Foolish, he berates himself. Stress is no excuse.

That vacant space. This room has been empty for, oh, so many years. Once upon a time, it held a patient, but he released her long ago.

A harrowing child.

A thought suddenly clicks in his mind. A devious, merciful answer that curls across his lips and rests like a cradled babe in loving arms. The perfect balance. A way to cause suffering without being the causer. The method to creating control without creating fear toward the controller. A way to divert hate. The solution that will make sure his sweet Vanilla comes back.

This is his opportunity, handed to him like a gift he must accept, and it must be done now. Immediately. He might not have another chance like this.

But can I part with her so suddenly? So soon?

He has no other choice. The timing is too perfect. Her torment will increase tenfold with the incoming changes. She’ll be lost and confused and desperate—they both will. But hopefully—no, for certain—she will believe this nightmare is due to his absence.

Because she left him.

He closes his eyes and carefully rests his hand on her door, giving himself a final moment to relish in her presence. To relish in her saccharine scent.

I will miss you, my sweet. But we have all of eternity now, and I must make sure to properly prepare us for it. For you and for me. For our love.

When he’s had enough time to process, to understand and accept in full the pain that is about to transpire, he lifts his wrist to his lips and bares his fangs. With quick intensity, he bites hard through his skin and tendons. Blood bursts into his mouth, filling his throat. He hears droplets of it hit the floor. The animalistic adrenaline immediately shocks his system, pounding in his ears.

Without losing a second, he swings the door, purposefully leaving it wide open, letting it smack against the concrete with a sharp thud, and storms inside.

He shouts, feeling the roar burst from the pit of his lungs, “WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

She is on her bed, playing with her stethoscope, tapping at it as though it were broken. At the sight of him looking the nightmarish way he does, she screams and cowers into the corner.

Already trapped herself, he thinks. Such a helpless girl. If she were alive, she wouldn’t last a minute in the Outside.

He storms over to her mattress and shouts, “I ASKED, WHAT DID YOU DO?! ANSWER ME!”

Do not touch her, his weak conscious reminds himself through the black cloud of hunger filling his mind.

“Daddy?!” she yelps. Her body trembles beneath his shadow.

“GET OUT OF THAT CORNER!”

“Daddy, please! I can explain!” She scurries away from the wall and runs around him. In the center of the room now, she faces him, her back to the door. Nothing blocks her way to the exit.

“AFTER ALL I’VE DONE FOR YOU, YOU THINK YOU CAN WALK AROUND THIS PLACE AS YOU PLEASE?! HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING OF ALL I DO TO PROTECT YOU?! TO KEEP YOU SAFE?! YOU FOOLISH, FOOLISH GIRL!”