Except that morning, I had woken up , well, lets justsay my old soldier was standing at attention, shall we?" There was somegiggling from his audience...at this point."So I was, err, in full form, as it were, but I couldn't seem to makemyself take care of the problem, and instead ended up getting readyfor work. I was a little uncomfortable, but didn't really worry much. " Well, at work, first person I bump into is my old buddy Tom, and Inotice he is walking a little funny. He is blushing like. Monsters, like vampires, always said that they weren’t scared anymore. That they were scared because they didn’t understand – but now they understood. That it only hurts for a second. Freddy shook his head. That’s bullshit. It hurts for a second. Then you die. Then you’re undead. Then you’re hungry forever, and that hurts. That hurts more than dying to some monster, because at least then you’re dead. You’re not hurting yourself, or other people because of what you’ve become. The fuck with. "I did as she asked, wincing as she slid her finger inside me."You're a virgin!" she said, sounding surprised. I was, but how couldshe tell from a rectal examination?"Sorry?" I said, confused."From the tightness of your anus it doesn't appear as if you've let aman have his way with you yet. Ah, that explains it!" Explains what?" I replied, wrong-footed by the turn the conversationhad taken."Why you're hesitating about taking the next step with Helmut, eventhough you must want to. A lot of young. "Just tell her, buddy, can you do that?" Where do you live, Harry?"He stuck out his arm."That way."Could have been anywhere."Mrs. D, what's the deal with this Harry person?"It was a little later that morning, the air still cool even if it was going to be another Valley summer scorcher. We were having breakfast on the veranda under the grapevine. Persephone's mother stopped buttering her croissant and put the knife down. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Persephone put down her coffee cup."Where.