I couldn't bring myself to say much to Daniel over the next few days. There were so many questions I wanted to ask him, but I knew he wouldn't have the heart to answer them. He looked about as lost as I did when I first had to deal with Tammy's death. The thought still sent a wave of chills through me. Now, we were both being subjected to this horror that seemed to never end.
On one particular day, as I sat in my chair staring into the fireplace, I began to wonder if it was foolish to believe that things would be calmer and happier after Damien and Nadine's demise, but things only seemed to have gone from bad to worse. What had we done that made us deserve to be punished like this? We weren't terrible people, were we?
"Not in the slightest." Daniel answered my thoughts, which shouldn't have surprised me. I looked up to see him leaning on my chair. "Well, not you, at least. Me, on the other hand? I think I've sinned enough in my lifetime for quite a few people."
"What's most important is you've learned, my love." I took his hand in mine, giving it a loving squeeze. "You're not the same man you were back then."
Daniel answered my statement with a nod before letting out a heavy sigh. The silence that hung in the air between us was much louder than we would have liked. After what felt almost like an eternity, Daniel spoke up.
"I know what you've been thinking." He sighed once more.
"I could say the same for you." I smiled sadly.
"We're thinking it and we know that the other is thinking it, but we're refusing to say it out loud."
"Thinking it is one thing," I nodded in agreement, "but actually vocalizing it makes it real. And that's the last thing we want right now."
"I just want to wake up and have all of this be a terrible dream." I could hear Daniel's voice threatening to break. "I keep praying I'll wake up and my sister will be her old self, innocent and needing us for everything. Our little family will be the way it used to be, and everything will be perfect again."
"You have no idea how much I wish that, too." I sighed, laying my head on his hand. "I miss her. So much."
"I miss her, too." Daniel agreed quietly. "She's made her choice, though. The laws are clear, there's nothing else I can do to save her."
"Maybe," I tried to choose my words carefully, but I knew there was no easy way to say what needed to be said, "maybe this is the only way to save her."
I could feel a shudder pass through Daniel and I saw him shut his eyes against the vision of it. In his mind, however, I knew he realized what would need to be done should the moment rear its ugly head. A crash of glass made us both jump suddenly. We lifted our noses to the air slightly and caught an unmistakable scent.
"Speak of the devil." I growled as I stood to my feet.
Daniel was already bounding up the steps by the time I was exiting the living room. As I reached the top of the steps, I heard the telltale sounds of a scuffle. I bounded down the hall and shoulder charged the door to Edie's room.
I saw her gripping his arm, twisting until we heard a sickening crack ringing through the air. I pounced, gripping her by her throat and slamming her to the floor. One of her clawed hands caught me on the left side of my face and I howled in pain as I rolled away.
"Edith!" I heard Daniel roar. "I thought I told you to leave!"
"You don't control me anymore, Danny!" Her voice screeched, like nails on a chalkboard in my ears. "We both know there's only one way you can stop me, and you wouldn't dare do it!"
"So be it, little sister." Daniel's voice was deathly quiet suddenly as he flexed his injured arm, the wound healing itself.
I stumbled to my feet, my blood dripping into my eye. I turned just in time to see Daniel grab Edith and vault her in my direction. I ducked, and she went flying through the open doorway and into the wall at the end of the hall with an echoing thud. I stalked toward her as she quickly recovered, and she launched herself at me, her clawed hands doing their damnedest to connect with my flesh. I grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back as I grabbed her hair and started bashing her head into the wall. At the last second, she jumped and ran up the wall, flipping over my head and colliding her fist with my spine.
I heard her screech and the sound of wood breaking as I gained my balance. I turned to see part of the railing destroyed and Daniel scuffling with Edith, their growls and hisses more prominent than the breaking of the furniture. I took a deep breath and vaulted over the edge, surprising myself with my graceful landing on the bottom step. Edith was struggling under Daniel, clawing at him desperately. The more she struggled, the weaker I saw her becoming. I couldn't figure out why, until I saw the buckets of blood pouring from a rather large wound in her side.
Daniel vaulted off her as Edith tried to collect herself. My attention turned to the pieces of broken wood at my feet and I grabbed a piece, trying to mentally prepare myself to do what Daniel may not have been able to do. I watched Edith cautiously as she crawled towards the wall, pulling herself slowly to her feet.
I held the broken railing firmly in my hands, ready to strike, but looking at Edith, standing there broken and leaning against the wall, made me stop dead in my tracks. I looked at this young woman, who I once loved as my sister, and suddenly all the love and all the heartbreak came flooding into me at once. Sadly, she didn't hold the same love in her gaze.
With a screech, she reached out her clawed hands at me. Before I could stop him, Daniel grabbed my hands in his and buried the makeshift stake deep into her chest, pinning her to the wall.
"Goodbye, Edith." He whispered coldly.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream as her blood came bubbling out. Edith's hands gripped both our shirts as her body wrinkled and crumbled into ash. Daniel stumbled backwards and collapsed to the ground, his eyes never leaving the spot his poor sister was just pinned to. I dropped to my knees beside him, putting my arms around his shoulders.
"Once a killer, always a killer." I heard a smug hissing voice comment.
We both turned toward the kitchen to see Damien leaning against the room's opening. My eyes threatened to jump out of my skull as I saw him, just as he looked in my nightmare.
"That might be true," Daniel answered quietly, "but I'm still nothing like you."
"This is true." Damien bowed his head, as if in defeat. "Goodbye, Danny Boy."
Daniel simply gave him a nod and we watched Damien disappear before our eyes. Daniel let out a long and exhausted breath as his head rested on my shoulder. I had to close my eyes because I couldn't look ahead toward the kitchen, for fear I would see that image of Damien again. I couldn't look at the wall because all I could see was Edith impaled against the wall.
"We can't stay here anymore." Daniel stated, his voice full of nothing but apathy. "I don't think we can handle it. It hurts too much."
"A new home then?" I asked, kissing his forehead. "A new city?"
"I don't know if I can stay in this city." Daniel sighed brokenly. "Whatever happens, promise me you'll never leave me?"
I finally opened my eyes as I took his face in both my hands. "I will never, ever leave your side, Daniel." I assured him. "Your joy is my joy and your pain is my pain. I'm here for all of it, darling, and nothing is going to change that."
Daniel smiled at me, but it was a sad one. At least it was something. Our lives had been one hell of a roller coaster since we met. It didn't matter, though. He was my rock and I was his. This was how it would be, until the end of our days. We both gathered ourselves from the floor and shuffled towards the door. We took one last look back before walking out into the night and shutting the door tightly behind us for the last time.