In Darkness We Must Abide: The Complete First Season: Episodes 1-5 by Rhiannon Frater Page A

on her nightgown.
    “Alisha.” Roman gently touched her shoulder.
    Large, terrified eyes turned to him. “You’re dead,” she whispered.
    Roman took her hands gently and wiped the blood from them with the bottom of his shirt. “No, I’m not. Remember what happened. I’m now a vampire.”
    She blanked for a second, then she gasped. “Yes, I remember! Oh, Roman! Oh my God!”
    “You tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen to you.”
    “You died!” Alisha’s hands fluttered to her face. “Then I went to kill it!”
    “Your cross had fallen from your chain. He fed off of you.”
    “Oh, God! I remember,” Alisha uttered in a hushed voice.
    “I tried to stop him from getting to you, but, last night-” Roman cut himself off. “Do you remember yesterday?”
    “Your funeral.”
    “No, that was the day before,” Roman said, shaking his head.
    “I had dreams, Roman, that I was a puppet and someone was controlling me.”
    “That was yesterday. He was controlling you. I felt his thoughts flowing toward the house. Last night, he killed you. Then I killed him, but I was too late for you. I’m so sorry, Alisha.”
    Alisha looked puzzled, then terrified. Lifting her cleaned hand, she touched her fingertips to her wet lips, drew them away, and stared at the fresh blood on them. Her wide eyes settled on the form of the junkie.
    “No! Oh, God, no! It can’t be!” Alisha wailed.
    Roman held her close as she cried mournfully, her entire body quivering. “We’ll find a way to conquer this curse, Alisha.”
    “I want to die! I want to die!” Alisha sobbed. “Please, kill me!”
    “I can’t, Alisha,” Roman whispered, stroking her hair.
    “I don’t want to live like this. I killed that man!”
    “Please listen to me,” Roman whispered vehemently. He took her face in his hands and piercingly gazed into her eyes. “I will find a way to protect us, save us from all of this. We will not feed off humans again.  We do not have to take life. I will find a way to save us from this horror. We are still Alisha and Roman Socoli!”
    Alisha closed her eyes, as though unable to gaze upon her hideous surroundings. “Please, Roman, please wake me up,” she pleaded.
    Roman pressed his forehead against hers, tears slipping down his face, mingling with hers. “I am your brother. I will protect you. I promise it.”
    “Make the dream end, Roman,” Alisha sobbed. “Please make this nightmare end. Wake me up, please.”
    “It’s no dream, Alisha. We are transformed. We are no longer mortal, but we can fight against what we are now. We will fight for our humanity.”
    “But we’re not human!” Alisha protested. “I feel it inside. I know I’m not who I was!”
    “But you are! You are Alisha Socoli! You must always cling to that fact, or you will become what you fear most.” Roman held her tightly to him, wishing desperately to soothe her fears and his own, but the living nightmare would not end. They were supernatural creatures of the night, kneeling within a dark, dank mausoleum, the dead surrounding them, welcoming them to this world of endless darkness.
    Alisha drew a ragged breath. “I want to die.”
    “Think of Vanora, Alisha. What will become of her?”
    “She’s not one of us?” Alisha face registered the horror of the mere thought of the desecration of an innocent child.
    “No, but she needs us. She knows what we are now and I have spoken with her. She knows we will not hurt her.”
    “How can you be sure?”
    “We’ve fed and there is no danger of us going mad with the hunger anymore. As long as we feed before the hunger can fully control us, we are safe around her. She needs us, Alisha. And we need her. We are a family. Tell me. Would you ever hurt her?”
    “Never!”
    “Neither would I,” Roman declared. And yet the memory of Alisha’s madness made him wince inwardly. The hunger was so powerful they must always control it. “We will find a way to survive.
    Alisha drew away from him and