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naked on top of the bed, one of her legs and one of her arms draped over him.
    She was languorous. Something about her had appealed to him. He had decided to please her, to make her want it. In return, she was confiding in him, and for some reason he was willing to listen to this girl who had almost no experience of the real world. She had a kind of wisdom, though, a perspective that came from some deep well of goodness.
    Jamie talked glowingly about Bend, and especially about her younger sister.
    “Sylvie will get the chances I didn’t,” she said. “She’s incredibly bright––good at math and science and all that stuff that I never could understand. She just needs a break.”
    “That’s why you’re here?” he asked. It seemed more diplomatic than “That’s why you’re a whore?”
    For the first time, Jamie seemed a little defensive. Until now, she had seemed, if not happy in her work, at least content… or if not content, at least resigned.
    “I’ve already put five thousand bucks into her college fund,” she said testily. “That never would’ve happened if I’d been working at Burger King.”
    She was so young, so unspoiled. He’d sensed right away that she was just a wide-eyed girl in the big city. That’s what had attracted him.
    “It’s not too late for you, surely,” he said.
    “Yes,” she said. “It is.”
    Terrill knew America was full of young people in dead-end existences. Most weren’t aware of it, but for some reason, Jamie had already scoped out the future and decided it was hopeless. He wanted to object and to tell her anything was possible. But he knew that she hadn’t even finished high school, that she had no practical skills and had to rely on her beauty. Even that was beginning to wear off, though she was in her early twenties. Where could she go? What could she do?
    Her grammar and diction were adequate, nothing more. Her clothing sense was that of a girl playing at being a sophisticated woman. She would be limited even in her chosen profession; at best, forced to pick up strange men in bars, at worst… he shuddered.
    Once he had fed on such dregs of civilization, knowing they wouldn’t be missed. But that way of existence was behind him now. Maybe he could help this innocent girl, make up for some of his past. It would be a small step, but in an immortal life, such small steps could add up. Already, he had quietly used his wealth to help other humans in return for small kindnesses.
    “Go home, get married, have a life,” he said.
    She shook her head. “I attract the wrong kind of guy. Always have. I’m not going to be like my mother, marrying five times, each guy worse than the last…”
    Terrill said nothing. If she survived her dangerous and unhealthy profession, she would probably end up exactly like her mother––marrying the men who paid attention to her, not questioning their motives, excusing their bad behavior, secretly believing she didn’t deserve any better.
    “Sylvie doesn’t have to end up like that,” Jamie continued, as if reading his mind. “She can go to college, get a good job. Wait for the right man to come along.”
    He must have been frowning, because she playfully patted him. “I’m sorry. You don’t need to hear all this. But if you ever met Sylvie, you’d know why I talk this way.”
    He didn’t answer. It was the rare human who could pull themselves out of their designated fate. But something about this young woman’s faith in her even younger sister was inspiring. He’d help make it happen, he decided. At least give them the chance.
    Terrill lay in bed with Jamie in his arms, the warmth of her body waking memories long forgotten: of life, of love and family and everyday existence. It was strangely comforting. For once, his hunger left him. Or so he thought.
     
    #
     
    The windows glowed from sunlight one moment, then darkened the next. Terrill awoke instantly at the cusp of dusk as the ambient light shifted.
    He got up,