Matt: "If you could just put this on, I'll be back in two minutes."

Mary's face contorted into a mess of arched eyebrows and a gaping mouth as Matt disappeared through the door, closing it behind him.

Mary: "Is he kidding? I'm pretty sure my mom told me that if anyone at the mall asked me to take my clothes off I was supposed to scream bloody murder."

Tristan scanned the room quickly, noting a small scale on the table. Something tickled the back of his brain.

Tristan: "Did you tell the truth on your survey?"
Mary: "Of course I did. But I didn't answer all of the questions. I was hoping to get clarification on some of them. I mean, all of this 'have you ever hurt anyone, made anyone miserable, blah, blah, blah...' who knows?"
Tristan: "Well? Have you or haven't you?"
Mary: "I don't think so! The only people I've even wanted to make miserable hate me, so I don't see why they’d be affected by what I do or don't do."

Tristan nodded slowly. Although they'd had very little interaction with one another on a day-to-day basis, he could easily see that she would go to any lengths to help and protect her friends. She was not a bad person. She should be able to pass any of these tests.

Tristan: "Okay. Then get changed."

Tristan turned his back and waited for the rustling of the paper gown to cease before turning back around. Mary looked positively miserable sitting on the exam table. A moment later the door opened and Matt entered, wearing scrubs and a surgical mask.

Matt: "All right. Just lean back, this shouldn't hurt a bit."

Mary hesitantly lay down on the table, never breaking eye contact with Tristan.

Mary: "What are you going to do?"
Matt: "We're just going to take your heart out, temporarily, of course, so that we can weigh it."

Mary shot bolt upright.

Mary: "What!? The fuck you are!"

Matt turned back toward Tristan.

Matt: "Little help here?"

Tristan took one swift step until he was standing next to Mary.

Tristan: "Mary, don't worry. If this is what I think it is, everything will be fine. Just trust me."
Mary: "Are you kidding me!?"

Tristan took Mary's hand, a pang of guilt stabbing through his insides when he saw the fear in her eyes. If it were Emily lying on the table, he would have snapped Matt's neck without hesitation and taken her out of here, no matter what the cost. But this wasn't Emily. This was for Emily. Tristan cast his eyes downward.

Tristan: "Please. For Emily."

Mary sat up and pulled Tristan toward her by his collar, so that he was forced to meet her eye again.

Mary: "Will this really help her?"
Tristan: "Yes. I believe it will. It's a test. Mary, you're capable of seeing the Truth. You'll pass."

Mary took a deep breath before releasing Tristan and lying back on the table. She nodded at Matt.

Mary: "Do it."

Mary closed her eyes and Tristan turned away as Matt picked up a scalpel and began his work. Mary didn't feel any pain, but felt a very strong tugging as her heart was removed.

She opened her eyes when the feeling subsided, in time to see Matt place her heart, which resembled a large pile of chicken guts, onto the scale. It was an old-fashioned scale, Mary realized, more of a balance, really. He then tore her scan-tron into small pieces and put it on the other side of the scale. She watched as the scale tipped back and forth, feeling relieved when the torn paper sunk lower than her heart and stayed there.

Mary: "That's good, right?"

Matt turned to her, a solemn look on his face.

Matt: "I'm afraid not."
Mary: "What?"

Tristan turned around at her outburst, frowning at the scales.

Matt: "In order to pass, they should have weighed the same."
Mary: "That's ridiculous!"
Matt: "I'm sorry."

Matt turned around and walked out the door. He didn't close it behind him, and moments later another man entered.

Tim: "I Am Tim."
Mary: "Well, bloody great for you! I'm out of here!"

Mary hopped off the exam table, but before she could reach her clothing Tim had leapt at her, growling, and pinned her to the floor. Mary barely had the time to register fear before Tim had opened his mouth, exposing very lengthy canines, and tore into her throat.

She wasn't even able to scream. A fraction of a second later, there was a blur of motion before Tim let out a surprised yelp. Tristan pulled him off of her and threw him into a corner in one smooth motion. There was a fantastic cracking noise, and Mary couldn't tell whether it was Tim's bones shattering or the plaster wall falling to pieces.

Tristan: "Mary! Where the hell are your pants?!"

Mary leapt up and grabbed her pants, which had fallen beneath the exam table. Tristan tore them from her hands, fumbling with them wildly until he pulled the chewed up pencil from her pocket. With one clean motion, he lunged toward Tim and drove the pencil so far into his chest that only the eraser was visible. The action felt unbelievably familiar, though Tristan was fairly positive he'd remember if he'd ever staked another vampire with a pencil before.

Mary didn't even wait for the sound of Tim's body turning to dust, assuming vampires in the underworld even turned to dust, before running out of the exam room as fast as she could. Neither of them stopped running until they reached the end of the mall. Mary spied the Ladies' room and pulled Tristan in after her.