Enid put her feet up and hands behind her head and watched the sun rise over the back deck of the spacious house that Eyre has purchased for them. Her daughter sat down beside her. Enid was back to her old self, long wavy red hair, green eyes, body like a twelve-year-old boys and looking about sixteen.

“Nice to see your real face mother. I missed it.”

“I didn’t, it was nice to be treated like an adult.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“Easy for you to say, you look like you’re thirty. You never did high school, now I’m doing it for the second time. I’ve done university twice. This is going to drive me nuts.”

“What do you mean drive you? You’ve always been a bit crazy.”

Enid swatted at Eyre who laughed.

“It was your fault I had to do high school in the first place.”

“I love you mother, but there was no way you were going to get through university without studying modern math, science and languages.”

“I suppose I need to buy a computer. Did you at least get my identity a license?”

“Sorry mother, you’re only fifteen, no license until you’re sixteen.”

“I’m going to ask Lilith to talk her husband into sending you to special place in hell. And what the fuck? You tricked me into meeting her. Didn’t I warn you about her?”

“Well, you warned me about her in the way your father warned you. You had never actually met her or realized you had. She explained the situation to me. I thought it was in your best interest to speak to her.”

“Sometimes you act more like my mother then my daughter.”

“We’re both old enough we might as well be sisters.”

“You’ll always be my baby girl. I changed your diapers.”

“If you were human, I would have ended up changing yours eventually.”

“Ouch why not just stake me while you’re at it.”

“Oh, if only I could silence you that easily.”

“You’re in rare form today.”

“I am your daughter after all. So, have you decided how you’re going to approach Aunt Mariana?”

“No. To be honest based on what you’ve said she sounds insufferable.”

“Why? She helps people, both the dead and living.”

“She’s the most powerful Sorceress that has ever walked this earth. Not some servant of God. Not to mention she was my best friend and sister. We would die for each other. My sister would never bend knee to anyone let alone some overblown reality-crafter.”

“Well, she can go out in the sun; How do you explain that?”

“Oh, that’s easy, she had an amulet in Rome she pulled it out of Atlantis.”

“Oh. I thought there were only two.”

“No, there were ten apparently.”

“So, there are seven more out there?”

“Seven in Atlantis, and to be honest that’s a trip most people can’t make. I only know three people can transit that path. Mariana, my father, and Lilith.”

“Couldn’t we get there?”

“Probably could if we knew the spell.”

“I would love to see Atlantis.”

“I’ve no wish to go back to Limbo.”

Enid sighed. She pulled her feet off the table and leaned forward. She rubbed her face with her hands.

“You look like you need this. High school should be relaxing after being a trauma surgeon, fighter pilot and police officer.”

“I’m just tired of running. I need this, but not to relax, I need to put an end to the Black Sun then I need to get Lucius back.”

“Do you really believe Lilith? That he’s out there trapped?”

“Yes, when you have a bond like we do, I would know if he was dead. I should have figured out Lucius was being possessed by the Black Sun. How could I miss that?”

“You are not all-knowing mother.”

“But still, I should have known he would have never betrayed Mariana like that.”

“Well at least we put a stop to him cloning you.”

“Where is she by the way?”

“I set her up with a place in Ontario. She has it rough. They put something in her, that resuscitates every dawn then kills her every night. She looks exactly like you.”

“What about the company?”

“Oh, the lab was dealt with quite soundly. I told the werewolves where it was. They were eager to destroy it.”

“So, the company is still around?”

“Yes, unfortunately. I didn’t have enough money to put it out of business. They also have major ties to several governments. I pulled as many strings as I could, but my influence doesn’t run deep enough. Some of the Pugmentia and the Imperial council were fighting against my efforts.”

“Son of a bitch. I wonder what the Black Sun promised them.”

“Well, they had your DNA, and access to vampire blood who knows what they did with that?”

“Considering what Lilith did with it, you’ve got me worried now.”

“Mom, let me worry about BMC, you worry about getting Mariana on our side so we can fight the Black Sun. The battle is going to be with magic, not mortal power and money.”

“You know how to alter your appearance. Why don’t you go to high school?”

“Because you’re her sister, and she has no idea who I am.”

“I know. I just do not want to deal with high school. Especially with twitter, selfies, cyber-bullying.”

“Well, you can treat the teacher with derision, it’s not like you’re in Japan again. Or care if you pass.”

“Yes, but Mariana would hate me. I need to play the part. So, are you coming with me to get a computer today?”

“Do you even know how to use a computer?”

“I’ve been using computers for two-thousand years, I just didn’t realize what they were.”

“True, I guess.”

“Who knew computers would be so ubiquitous.”

“Mortals are definitely ingenious.”

“You didn’t answer me.”

“I have to, you can’t drive yet.”

“Don’t remind me. Fifteen. That is twice. I am going to get you back for this.”

“So, who did you tell the school you were?”

“I’m your long-suffering mother.”

“Oh, so that’s why you have grey hair.”

Eyre pushed Enid playfully and laughed.

“I like you so much better these days. You’re not so serious. It’s nice to see you smile and see it be genuine.”

“All your fault.”

“I will gladly take the blame for bringing joy to your heart. Even if you are an absentee Empress.”

Enid shook her head and stood up and stretched.

“Go make breakfast.”

“No, you go make breakfast.”

“I’m the parent here.”

“Oh, pulling the parent card, are we?”

“Do you really want to eat my cooking?”

“No, not really, I still remember the last time you cooked, what was that supposed to be again?”

Enid pushed Eyre towards the sliding door that led into the house.

“Just make me something to eat. Please.”

“Please, you must be desperate.”

“This is what I get for teaching you to be a free-thinking child, six hundred years of back talk.”

Eyre laughed and started cooking breakfast.

“What did you do for food when you lived alone? We both now you didn’t cook.”

“Fast food. Restaurants. Oh, and those delivery apps.”

“If you were human, you’d probably weigh five hundred pounds, you know, that right?”

“Probably, but I’m not human. And I spent two thousand years only drinking blood. I’ll be damned if I will torture myself with my cooking.”

“Maybe you should have spent one of your lives as a chef.”

“That sounds really boring. No offense.”

“I’m not offended, there is a certain art to cooking.”

“So, what are you doing now?”

“Oh, I’m a nightclub owner, and my alter ego is a gothic songstress.”

“You’re singing again? I thought you wanted to be a producer.”

“I was for a while, then I was a chef, but I love singing so I went back to that.”

“Are you famous? I don’t recall seeing you on any album covers.”

“Oh my alter ego is quite the disguise.”

“Who are you then?”

“Ever heard of Ophelia?”

“Everyone’s heard of her. Wait no, that’s not you, no way, she looks nothing like you, I’d recognize my own daughter.”

“Apparently not.”

“So, you’re a vampire, disguised as a human, who dresses up as a vampire on stage?”

Eyre thought for a few seconds and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right on the nose.”

“Oh, that is classic. And no one knows who you really are.”

“I am very careful to only do night performances. Which is part of the whole vampire shtick. So, when I enter and leave the venue, I am invisible. Just sort of appear.”

“How did you sign a contract with a music producer?”

“Umm, I own a music production company. I just filed a contract in her name and voila done.”

“You got it all figured out.”

“You taught me well mom.”

Eyre plated the bacon and eggs putting them in front of Enid. Enid didn’t waste time and dug in.

“This is what I missed most about being a vampire. The food. I always loved it.”

“Well, we could always eat.”

“Yes, but we didn’t need to eat. It never satisfied me.”

Eyre nodded then glanced towards the darkened room Violet was sleeping in.

“Who is she, really?”

“She is an imperial vampire. Lilith swears she’ll be useful. She’s had a rough time since she got turned and she needs us. Just take care of her, teach her how to be one of us.”

“Is this revenge for the fifteen-year-old identity thing?”

“No, I honestly think we can help her.”

“Fine, I’ll take care of her.”

Enid smiled.

“I’ll get a shower and then you can take me school shopping…Mom.”

Eyre pointed her knife at Enid.

“Better clean behind your ears. Brush your fangs like a good little vampire girl.”

“Oh, you really are digging a deep hole.”

“I’m not worried, I’ll just push you in first.”

Enid laughed and left the room shaking her head.

*****

Enid sat beside Eyre in the second-row pews. Mass hadn’t started just yet. Eyre leaned over to whisper.

“Do you even know what the mass is like anymore?”

“I don’t think it’s changed much.”

“Are you sure we’re okay in here?”

Enid shook her head and put her face in her hand.

“Not you now.”

“I haven’t been well since you know. And were you even baptized?”

“Does Jesus doing it count?”

“I guess it does.”

“Then yes. Mariana dragged me out to see him so I could get cleansed of my original sin.”

“I thought you said she wasn’t religious.”

“I should have said she wasn’t blindly religious.”

“Oh.”

“Shh, here she comes.”

Enid’s heart skipped a beat as she watched her long thought dead sister walk up the center isle of the church and kneel towards the tabernacle and cross herself. She didn’t look any different, save her clothing. Black, Victorian style dress. Her hair was a dark as ever. Her face was pale as death. She held her bible close to her chest and sat down. She rubbed a silver crucifix around her neck. She looked back at Enid then forward again. Enid was sure she saw recognition in her eyes. She glanced at Eyre.

“I think she recognized me.”

“I think you’re just being wishful. She has no idea who she is let alone who you are.”

“We were sisters, and best friends. We had a bond that the heart remembers. Even if someone erased her memories.”

“You’re imagining things.”

Enid frowned at Eyre. And stood as the priest entered. She watched him pass. He lacked the holier than thou attitude that she’d been accustomed to from her time in the Middle Ages. She sat back down when the time was appropriate and turned her attention back to Mariana. Her sister was paying rapt attention to the readings. She frowned. She really had gone full on Catholic. She glanced at Eyre and Eyre was also paying attention to the readings. Enid narrowed her eyes and said nothing. Her daughter had always been religious, but she thought she’d cured her of that particular vice.

Enid went through the motions of mass; She had been right things hadn’t changed overly much in the intervening centuries. Mass was in English, which was a major change. She found herself preferring the Latin version. She found herself saying the Latin responses out of habit. Eyre nudged her a few times. Most of Enid’s attention was on her sister. She was like a ghost. She hadn’t believed Lilith when she said she was alive. Seeing her brought back a bit of the simmering rage at the betrayal of her father and husband. She had to close her eyes a few times to calm herself. Two thousand years she had been robbed of her sister, and the closest thing to a soul mate she had besides Lucius. She found herself fondly remember afternoons laying in the shade after evading their schooling and physical training. Talking about anything and everything. The comfortable silences. The fits of laughter. And her sister remembered none of it. If the vampire who had done it was still alive his suffering would have been legendary. Instead, she focused the blame on the Black Sun. She would have her vengeance for Mariana and Lucius.

Eyre nudged Enid again who blinked. People were starting to file out of the church. Enid gazed at Mariana one last time before exiting the pew and heading towards the church doors with Eyre.

“Your mind was somewhere else entirely. I saw a few tears are you alright?”

“I will be alright. I was just remembering Mariana as she was.”

“I’m sorry you lost her.”

“We will get her back. And I will make sure the Black Sun pays.”

“You just sat through a sermon on the dangers of anger and hate and you didn’t hear a word of it.”

“I’ve never listened to the priests.”

“Sometimes they have something profound to say.”

“Lectures on morals don’t really apply to us, do they?”

“If you’re blinded by anger and hate you might not succeed. You said yourself you need the play the part, maybe try forgiving the Black Sun.”

“Should I love him too?”

“There was a book where one of the characters said something when they knowing their enemy and loving them.”

“You’re hopeless, it was Orson Scott Card, ‘In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.’ Or is it Sun Tzu, ‘If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles’?”

“Have you read every book on the planet?”

“I never sleep that’s a lot of time to use up. And I dislike tv.”

“I haven’t read a book in fifty years.”

“How do you stay sane if you don’t read?”

“I stream tv and movies.”

“Of course, you love your movies.”

“Best invention ever.”

Enid shook her head.

“Do you know him?”

“Who?”

“The Black Sun.”

“I have read every word the Atlanteans wrote about him.”

“Doesn’t mean you know him. You just know what people say about him.”

“Well, he’s not exactly open to a conversation, he’s been trying to kill me for eight hundred years. I read his manifesto, and his spell book, and his personal diary as stored in the Atlantean database.”

“What does he want?”

“To end creation and become the new God.”

“Why?”

“He thinks humans, and the angels, and Atlanteans before them corrupted the universe. He believes reality should be free and malleable. That chaos should reign.”

“Sounds like he thinks he’s a freedom fighter.”

“It’s like the humans say, one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. He thinks he knows what’s best and is going to impose his will on everything if he can. He’s the universe’s first dictator.”

“How do you know you and Mariana were right?”

“Because life is always right, he only brings death.”

“You didn’t always believe that.”

“No, but Mariana did, and she was always my moral compass.”

“Didn’t she make an army of ghosts, vampires and blood slaves?”

“For the good of the many.”

“What makes her different then the Black Sun then? She was enforcing her will on the world.”

“Are you on our side or what?”

“I’m on your side mom. I always have been. And I always will be. I’m just trying to help you understand the Black Sun and your sister.”

“He wants to destroy everything and everyone, he has always been evil and will always be evil. He wants to make it like none of this ever existed. Everyone you love and have loved gone, poofed out of existence to be replaced by his own version of reality. I’m not willing to lay down and die. Those are the stakes Eyre. This isn’t a philosophical debate, two sides of the same coin, this is literally a fight for existence. Yours, mine, everyone’s. He has been preparing for two thousand years, he has a big head start.”

Eyre nodded, looking down and putting her hands in her pockets.

“I’m sorry hon, I just need you to understand what we are fighting for.”

“It’s okay mom, I understand.”