The rumble of the motor and the purr of the cat, the warmth of Marcus under his cheek-- Dan tries to keep himself awake. "Part of me wondered for a while, if they knew, and that was why I was kept apart. If they wanted to make sure anyone they killed died in the most horror imaginable. Just like Rose, just like the True Knot. If it was steam they wanted, maybe I could have stopped that."

Maybe, he thinks, feeling a bit delirious still, that was why he had to face Rose in the first place. When it came to death, he played opposite her.

"The shining is more than ghosts and premonitions," he says softly. "I used it at the hospice, to help them as they died. It was just going to sleep. Going to sleep is easy. It doesn't hurt." He sounds terribly drowsy himself. "I'm sorry. I sound insane. I know."