It Begins With Absence And Desire. It

Gallowglass Returned To Sporrengasse With Two Vampires And A Pretzel.

Somewhere In The Center Of My Soul, A Rusty Chain Began To Unwind. It Freed Itself, Link By Link, From Where It Had Rested, Unobserved, Waiting For Him. My Hands, Which Had Been Balled Up And Pressed Against His Chest, Unfurled With It. The Chain Continued To Drop, To An Unfathomable Depth Where There Was Nothing But Darkness And Matthew. At Last It Snapped To Its Full Length, Anchoring Me To A Vampire. Despite The Manuscript, Despite The Fact That My Hands Contained Enough Voltage To Run A Microwave, And Despite The Photograph, As Long As I Was Connected To Him, I Was Safe.

My Ideas About Vampires May By Romantic, But Your Attitudes Toward Women Need A Major Overhaul.

Wordlessly I Looked Back At Him, Astonished That A Kiss On The Palm Could Be So Intimate.

It Is A Blessing As Well As A Burden To Love So Much That You Can Hurt So Badly When Love Is Gone.