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The young woman wore a long black coat, with a matching black hat and dark sunglasses. She made her way to the nursing home while the sun was going down in the middle of winter.
She smiled as she walked up to the receptionist. “Sissy Cooper?” she asked.
“Oh, uh room number seven.”
“I know,” the woman said and smiled. She had been here before many, many times.
“A little late for a visit isn’t it?”
“I always come late,” the woman said. “Busy job.”
“Okay,” the receptionist said and frowned. “Well… ma’am have a nice visit!”
Vanya walked into the nursing home her heart twisting a little.
She hated this place. They had tried without a nursing home for a long time but at some point they really had to stop kidding themselves. Had to place Sissy in some place where humans could care for her better. Where Luther wouldn’t be the only one awake for the day to take care of her during it.
They really couldn’t put up with that, not with their lifestyle, not with Harlan also there.
She opened the door and knew that if she still had a heartbeat it would beat faster now. The irony of Sissy’s room being number 7 wasn’t lost on her and she smiled a little as she opened the door.
“Sissy?” she asked softly. The old woman was sitting by the window looking out at the park. “It’s nice seeing you,” she whispered softly.
She turned around. Her love. Her sweetness.
Her eyes were clouded, had been like that for a while. Old age had made her love blind. Vanya took her hands into hers mirroring her from all those years ago. “How have you been?” Vanya asked.
Sissy smiled. Vanya told herself it was because she still remembered her.
Vanya smiled put off her sunglasses and sat with her.
“Harlan’s been good. He’s drawing a lot more these days,” Vanya said still holding onto Sissy small wrinkly hands. She felt so small now, so breakable. Like Vanya wouldn’t even have to try to draw blood from her.
Five said that was what it was always like when age took one of their lovers. “That’s why you have to let go sooner,” he had told her as if she wasn’t still sitting for hours at Dolores’ statue whenever they visited her mansion.
“I wish he could come with us some time, wouldn’t that be nice? If Harlan could visit?” she asked. She knew it couldn’t happen, not with Harlan still unstable from his mother being removed but Sissy didn’t know that. Sissy would have forgotten when she was gone. Sometimes Vanya missed her so much it hurt more than she could ever imagine sunlight burning her skin would. She told Luther and he softly shook his head.
“Nothing hurts that much. It’s like you lose yourself entirely and you become all animal. All beast.”
Luther was the only one who could regularly visit Sissy, his anomaly caused by his tragic accident for once an advantage and she was sure he was respectful and sweet and careful and nice and all these things Luther could be at his best but he had never been someone Sissy was close to.
(In the book Diego had hated her for, for almost twenty years she had written that Luther wasn’t somebody anyone was close to or could be, she still felt guilty about it sometimes).
He could just do that much.
“Anne?” Sissy asked now.
Vanya had no idea who Anne was, Sissy sister’s name was Becky, but that was the name that had come up more and more with Sissy confusion growing.
“Vanya,” she said desperate to have her remember.
“Anne…” Sissy whispered. “Anne, what we did by the lake… we can’t do it again, you know that right?”
Well there was a slight idea, wasn’t there?
“Sissy,” Vanya whispered. They had a good life, the two of them. A good long life. And yet… apparently there had still been secrets between them.
“With you for the first time I feel like I’m living,” Sissy had told her once.
And yet she had lived before. With Anne. And Vanya wished she could stop the jealousy from curling around in her stomach. Wished she could find her and kill her despite knowing that Sissy should be allowed more than one lover.
“It’s me. Vanya,” she insisted. “Remember? I looked after Harlan…”
“Harlan…” Sissy whispered. “There’s something wrong with Harlan…”
“No, no, no, Sissy, he’s fine,” Vanya assured him. “Harlan’s fine, he’s okay.”
Sissy looked at her. “My boy… what did you do to my boy?!”
The lake.
Harlan running off.
A scream. The boy’s skin shining white and pale in the moonlight, with blue lips.
Vanya leaning over him. Her teeth in his flesh.
“I’m… I’m sorry…” Vanya whispered.
“What did you do?!”
Vanya stumbled back.
A nurse entered the room.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know she just got… upset and…”
“I think you’ll have to end your visit,” the nurse told her and then added. “It happens sometimes. The mind is such a… complicated thing.”
Vanya nodded slowly she left the room. Left the nursing home and walked back home.
If tears were running down her cold dead cheeks nobody but her would have known.