Walking slowly through the Sheffield streets, Lyra stared up at the sites Sav and Joe had seen as they’d grown up. Neither of them had been vampires very long, so she walked alone in the sunshine, missing them both even if only for the daylight hours. She went into a small restaurant that was playing oldies on the stereo and sat down for a drink.

As “Love Bites” came on the radio, Lyra let out a laugh. To think, these people actually thought a song only thirty years old was an “oldie”! But since many of them had come no where close to her own life span, she guessed it was only right they’d think that way. Settling down to order, Lyra froze when she heard an elderly voice scream, “Shut that fucking song off!”

“Dara, please!” came a man’s voice. “Not in public, luv!” At the sound of that name, Lyra began to scan the crowd around her for a face to put with the voice.

“I heard that fucking song too many times when I was married to their fucking freak of a bass player!” she yelled. “I’ll be damned if I have to hear it here as well!” Catching sight of the old woman, Lyra could only thank whatever God ruled vampires for her luck. Sav’s first wife, Dara, had been such a bitch when he’d been married to her, but Lyra had let her live for Sav’s sake. Maybe now was finally the time to rectify that mistake.

“Ma‘am, you just need to take you medicine,” came a soothing young woman’s voice. “Come back to the ladies and I’ll give you your shot...”

“I don’t need your bloody help,” Dara hissed crossly. “I can do it on my own, thank you very much! Mitchell, if you’ll excuse me?” She got up and moved slowly across the restaurant and into the bathroom. But what she didn’t know was that she had someone following her every move.

Dara fumbled around with her hand bag and withdrew a small syringe and a medicine bottle. Since Lyra had no reflection in the mirror in front of the old woman, she could watch Dara without Dara knowing it. Dara pulled up the hem of her skirt and stuck the needle in with a muttered curse against the world. Then she tossed the syringe carelessly back into its case and checked her hair in the mirror. She put on a bit of lipstick and whispered, “Still looking better than that sorry freak anyway!”

Slipping the lipstick back into her bag, she snapped it shut and turned to leave the bathroom. Then froze when she saw Lyra standing directly behind her.

“You...you...this can’t be!” Dara cried as she grasped her chest. “You can’t be here!”

“Why not, Dara?” Lyra said with a sadistic twist to her lips. “Surprised I’d remember you, dearie?”

“You have to be dead!” Dara whispered, her hand twisting into the front of her dress. “It’s been twenty five years since I’ve seen you and...”

“Vampires don’t age, luv,” Lyra said with a humorless chuckle. “Or had you forgotten what I am?”

“Vampires?” Dara said in quiet disbelief. “Vampires aren’t real!”

“Oh, Dara, we are entirely real,” Lyra laughed. “In fact, you should see what a beautiful vampire your ex-husband has become!”

“Rick? A vampire? You’re insane!” Dara managed to choke out past the rending pain in her chest. Fear like she’d never felt before was tearing through her, though Dara couldn’t understand why. “I must have waited to long for my medication and now I’m delusional. None of this is real, that’s it!”

“Dara, sweeting, this is entirely real,” Lyra whispered as she moved closer to the old woman. “You know, for all the evil you’ve caused Rick over the years, maybe I should let you in on a little secret. He was the only reason you lived past that night in Dublin.”

“What are you talking about?” Dara gasped.

“If Rick would have let me, I would have killed you a long time ago,” Lyra grinned. “But back then, the poor man couldn’t deal with the thought of your blood on his hands. Now, however, he’s not here, is he?”

Dara backed up against the sink, trying to scream. But the pain in her chest was too great and she couldn’t get enough breath to do more than moan. Lyra looked her over, listening carefully to the woman’s heart. “My, dear,” Lyra chuckled. “You’re not going to live very long anyway! Maybe I should just stand here and watch you suffer the full rigors of the massive heart attack you’re having now!”

Dara stumbled across the restroom, trying to get attention from the people outside. A group of young women walked in, but never even noticed Dara standing in front of them. Dara pleaded with them, but no one seemed to hear her as they headed into the stalls.

“Why aren’t you listening to me!” Dara cried in pain.

“No one alive will ever hear your voice again, Dara,” Lyra said coldly. “A tiny bit of mind control on my part, I have to admit, but very effective.”

“Why?” Dara pleaded, her voice filled with pain. She fell to her knees, doubling over as pain racked her chest.

“For the way you tried to steal away Rick’s life from him,” Lyra whispered as she grabbed Dara up by the front of her dress. “I can finally put an end to your destructive ways now.” Tangling her fingers through Dara’s hair, Lyra pulled the old woman’s head off to the side as her fangs lowered. “May your last thought be of the pain you caused him and why this is justice finally served!” Then Lyra bit down roughly into Dara’s throat, ripping it open as old rage came to the surface. She drained Dara’s life away as the old woman’s heart exploded in her chest. Then she tossed the lifeless shell of Dara’s body to the floor under the sink.

Keeping up her mind control long enough to make it out of the restaurant, Lyra jumped into the sky and flew back to the small house where Sav and Joe were sleeping. Snuggling down between their snoozing forms, Lyra let herself drift off into a satisfied sleep as she vowed to keep this one bit of knowledge away from her lovers. No doubt, even now, Sav would feel guilty over it. Even though, as Lyra saw things, she’d meted out a sentence that was long over due.