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Irene said it, Amelia was adamant about it, and Mom just simply confirmed it. So here\'s the thing, just how many more times do I have to hear the same thing over and over again before I\'ll finally be able to get the message? 

The way they conveyed it all so bluntly, confidently - like there really was no other way to go about this whole thing. Were they right for it? Did I really have this wrong all along? Was I just being stupid insisting, being stubborn refusing, playing the naive fool that refused to listen to reason?

Of course I was, hell, I knew that already… and yeah, they were probably right, and I was probably wrong… there\'s no saving everybody, after all, and yet - knowing I\'m wrong is not going to stop me from trying anyway.

I tried again. "Mom - "

"Oh, hold on a moment there," She suddenly said, paused, something else diverting her attention. "That sound, that isn\'t from my side is it? No, it\'s yours, do you hear that?" 

No, I didn\'t - not until she pointed out directly to me, that is. All this while, rifling frantically in my thoughts, wrapped up deep in this dilemma, I never noticed that faint scratching noise to my side.

I recognized that sound almost immediately, heard it too many times today not to, and judging by the way she expelled a short breath, amused… Mom did too. 

"Amelia," She quietly, tenderly, said. "Is that you over there?" 

At the sound of her name in the dainty tune of her voice, the Matriarch instantly froze, and the expression that formed on her face, I couldn\'t even begin to describe it. 

As if heeding a roll call, she took a slight step forward. "Yes, I - it\'s me. I-I\'m here," and the way she was speaking had me totally reeling in shock. Gone was the assertiveness, the tone of defiance, bravado… for the first time since I\'ve met her, Amelia sounded… shy. And it wasn\'t the timid kind either, it was more like she was restraining herself, as if at any moment, her emotion would come overflowing.

"Your sister too?" Mom asked.

"I… am…" Adalia spoke, and even she too sounded significantly different. "I am… here… Terestra…" 

"Actually it\'s Lilith now if you don\'t mind. But oh my, this is such a welcome surprise! " Mom said, sounding genuinely pleased, excited even. "It\'s been so long, hasn\'t it? The last time I saw you both, you were still just younglings. Ah! I guess that\'s not quite right. I\'ve actually seen you again first Adalia during my recent visit, you were still slumbering then. But my, just how you\'ve grown. You\'re so big now, so beautiful… I\'ve no doubt Amelia\'s much the same, isn\'t she?" 

I could hear, even at points, feel, the history, the emotions behind her words - and the twins fully reciprocated those feelings with the way they reacted to those words. It was plainly obvious that they admired her, revered her, and they made no effort to hide it. 

"And Adalia…" Mom said, the misty-eyed vampire sluggishly raising her head in response. "Your affliction. I see you\'ve reverted back to your true nature during my absence. I\'m sorry I couldn\'t help you anymore. I guess it seems even I have my shortcomings…" 

"No… I am okay… it is… okay…" Adalia firmly but gently reassured, taking an even larger step forward than her sister. "I am… fine now… the way I am…"

"I\'m sure you are," the voice on the phone wryly chuckled. "My darling son\'s blood must taste absolutely delightful, no? I do hope you haven\'t been overindulging." 

"I take… as is… needed…" She replied. "But yes… his blood… tastes fine… for me…" 

"I\'m pleased to hear that. You\'ll watch over him for me, won\'t you? Both of you?" 

Whatever this was, as happy, as tender a reunion as this was surely, this really wasn\'t the time for it. Here we were, the fate of an innocent man in our hands, and she thought it of so little regard that she could so easily move on to something else - start another conversation so casually - like it was nothing. 

More than anything else, I needed her to care.

"Mom, listen," I interrupted. "Do you really think I\'m just gonna take your advice and kill him right now?" 

"Why, of course not," She replied. "In fact, I\'d prefer it if you didn\'t have any part in it. I don\'t want his blood on your hands, that\'s not what I want for you. But I\'m sure your friend, Irene, or perhaps Amelia even… Amelia, you wouldn\'t mind, won\'t you?" 

"But of course not," Amelia eagerly and dutifully replied. "In fact, he would have already met his demise long before had your son not intervened in the first place." 

"No one\'s meeting their demise, alright?!" I vehemently stated, feeling my frustration grow by the second. "Mom! You told me yourself you didn\'t want us to see you as a monster. That\'s why you hid this whole thing from me and Sammy in the first place, didn\'t you? If he dies, if you let me kill him, how am I supposed to look at you afterward?" 

"If that is the alternative to risking the safety of my darling children," She took in a breath. "Then I really won\'t mind how you see me after." 

"Don\'t," I shook my head. "Don\'t pretend you\'re only doing this because you have no choice. You do! You do have a choice!" 

"Yes, I know I do," Her voice went soft again. "And that\'s why I\'m very sorry, dear, I have made my choice." 

No, no. I can\'t accept this. There\'s no way, not like this. She\'s always been there, she\'s always helped me, even when I never asked, even when I never wanted her to. But now - why did it have to be so different now? 

If she won\'t help me, if she refuses to, then… there\'s just one other person left to ask.

"I want to talk to Dad." 

"Hm?" Mom sounded slightly taken aback. "Your father?"

"He\'s there, isn\'t he?" 

There was a noise in the background, it sounded like a scuffle, there was also the sound of a chair scraping somewhere, and suddenly she sounded a little bit more distant than before, "Yes, he is. He\'s still trying to thaw the ice Samantha made outside. It doesn\'t look like it\'s going well." 

"Great. Can you put him on for me?" 

At that, Mom puffed another wry sigh, and the smile on her face was more clearer than ever in my head as she spoke, "Mom said no, so maybe Dad will say yes. Ah, it\'s like your five again, how adorable. You used to do that all the time, you know?" 

Poking fun, even in these circumstances. How does she keep doing it?

"I just think he\'d be a lot more sympathetic," I said. "At least, I\'m hoping he will be."

"Because he\'s the Hero?" Mom asked, amusement dripping extensively in her tone. "Because I\'m the Demon, of course, I\'d say what I\'d say, right? "

"No, Mom - "

"When you heard my answer, who exactly did you hear giving them? Was it me, Lilith, your mother? Or perhaps, instead, did you hear - "

"Mom," I said sharply. "Don\'t."

Another silence, another pause, and then shortly after, another faint chuckle, "I\'ll go get your father."