. By the time they’ve decided to suck it up and try, the human is old and weak and frail. The best time to turn someone is when they’re young. You know, when they’re still strong.”
“So you’re saying I need to try harder to convince them.”
“No, I’m saying that I’ll do it,” she says. “I’ll sire you.”
“Are you s
erious?” I ask, shocked.
Can she do that?
Can we do that?
“Yes.”
“Is that...allowed?”