Embrace the Night

Page 227



"There is a legend among vampires that one of our kind was successfully transformed back to his human state."

"That's great!"

"It's only a fable, Sarah. To my knowledge, no vampire has ever regained his humanity." He drew her up against him, holding her tight. "One must go to the very brink of death to become a vampire. Crossing the chasm from death to life is not easy. It is, in many ways, like dying again."

"I don't want you to die."

He laughed softly, his breath fanning her cheek. "I'm already dead."
His words sent a chill down her spine. "So, what are we going to do?"

"I know a very old vampire, one older even than Nina. He lives in France. If there is a cure, Quillan would know of it."

"And if there isn't?"

"I don't know, Sarah. I only know I can't watch you die again." "I'll come back to you, Gabriel. I found you in this life, and I'll find you again."
"Perhaps."

"How soon can we leave for France?" "I don't know if he even exists anymore."
"Can you find out?"

"I'll try. I'll write him tomorrow and then we'll just have to wait and see."

She looked up at him, snatches of what she'd read coming back to her. "Can I ask you something?" "You can ask."

"Do you really sleep in a… a coffin?"

"No. I could never overcome my aversion to that aspect of being a vampire. I sleep in a large box made of pine, and though it resembles a coffin in size and shape, it's just a box."

"Where is it?"

"In the basement. Would you care to see it?"

"No, I don't think so." She toyed with a lock of her hair. They needed a diversion, she thought, something to think about other than vampires and cures. "Do you have a VCR?"

He frowned a moment. VCR? Ah, a video cassette recorder, he thought, another remarkable invention.