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[Holds a green bottle out.] That would make two, here.

What is this?

Something for whatever you are wanting to forget today. Absinthe should be strong enough for that.

[Selene handed her the Mother's Day card she had received the day before with the picture inside.] Strong enough to make me forget I was a mother? [She could only hope. So she took the bottle and drank deeply.] That is horrible!

[The girl studied the photo before reading the card quietly. This was another foreign concept to her but for once she was not entirely hard but still as blunt as ever. She hands the photo and card back.] She is beautiful. I find it hard to believe you could want to forget her after everything you said before.

[She said nothing else and let her drink.] You become accustomed to the taste after awhile. It is better then that watered-down garbage humans consume. You can try it with sugar if that is too much.

It is harder to believe your own words when faced with the most painful loss you've ever felt.

[Selene shook her head and took another drink.]

Love. Lose. Be angry and fight. Just....never have children.

You do understand. [She crossed her arms, her upper body leaning against the wall with the usual frown.]

I do not believe in love, it only leads to the rest in the end. I was never made for anything but killing. You are different then the rest of us though.

You regret her then?

I was made for the same purpose. [She put the picture away and took another drink.] I am no different than you. Nor anyone else. It is a matter of willingness. I met a man who.....who finally made me feel like letting someone in. [Selene laughed, maybe the drink was working.] Mind you it took over six hundred years for that to happen.

No. Never. I regret that I couldn't be the mother she deserved, that I had to let her go. I've never made a harder decision in my life.

Willingness like that got me nowhere but hurt for most of my life. You are the first one I have met who is able to do all of this. That does make you different. You did say you were made different anyway. [She was still puzzling to her as she watched her drink her way through whatever she was feeling. Aranka knew the effects were bound to catch up with her soon. One bottle and she was in a drunken stupor before dawn.] Why let someone in at all? The only man I have met does nothing but aggravate me at every turn with his ramblings.

I see no reason why you could not. Why should you feel inferior to the task? [The woman showed more care then any she had known in her life.]

My true difference is in my blood, not my heart. [She held the bottle out welcoming the girl to drink with her.] I am truly an immortal. Not just a vampire.

Who is this boy that rambles?

[Selene shrugged.] Ours is a violent,deadly world. She was not born with our virus, I don't want her to live in this dark world. You? You are every reason why I sent her away.

[It was the opposite for her. Her heart was the source of her problems.] What is the difference between the two? [Taking the bottle, she took a quick drink of her own before passing it back. The taste bothered her less.]

He is an annoyance named Alexander who goes on and on about feeling something. He is some other breed of vampire.

She must be unique then, I suppose it is better to spare her... You show more care then most. She may not want to be separated from you though.[She was confused now as her frown deepened.] Why? I have done nothing to her.

I cannot die like most of our kind can. I can sustain injuries that would kill any other. Stronger. Faster Those sorts of things.

[She took another drink.] Why does that bother you so much? The talk about feelings?

No, you haven't. But you are proof of what this world can do to us. And you have hardly even lived! [Selene sounded exasperated by it.] If you are so cold and broken now? I can't imagine hundreds of years down the road.

If someone were to put a gun to your head and pull the trigger it would not kill you?

He and I are different, he has no place to lecture someone when he is not one of us or try to make me like him. You have already answered that for me.

[And there goes the scowl. She could always get the angry feeling right.] It is what my father wanted! I did not want to be like this but I do not know how else to deal with it! Is that what you want to hear?! I was not raised to deal with feelings, just kill! [She hated it but now she had no choice to protect herself. No one else ever did.] I did not have a mother to protect me, she cared nothing for me. I did what I had to to be strong!

No. It wouldn't. I can demonstrate if you like. It's not even very messy. [Yes, she's entirely serious, even if her eyes have that glassy glaze of being drunk.]

Wait! Stop.....[Selene wasn't use to such outbursts. She cupped her arm gently and sighed.] I meant no offense. None. You are who you are. I simply meant that if I had been your mother? I would have wanted you to live entirely different then you have. To know kindness and love and light. It is why I made the choice I made. I've seen one to many children turned into stone warriors for this family. Calm yourself, please.

As fascinating as that would be, it is not necessary. [It was easy enough to see she was feeling the effects, if it did heal she would be in a world of trouble for standing by while she did it.]

[She was still angry, shrugging away from the uncomfortable touch. Her anger would burn so hot she did not know how to control it sometimes. The girl expected something different then the reaction she received.] You are an Elder, you can do what you like. She is lucky to have you, even if you had to give her up. She may appreciate that one day.

We do not have a choice, to deal with the pain you have to protect yourself. No one else will. I did not want to be like this. [She had managed to stop shouting.] I am tired of seeing others die. All I ever wanted to do was help and this is the only chance many of us are given to protect our family. I do not like killing but you do what you have to do.

[Selene started to stand and wobbled.] Could you see me home?

Yes. [She took hold of an arm to steady her from wobbling all over the place before letting go.] Where do you live?