AJ nodded and helped Kevin up. They left the room without speaking. Rhiannon felt weak from the loss of blood, and she moved up to the couch. She closed her eyes for a few moments and took a few slow, deep breaths. When she opened them, she stared at Kathleen.

"So... you know what he is," Rhiannon said. It was more a statement than a question.

Kathleen nodded and looked down at the floor. She was very nervous to be in Rhiannon's presence. She could sense that Rhiannon's power and her protectiveness of Kevin just from the way they had interacted when she was healing him. Rhiannon continued to stare at her curiously.

"You know what he is, and you're not afraid?" she asked.

"No," Kathleen replied, mustering her courage, "I know he wouldn't hurt me."

"And how do you know this?"

"Because he told me he wouldn't," Kathleen said, feeling her courage falter a lite. She knew Kevin wouldn't hurt her, but she wasn't so sure about Rhiannon. She knew Rhiannon was a vampire. AJ too, maybe.

"He was telling you the truth, too," Rhiannon said, taking one of AJ's cigarettes from the pack and lighting it. "I can tell you care a lot about him. I can see it in your eyes."

"I do," Kathleen said softly, looking down again. She did care about Kevin. But she couldn't stop thinking about the words Kevin had spoken to Rhiannon... he LOVED Rhiannon. "Are you and Kevin... together?"

Rhiannon cocked her head to one side and smiled a little. "I guess it depends on what you mean by 'together' I love him, like a mother loves a child, or like you would love your best friend. No, that's not exactly right. It's deeper than that, I think. There's a connection between us, and there always will be. I made Kevin. My blood is in his veins. That's a bond that can't be broken. But if you are asking if we're romantically involved, the answer is no."

Kathleen let out a little sigh of relief. She looked around the room. There were beautiful religious icons sitting on an antique buffet with candles sitting all around them, much like a shrine. Obviously, the old myths about vampires not being able to look at crucifixes was just that... a myth.

"You're curious. I can tell," Rhiannon said, walking over to Kathleen. They stared at the shrine together. "What questions do you have?"

"I don't know. I guess I just always thought vampires couldn't look at stuff like this," Kathleen said, letting her guard down a little.

"Of course we can. We can look at anything we want to look at. I love these icons. I collect them. Stephen, my vampiric father, has been collecting them for centuries. Some of these are hundreds of years old. They're priceless."

"I guess the sunlight thing is true," Kathleen said, walking around the room, looking at all the paintings and tapestries on the walls.

"For some," Rhiannon replied. "For others, like myself, sunlight isn't nearly so destructive. Stephen can walk in the day as much as he likes. Of course, he rarely does it, but he could if he wanted. Someone as young as Kevin, on the other hand, is very susceptible to the sun. I can tolerate small amounts of sunlight if necessary." "Do vampires die? I mean, aren't you already... dead?"

"No. We're not 'dead', technically. We're undead. We're somewhere between life and death. No, we don't really 'die' again. If something were to happen, and we were to get incinerated or staked, we would simply vanish into another existence. We're a permanent part of the earth, and we never completely go away. We just change into something else. Another form. Sort of like a spirit."

"Do you have a soul?"

"Of course."

"Could you ever go to Heaven or Hell?"

"Now you're getting deep on me," Rhiannon laughed. "No, there is no Heaven or Hell for us. We're earthbound creatures. We are here for eternity."

"Well what if earth was destroyed?"

"Well, then I guess we'd be up shit creek, wouldn't we," Rhiannon replied, smirking.

"Is AJ..." Kathleen started.

"Yes, he's one of us," Rhiannon replied, before she could even finish her question. Kathleen nodded, then yawned. It was so late, and she was getting very tired.

"You're welcome to stay here tonight," Rhiannon said, turning to her. "I know you'll want to be close to Kevin until you're sure he's alright. I can assure you, though, he'll be fine in a few hours."

"You've got to be kidding," Kathleen said, regretting the words as they left her mouth. How rude was that?

Rhiannon smiled. "I won't let any harm come to you. If Kevin loves you, then so do I."

"How do you know Kevin loves me?" Kathleen asked, surprised by this statement.

"I can see into his heart. And yours."

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