de la bella bella vida . " with the last of the candles snuffed out one by one before they were allowed to leave , the two servants left the room , followed immediately by the butler and the maid who had arrived only hours earlier . the two women who had returned were dressed in the finest gowns of fabric and could not have been more striking without their dark hair and dark skin . they turned to watch the two women depart , but the two women were silent as they retreated , the only sounds coming from the steady hum of a nearby television , which played a series of programs about an important man of great import . amelia , who had been so preoccupied that she had not seen the whole room , suddenly felt ill again . " oh , dear , " she muttered with a sigh as she looked about . she was not completely surprised to discover the windows were open . the only light came from a faint drizzle streaming softly through the open door . the other rooms in the house were dark , as if they had already been evacuated . " i hope they are not waiting outside , " she murmured in panic , moving to stand with amelia at the window that overlooked the grounds . " do not be ridiculous . no one would care if you were here . " amelia could feel herself trembling more as she leaned toward the window and stared out into the night . " they will be away before we arrive . " " i do not suppose they will . they have never been very good at such things . " amelia closed her eyes and turned her back on the dark garden behind her . " what are we supposed to do then ? " " pray that it is never necessary , " amelia murmured in a somber voice . she turned and faced amelia with wide eyes . " i am quite willing to accept it , " she breathed . " it is the only way to rid ourselves of this horrible plague . " amelia shivered , but she did not question her companion 's words . what she really wanted to do was escape . as much as she would have preferred to remain in amelia 's presence for a while longer , this was the best escape she could ever hope to receive at present . " good night , my lady . " amelia stepped from the balcony and closed the window against the chill of the night . then , moving with brisk steps to the door , she pulled it open and stepped out into the damp night . if it were not for the sudden surge of awareness

de fidel de corazon . " on the other side of the wall a small metal door lay in the ground , and a long , thin tube , about three or four feet in diameter , floated in the air . " it goes into the wall . " " it was only a precaution , " she said . " but he was very careful . " " do you think about him much ? " she shook her head . " i 'm afraid he is not worth knowing . in the end , there is only one alternative . " he nodded then , slowly . " you have two choices , " she said . " either you do nothing and risk being infected by the virus or you give up , leave them and take on the cure . " " i 'm not certain what the choice is , but i would rather die than take on the disease , " he said , his voice breaking . she felt tears fill her eyes . " why do you fight like this ? " she said . " give up now . you have everything you will ever need : time , friends , home , the knowledge that , in the end , you have both . you will not die here . you will not be dying here . do not ask me how i know . i simply know . " he nodded . " what if i refuse indulgently for a little while , as i have done in the past ? " she said . " you are not a young man , and you do not know what has happened to be your life . " he smiled , a sad smile . " if i choose to live here , i know i will not die . " " why not ? " for a moment he studied her face , his eyes searching for something - or someone - else . then he looked out the glass door at the city below . illustrating her point with a short , sharp jab , she hit it with a single punch then pushed it open . " so i will live as i have lived . and die as i have lived . " before he could answer , the door slid closed behind him . she looked over at marek 's room . she tried to picture him now , sleeping on the bed , eating the lasagna from the lasagna dish , staring at the ceiling . " it 's hard to imagine , " she said . " so many years of being trapped in this prison , all without food . " marek said softly ,

il . the word you want to speak is latin for ' we die , we make the earth . ' " ' if you ever speak those words , i will tell your family , and they will kill you , ' he said , and then his eyes became black , and his teeth showed . " ' you need not threaten me to do that , ' said i. ' my name is not luthen , endangered to the world forever . ' " ' you are , ' he said . ' and i will speak only spanish to you if i can . you can tell , though , not to say it aloud , for it wo n't matter . i shall know your languages , if you tell me yours . you were born here , but you became a man when i was a child , and i know many more words you would never say . ' " ' but why do you choose to speak it ? ' i asked . ' surely i deserve to know . ' " ' because it is an evil word that i have made up in advance and it represents the way i was raised , ' he said . ' the first time it ever came from a man , the last time it was uttered by his lover ; it means a wife in spanish , and that is why i was so willing to destroy myself . the last time i lost myself . my wife did not know the way and she died for me at the very most brutal death . " now i will go on . the man before me was a man of evil to his very essence : a man of evil mind , who does not see or understand the ways of god . i learned how to control him . i learned how to destroy me and to make me die in that moment . he knew nothing . but now i have learned the way he died , and that you , i , could be different . as to how you will go , you must decide before you go that will happen . you must decide what you will do , but you must decide that you can go , i say . you must decide that the world is doomed . ' " ' i have seen them , and i know what can happen , ' i said , and then , more softly , ' i am no god , except my own blood , a god who comes to me in dreams . i tell you to go , but you do not go . you stay . ' " the man did not answer . he closed his eyes and tried to understand