Chances Are?

-Foreword-


Somehow or someway, you have found out something you shouldn’t have. I should kill you were you stand to protect not only my family, but my race as well. Still, you must be an inquisitive mortal to have not only found us out, but also had the courage to seek me out. I guess we need no introductions, but for edict sake, I will go through the formalities. I am Michele Gloria Du’Pree, and yes, I am a Vampire in a sense. But for the rest of this conversation, however, I will refer to us as “Immortals”, thank you.

We should not be having this talk you know, and more than likely, I will take the memories of it once I have indulged myself a bit. Still it is the least I can do since you have shown both courage and ingenuity in not only discovering the truth, but also finding me. Normally, I would not be so forgiving. But for tonight I feel generous for some strange reason. So, where to begin? Well, I guess I can start with the basics and let you in on the really juicy tidbits later.

First off, as you might guess, I am quite dead and no longer need to draw breath. Bullets and blades are not as effective as you might think. I can heal almost any injury with the exception of decapitation or burning. Sunlight is one such way to destroy me, but I would not be foolish enough to meet a mortal during the day. Not while your greatest weapon against me still burns in the sky. As for the old movie cliché’s about us: Stakes, Crosses, Silver, Running Water, Coffins, Garlic, and whatever else they have come up with lately, pure nonsense! Do not make me laugh! Still, if you wish to try, I will indulge your efforts and will enjoy watching your face turn ghostly white from their lack of effect.

What was that you asked? Ah yes, Blood. That part is very, very true and let me tell you, if I were not quite so sated at this moment. We would not be having this discussion. I must drink blood to survive, heal my wounds, and fuel my abilities and wondrous gifts. There are times I feed for the sheer pleasure of it and when I do, it is bliss beyond words for me. Your blood not only fuels my body, but sates some of my earthly desires as well. Your emotions are like flavors to me and I have my favorites and my brothers and sisters have theirs too. Just like in the movies, we all feed the same way. Our incisors lengthen to fangs and we then bite down on one’s neck, or wherever else will suit us at the moment. We drink our fill then leave our prey in either a state of total bliss or to be placed in a body bag for some other mortal to clean up at some later time. However, not before we close the wounds, with a mixture of our own blood and saliva.

Still, I was not born like this, and I was created by one whom I will not name, but only call him my “Creator”. I am an elder, and no thrall, otherwise known to you mortals as a slave. I was reborn into this world with not only a new body and wondrous gifts, but most importantly, freewill. He holds no power over me but my loyalty, which I give freely. Just as my own Prodigy, my creation was reborn the same way. Only once in our entire lives can we make another like ourselves, one with free will, a companion, for their creator to spend eternity with until the end of our days. So you may realize now that we are quite immortal and time means little to ones such as ourselves. I, myself, am well over two hundred years old and look not a day over twenty one. Just one of the many perks of being dead already as you might guess.


You ask of my abilities and gifts? Well, there are differences, so I will explain them. But only as an elder would, for that is what I am. First off, not only am I stronger than you are by at least ten times a mortal’s normal strength, but I am much faster as well. I can move so quickly than your feeble human eyes cannot track. I’ve already explained that our bodies arrested the state of death. So you could suspect that I can not only take severe punishment, but can easily outpace you. I need not to neither eat nor breathe. All my kind possesses such abilities, and not only are we physically more able than you, but we can even draw you to us. We have an ability called “Charms” whereby at anytime we can make ourselves appear more seductive and inviting, as long as you show some general interest. All of my kind possesses the ability to charm an individual. But I, as an elder, cannot only summon the ability to charm you, but also whole groups of mortals and a single immortal as well! I can even reverse my ability to make myself less obvious to you. This allows me to pass unnoticed and you would never know I was there at all. I can hide and remain unseen by a mortal if I wish. Or make myself so seductive that you will do what I ask, for as long as you wish to please me, and it brings no harm to yourself. These are called “Abilities” and we all possess them in some way or another, be it elder or thrall.

You now ask of my “Gifts”? My, my, are we not just the most curious mortal I have ever met? But, let us not be too pushy either, please! I said I would indulge you, so I will explain. You cross into dangerous territory here, Mortal, and know this. You ask of the true nature of the elders and we are quite secretive. But let us continue on. We are all reborn with gifts that assist us and not only help us to hunt, but aid us in survival as well. Only elders develop vastly powerful gifts. But it is rare when we “turn” a mortal to a thrall, that they may receive such a gift. This, however, is most uncommon. I, myself, have a few, as does all of my entire family, but we rarely share. Only those who are directly linked in blood may share in a common gift like my prodigy and I. But not all of us do. Gifts can be anything from furthering our own amazing abilities to some that are most frightening. I do not wish to even try to list all that I have seen in my life. So I will only tell you of my own. I myself, dear Mortal, can use any suitable shadow as a doorway, as long as I know both the entrance and the exit points beforehand. Those shadows must remain as I remember them, or I will be thrown back from the starting point. Mortal and immortal minds bend to my will as easily as the suggestions I will give. I cannot only order you to do something against you will, but force you to forget whatever I wish. When I have a hold of your mind, you could not hope to refuse, nor disobey me. All you need to do is look into my eyes for a mere moment and your mind is mine to command as I see fit. My senses are so fine-tuned that they eclipse my own kind’s keen sense of hearing, sight, and smell. I can hear your heartbeat now and smell the blood in your veins as it calls to me and I can see with such keen sight that your very movements are a trail for me to follow. Therefore, running is hardly an option. This is what I meant when I said that some of our abilities are furthered, but with these gifts comes a horrible price. I can see and sense your emotions around me, almost as you would see something right in front of you and sense a cool breeze as it passed by. Your aura is an open book to me as even now and I can see you are still curious, but also beginning to become frightened, as well you should be!

We all Immortals have small, one to two inch claws that can lengthen from our own fingernails when we wish. But I, myself, have claws that lengthen to perhaps four to six inches, and I know how to effectively use them. I enjoy taking my enemies down using them as they are purposeful and razor sharp. Finally, there is my greatest gift of all, and the one that not only other immortals covet, but even my own Mistress envies. I can assume any form I wish to in almost perfect detail. Right down to one’s own walk and voice. I assure you that you see me now as you normally might, but that does not mean that I cannot become someone entirely different at a moment’s notice. No, I cannot shape shift. I only mimic anyone I wish. It must, however, be within reason. I cannot become a bat or a wolf, like Hollywood chooses to portray. Some that I know can do this. But to become a bat is so droll that it is even frowned upon by others of my kind.

So, dear Mortal, now you know a great deal, and I hope you enjoyed, our little time together. I also hope I have answered some of your questions. But, I have become bored of this conversation now, and the time has come for us to end it. Oh, do not walk away! Who said you could keep the information I gave you? That was never part of the bargain! I only said I would indulge you and I have done so. So please, do not run because both you and I know it is pointless and it will only infuriate me. Just stay still and relax. There, are you feeling calm now? Those are the “Charms” I described to you. Do you not feel wonderful? Now, dear Mortal, look into my eyes and I promise I will not hurt you, much. I said before, I was sated, but I never said I was full. Since you have taken some of my time I feel you should indulge me for a spell. So, on your knees now please, and tilt your head to left slightly. I promise, not only will you not ever remember this experience, but when you wake, you will feel bliss such as you were never meant to feel. This will take but a moment, and I hope it was worth it for you. I must, alas, do what I must, to make sure that not only my family is kept safe, but my race stays hidden from your kind. Relax now and enjoy. This will be the last time you ever speak to me or see me again. Ciao, dear Mortal……


















An Entry from my nightly Journal,
My name is Michelle Gloria Du’Pree and I am over two hundred years old, and I am what is called Immortal so I cannot die. We call ourselves Immortals but to mortals we are simply called, Vampires. No one can know how much I truly loathe that word. Since we are so much more, and truly creatures of the city since it is much easier to live where the prey is. It is quite true that we are very nocturnal and daylight is fatal to us, but still it is much easier to hunt and feed at night where mortals are a lot less alert. The cities of this world not only provide us with almost an abundant supply of prey but also let the strange or unexplainable fall through the cracks of their society. Every large city has an Immortal population and one the size of New York can easily sustain hundreds of us for years. We live in the shadows on the fringe edge of human existence and make sure our lives stay hidden from their prying eyes. One’s that figure out the truths are seldom aloud to live with that knowledge. My kind rules over most cities from its shadows though influence, crime, and politics but rarely revel ourselves to anyone unless we must. Our lives are spent with our own kind, far away from the lives of curious humans who would sooner destroy us over misunderstandings and fear. Segregation is the only way to survive and keep ones sanity, along with safety in numbers theory that our society uses to keep ones like myself safe. We are rarely alone and the myths that we are solitary predators are just that, a myth. Since my own companion and lover is never far from my side at any given moment. So we are rarely alone and more than likely have ones watching over us most of the time.

With that said I was not always blessed with one to share my life and nightly pleasures with. For a long time I was as close to a loner as I could be, I was never truly alone but never close to anyone either. After my creation so long ago by my own creator I found myself yearning to experience all that life had to offer. I made my fair share of mistakes along the way too, since I was headstrong, young by immortal standards, rebellious, and most of all openly defiant as well. I never saw the reason for our segregated existences at first and just wanted to live my life on my own terms because while I was mortal and still drew breath, I was never able to do just that. Being young I never actually listened to my own creator’s advice. As much as he tried to steer me in the right direction and act not only sensible but also proper at the same time, still I did everything my own way most of the time. As much as I hate to admit it now, I made quite a few mistakes on my own that caused me a lot of pain in the end. Like what do you ask? I may be immortal but at the same time many of my new friends were not over the years; most of the time I had to leave them and go on with my life since I would not age and they would. On a rare few occasions, I even had to watch some of them die. To have to watch someone you cared for just die while you lived on was unbearable sometimes. The profound sadness that accompanied it was unlike any I had ever felt before. Each time it happened it hurt more not less like I would have expected it to, until one night when a dear friend of mine died from an overdose before I could reach him and embrace him as my companion. I paid for his funeral and burial but never attended either and to this day, I have never visited any of their graves either. I just could not after all that we had shared. After that I learned my lesson and left the world of mortals behind with them in it. I did not belong in theirs and they did not belong in mine. It was that simple. That is when for the first time I began to feel lonely and began to search for a companion for myself to share my nights with. It was not for quite a few years later that I met my beloved Zack.

Speaking of him, I do think that our first meeting back in the club not so long ago was not quite our first. I think I may have met my dearest companion, lover, and fondest friend almost a dozen years prior to his embrace. Still I never told him nor would I, but not out of fear and possible anger or anything else for that matter. I just have no way of proving it to either him or myself that the young blond haired, green-eyed boy I met long ago was him at all. He never told me his name nor did I spend that much time with him but in the little time I did, I felt they were so similar, caring, gracious, loving, and most of all vivacious. So I have my suspicions that Zack and I met long before I embraced him as my own and my lover. If I cannot prove it to myself then why should I burden him with the idea of it? This only makes me believe one thing; that Zack and I were destined to be together from the beginning, because on that night I saved his life not once, not twice, but three times before we parted ways. Oh Zack, if only I could prove it, I would confide in you and our love would come full circle.

Till next we speak journal, my name is Michelle Gloria Du’Pree and you alone know my most intimate secrets. Only my beloved knows almost as much as you and one night soon he will read these pages and he will share fully in my life.
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New York City; and the year was 1981, my city, and not Paris nor London not even Rome can compare to its splendor. For someone like me, it’s a glowing palace of glass and steel surrounded by surreal architecture of a divine sight. To others it is a dark and foreboding monster, as dirty as the grit that lay upon the streets. This city is as alive as I am in a way and it needs to feed just like I do. Still unlike what sustains my body, blood, this city feeds on innocence and just like me every few nights it needs a fresh meal. Chances are that tonight could be just one of those nights where the city must slake its own hunger and feed. For every now and then it becomes restless and aggravated as I do. My night started out like any other but it quickly became one of those nights, where I became annoyed at the boredom my life had taken a turn towards as of late. I was so jaded when I left the club that night and decided to take a long walk through the city that I love so much. It’s amazing what you can find when you just open your eyes and see what’s going on any given night. Chances are you may be a little more than surprised at what you find.

The chilly breeze of an early spring night whipped though the cavernous avenues and the city’s streets but the cold didn’t bother me since I no longer felt such subtle changes in temperature. I felt the coolness against my already cold flesh but it did little to bother me and the jacket I wore was more for appearance than anything else. As I walked down the avenues of this great city my anger and sorrow were getting the better of me. Once again another night seemed so surreal to me. The routine I had fallen into was getting to of me, and if you need to know one thing about being immortal; is that routines were not good. My life as wondrous as it was, had taken a turn for the worse, but most say that when you pass your first century and are heading close to you second it happens. As I turned the next corner heading up town again, I just blended in and out of the crowds of people on the streets. What a marvelous place Manhattan was and how my kind could not grow to love a city of this magnitude were beyond me. This city was as alive during the night as it was during the day I suspected since I arrived here from France around 1794, and had never seen the city during the day, ever. Still this city never failed to spark my interests on nightly basis. If I wasn’t perusing the clubs, I would go out on an all night shopping spree, or I could always spend a quiet night alone in Central Park, or I could do just what I was doing now, walking the streets of my city “people watching”. On any given night the city could provide me with a myriad of ways to entertain myself, but not tonight. At the club I am part owner of called The Factory, the city’s hottest night club, I just couldn’t take sitting in there anymore! The tediousness of this eternal life can be quite annoying sometimes and on more than a few occasions I have become irate lately. My creator and I have been watching this city for my Mistress for about a decade now, as she relaxes somewhere in Paris or London. After many nights of just doing nothing I had another episode that resulted in a few broken baubles in the Viper’s Club, the private club for our kind in The Factory. So after a large verbal altercation with my creator, I decided to leave and find something to do that didn’t involve any of them. As dangerous as it was for one of my kind to be without another I decided to throw caution to the wind and just go out and people watch. Most women that looked like me would never just randomly wander the streets at night of this great city. Being only five foot three inches and maybe one hundred and ten pounds at the most, with long jet-black hair and deep blue eyes, not to mention very voluptuous body, I could easily be singled out as a target for any number of random acts of violence here. But my most striking features are my perfect alabaster skin, my full lips, and my angelic like facial features that my family is known for. Still I could care less if anyone even tried to accost me. My strength was ten times what my body could only hope to possess. My speed was so swift that to a mortal’s vision I looked like a blur, and with my body already dead, bullets and blades meant nothing to me unless you could cut off my head! Still, I had other gifts from my embrace that would aid me if I needed. Mortal’s minds bent to my will as easily as the suggestions that I would give them. I could assume anyone’s form I wished, making me impossible to keep up with in crowds since I could be anyone. I could simply walk through a shadow and out of another, and when combined with my speed it made it quite difficult to see me. Finally there are my claws, which most immortals say are unlike any others; long, slender, and razor sharp and I know how to use them! Along with my fangs and the ability to charm whole groups or to pass unnoticed through the crowds made me more than match for any mortal that wished to cross my path. Still the night was young and I was eternally so I made the turn at the next corner that headed towards Midtown to see what the heart of the city had to offer me on this night of monotony.

After about an hour of walking and one or two small purchases that did almost nothing to alleviate the mood I was in, I decided to walk a little further into Midtown. I was used to calling this area “the Tourist Trap” since this was as close to Penn Station that I liked to get these days. But Times Square was always alive with people at any given hour and seeing my immediate need of some way to entertain myself, I decided to press on. As I walked along, the avenues peeled away like one would peel a piece of fruit. I hardly cared and I didn’t even stop to say anything to the group of young men who were shouting suggestive obscenities my way. Normally I would have stopped and had a good laugh or a meal at their expense, but I had no desire to deal with scum like that tonight. So after an uneventful stroll through Times Square, I decided to do a little shadow hopping and head back closer to home; 5th Avenue. Museum Mile would be a nice way to relax and breaking in to one was always easy for me, since no walls could hold me back. I had spent many a night just wandering the halls of the many museums; viewing fine art in its entire splendor. I do enjoy art in all its forms and have quite a collection of my own, but I also enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of the museum halls at night.

I exited a shadow close to Central Park and only a block from my desired destination; The Met, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art was wonderful at night when you had the place to yourself. It was located right on the famous Museum Mile and the grandest museum in the entire city. As I walked closer to the darkened building I laughed a little to myself that it had closed over five hours ago. I giggled as I looked in one of the few windows and found a suitable shadow there in entry way. I glanced around quickly to make sure there was no one watching and stepped into a large shadow near the locked doorway and a second later out into the lobby! Once inside I altered my appearance slightly because while illusioned mirrors never showed the features of an illusion, that went for cameras too. While I used an illusion I never had a reflection in a mirror, so camera could not see me either. I walked through the lobby and decided tonight I was in a modern art mood so I began to make my way to that section of the Met. Some beautiful Picasso’s and maybe even some lovely Beckmann’s seemed to be the order of the night, so I walked along in silence as I enjoyed my quiet time. Later depending on how the opportunity presented itself, I would get myself a nice little snack and spend an hour or two in here alone. It was a relaxing way to deal with the stress that comes from the daily grind of being immortal.

Luck had had it that my snack was to before and not after, so once I had found a suitable little resting place for my guest, I wandered through the halls amongst some of the magnificent art here in the museum. As I did, I kept thinking about my life and how it had taken a turn for the surreal as of late. I felt old an outdated, like the centuries of my life had pressed on and left me behind in a rut that I had no chance of escaping. If found a small bench and sat as I continued to think and reflect on this life I led as one of the walking dead and as amazing as it was to never fear death anymore and enjoy my life eternally young and vivacious. But while my body did not age my mind did. I would be eternally young, in the body of a young adult who had just come into her prime; a young, beautiful and voluptuous woman. But my mind was that of someone who should have died over a lifetime ago. The years pressed on whether I wished them to or not and much to the chagrin of this life, friends and lovers came and went while I pressed ever on. Even my good friend Sophie Trelin had moved on with hers and had a budding sister and prodigy to spend her nights with now. I did and still do enjoy both their companies but I began to get the distinct feeling sometimes that two is a company and three is a crowd. So as of late I had left Sophie and her young prodigy, Paige, to their own lives. I fell back into my ways of being a loner and by myself. A prodigy is something to be treasured and treated as such, and as much as I desired a companion of my own, I either met with disastrous results or never found one suitable enough anymore. I wanted mine to be perfect like Sophie’s and someone to share my nights with, my life with, and of course moments like this; alone in Manhattan’s grandest museum on the mile. I stood up and began to stroll again a little but my mind raced with thoughts of depression and self loathing. This happened to me a lot lately and I had only admitted it but a few years ago. I was lonely. So I sat once again on another bench further down the hall. My own creator was so involved in his own ideals that differed from mine. As much as I did enjoy his company in small doses, I had found in this modern era that that we had grown apart of late. My mistress and I had not seen eye to eye for quite a long time and I had no wish to try to mend old wounds. Then there was the club I co-owned with my creator. As enjoyable as it was sometimes, in my life places like that got old fast. With my already brooding life and loneliness I found myself on more than a few occasions quite surly and even more than annoyed. I had taken to activities such as breaking things, and causing trouble, that had landed me in quite a few verbal arguments with my creator. Still where I used anger and rage to deal with my life, sometimes I had to come to grips with the idea that I was yearning for more from this life and loneliness was closing in on me. Suddenly, my eyes opened and wide as I stood up and nearly picked up the stone bench I was sitting on and hurled it at the wall! Who was I and what was I thinking! I am Michelle Gloria Du’Pree, first daughter of House Du’Pree, and the ruling house of New York and all of North America! Besides I was never lonely before. I never needed anyone, let alone some youngling, and most of all I was immortal and above such petty and feeble mortal emotions! All of a sudden I felt dirty, and like the world of mortals had once again laid their disgusting hands upon me. I nearly retched at the thought of it. I sniffed the air and felt like this place had too much of their scents in here as well. I had to leave and felt I wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon, as beautiful as the art was, it was tainted with their stench. I looked at one of the shadows on the wall and stepped into it and back out where I had entered from. I had an immediate need to be away from the world of mortals and their pathetic kind soon enough. I looked about and began to walk again; Washington Square Park seemed like a good place to alleviate my new found stress. I had the immediate need to be alone for awhile and away from both mortals and my sudden sense of self pity and contempt.

As I walked away from The Met and away from my moment of self loathing and pity I walked along towards Washington Square Park. But my keen ears picked up something that intrigued me so I decided the park could wait. I rounded the corner to see a woman being roughed up by a few thugs and being shoved back and forth like she was a rag doll. Now, I am in no way a saint but to see a woman being manhandled like that just made my blood boil. I turned the corner fully to see them stop their abuse of her at my approach. Then one of them decided to confront me, which I was in no mood for either. He walked right up to me and I could see that he was only some hired goon that worked for the local mobsters here in the city, scum at best. I continued on my way past him until he put his hand on my shoulder stopping my progress.
“Streets closed lady, you might want to go back the way you came for your own sake.” He said and then blocked my path once again.
I looked up at him and sneered back. “Since when did the city start hiring someone like you to direct traffic?” I asked him smugly.
He only stared back at me and grabbed my shoulder roughly pushing me back the way I came. Now I was angry! How dare this slimy mortal place his hands on me and leave his nauseating stink upon me! He gave me a look like he would strike me, but no such blow came.
“Get the fuck out of here before they find you floating in the East River you bitch”, he said back in an angry tone.
I looked back at him and then just gave him an obscene gesture and turned to walk away but he wouldn’t let it go. Stupidly he followed me away from his friends.
“Hey you got a problem lady, because if you do I can help you with that!”
All I did was turn and look back at him. “Go fuck yourself you greasy pig. I would not touch you if you gave me every dime you ever earned or will earn you pathetic excuse of a life!”
As I walked away he took the bait and followed me around the corner to where it was dark. Before he could say another word to me, I turned and rushed right at him. He began to pull out a gun but with my speed I was the quicker, and with two deft quick moves I had him. Not only was he on his knees but bleeding from both his nose and lip, and begging for his life.
I looked down at him and grinned back. “So what were you saying about throwing me in the East River before? Because where I am standing right now, I cannot see that happening, you worthless excuse for a stain on society.”
He looked up at me and his voice trembled as he spoke, “What the fuck are you?”
I only giggled dryly in response to his question, “Your worst nightmare; a bitch with an attitude and with enough moxie to back it up!”
With that I grabbed him by his throat roughly and my fist connected right into his chin then I flung him like a like a toy through the air. He sailed a foot or two and slammed into a wall of the building, and then landed in a heap on a pile garbage bags, where he deserved to be.
As I walked past, I made sure to kick over one of the garbage cans on top of him. “I guess you are in the right place now since trash like you belong with the garbage.”
With my rage hardly sated I decided the rest of his friends deserved a few short beatings along with nice long naps, so I turned the corner again back the way I had come before. When I rounded the corner I saw one of them slap the woman hard. She spiraled to the ground and that made me even angrier than before. I may be nothing close to mortal but I pride myself on being a woman and to watch another being treated like that was too much for me to bear. I walked with a renewed vigor in my step. It had been so long since I had anything close to a good fight. There were only three now, and hardly an effort but if I just used my strength and speed I could make this sporting at least. The first one rushed me with a knife but with a quick move I side stepped him and as he passed me by, I kicked his knees out from behind. As he landed on the ground knees first the back of my hand slammed into his temple and he hit the ground with a hard thud. The next one dug in his pockets for something, but I hardly cared. I just grabbed his long coat and slammed him a few times off on the cars parked in the street. I punched him hard in the gut and then the chin and I left him sprawled across a car hood. The last one was smart though and grabbed the unconscious woman’s body pulling her in front of him as I approached. As I got closer he took out a knife and put it to her throat.
“Go ahead bitch, get closer, and I’ll slit her throat before you even touch me. Do you even know who you’re fucking with? Do you!” He said back still holding the knife and inching it closer to her throat.
I just stared back at him with a smug expression o my face. “Should I care and for that matter do you know who you are fucking with since you put it so elegantly?” He looked right at me and then like a fool into my eyes and I smiled a bit. “Drop the knife and place the woman on the stoop next you. Then come to me, fool.” His eyes glazed over and the knife dropped to the ground with a light clink. He laid the woman on the stoop and then turned to look at me again. “That’s it, just come to me now and I will not hurt you. You have done so well.” I purred to him softly. He took a few shaky steps and met me where I stood and I smiled. “Now kneel in front of me and crane your neck to the right please, and I shall reward you my little puppet.”
He did as I asked of him and I felt my fangs slide slowly into my mouth as I looked down at him. I smiled a little letting him see them, but my hold on his mind was too great. He never moved. The artery in his neck pulsed with life and I lowered my head slowly sniffing the air looking for any signs of drug abuse. He was clean to my surprise, so before he could blink I grabbed him gently by the chin and held his head. Then I bit down gently at first, then more forcefully once my fangs slipped through his flesh. I pulled him closer to me in a crushing hug like a predator would. He quivered a bit but then stopped as I took sustenance from him letting the fresh blood slide slowly down my throat. I allowed myself a few long draughts and then closed the wounds with a mix of my saliva and blood and he dropped to the ground in front of me quivering. I felt refreshed and renewed from my latest feeding and looked at all of them sprawled out on the ground. Then the woman began to stir. I walked silently over to her and she moved a bit more.
“Are you alright?” I finally asked with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
She looked up and then suddenly tried to stand. “My son, they were after my son! Oh God where is he I told him to run! They didn’t get him did they?”
She looked up at me like I had the answers to her questions about her missing offspring but really I could have cared less. I did this to alleviate some of the boredom in my life and because I was insulted, not because I cared about her per see.
I looked down at her and then turned to leave. “No I have not, and I would say he will be home soon enough. But I would get back to where ever you call home tonight before he does.”
But she looked up at me and began to sob. “This is our home and it’s because of my ex-husband being involved with those men that we are so much trouble. He skipped out on a debt to them. I threw him out a few years ago because of the lifestyle he led and to shield my son from it. But now they want their money and if they can’t find him they will use his son to draw him out, or to force me to pay, I suspect”. She said and began to get up but almost fell again and I grabbed her arm to steady her.
“I will help you into your home and be on my way.” I said back softly to her and helped her to her feet. “Your son will be home soon enough.” I then took her inside and up two flights of stairs to her doorway. But when I tried to leave she stopped me.
“Please if only for a moment could you stay since you helped me.” She said back to me with a concerned face and opened her door slowly.
I looked at her and nearly laughed, but agreed. “Sure, if you wish, but only for a moment since I am busy tonight.” With that I walked into their small apartment and couldn’t believe how mortals lived in such small and cramped quarters these days.

She offered me a drink which I refused of course, since I was quite full already from my latest meal. Then she stared right at me like she was searching for something.
She looked away after staring for a moment or two, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, but I never got you name?”
I just looked back at her and smiled, “Nor did I give it, but if you must know I am Michelle, and that is all you need to know.”
She looked back a little shocked but then calmed again. “Nice to meet you Michelle I’m Barbara…”
Quickly I put my hand up to stop her quickly before she finished, “Your first name is just fine, so if I am asked later if I know you, I really do not. After all, I did just assault three men in front of your home you know?”
Barbara laughed a little but then was serious again, “Well Michelle, I owe you one and you seem not to trust too many people either.”
I just grinned back at her but thought of how easily she could have died tonight too. “We live in New York City when did trusting anyone become a good idea around here, Barbara?”
She laughed a little again and then sat. “Are you sure you didn’t see my son? He’s only seven years old and new to the City. We just moved here from Long Island and he hardly knows anyone or anything around here.”
I looked back at her and smiled again. “He should be here in a moment and I have to go. It was nice to meet you Barbara. Please try to stay safe.” And I began to get up and walk towards the door but she stopped me once again.
She began to get up as well but then spoke once again. “Please in your travels if you see a seven-year-old boy with blond hair and green eyes, wearing a blue jacket please bring him here his name is…”
I just put up my hand once again. “I will look as I go but I am not going to stop my life to find your lost son when I am sure he will home soon enough. Still, no names please so if I am asked later; I do not know either of you.”
Barbra only nodded back at me as I opened the door to exit her small home, “Please, if you see him, I will pay you to bring him here. I don’t have much but I’ll give you what I have”.
I again smiled back at her but shook my head in response to her offer. “Please… you offer me money when I have more than enough to live my life. I am not interested in taking yours, but like I said, I will look as I walk. If I find him I will send him home, but I do believe I will pass him in the halls as I walk down. Goodnight.”
She started to say something else but I shut the door in response. I had no intention of looking for a lost child in the night. I was no hero nor was it my concern. She was mortal and I am immortal why would one lost child concern me? Still, somewhere in the back of my mind as I climbed down the stairs with hardly a whisper, I felt like I should at least try to help find a scared and lost child in my dark and ominous city.


Back out on the streets I noticed right away that all the creeps that I had easily dispatched had fled. The car I had slammed one of them onto was gone as were they, but still I didn’t care. To me this was just another night in my life and what could a bunch of mortals possibly do to harm me anyway? So once again I turned west and headed towards Washington Square Park to enjoy my quiet time. As I walked along the thought of Barbara’s plea kept nagging at me but I kept walking along trying to put it out of my mind. Still something about this woman and her son was intriguing to me but it wasn’t my affair, so why should it? I began to try to remember a tune or something to get my mind off what had just happened. Still it nagged at me about a lost child new to my city. A child alone in this city at night was a recipe for disaster but still why should it concern me? Wasn’t it his mother’s job to raise him and not mine since I would never be able to bear children anyway being the way I am? I looked back briefly to see Barbara stumble a little out of her apartment building again. I turned back and watched as she used the handrail to steady herself and she began to walk down the stairs. If those goons came back now she would be defenseless against them, but a mother’s love of her child was greater than that I figured. Reluctantly at first I walked over to her quickly to stop her.
“What could you possibly do in your condition Barbara?” I said to her starling her as I walked out of the shadows again. “Come to think of it I think you should go to the hospital before you injure yourself.”
She turned to look right at me but nearly lost her balance, “I’m fine really, and my son needs me. I can’t just sit here and wait for him to come home. He’s my son and he’s out there all alone.”
I helped to steady her and began to walk her back to her apartment building but she stopped again. It looked like she was about to weep very soon and I tried not to notice.
“Please I need help and I can’t call the police since they are looking for my ex too. He’s just an innocent boy caught in the middle of all of this. He needs help and I have to find him.” She said back wobbling a bit more.
I helped her sit on the stoop trying to calm her once again. “Look, I will go and take a look around and see if I can find him.” I said to her helping her sit on the stoop to keep her from falling. “Still, I do not want to know his name just give me something of yours to prove that you sent me. If I find him I will bring him here. If not you will find the item you give me at The Factory tomorrow night. Just go inside and lock the doors and lay down before you harm yourself. If he is around, I will find him I promise you.”
She looked up at me and smiled. “Thank you so much Michelle. If there is anything I can ever do for you please let me know.” She said back and steadied herself on the railing.
I frowned back at her but I could still never let this child be out here on his own. “Just go inside before those creeps come back and we have more problems. Leave finding your son to me this time”.
She gave me a small heart shaped ring and then I watched her walk inside again. As soon as she was gone I frowned then sighed. Once again I let the world of mortals hauled me back in when all I ever wanted to do was leave it for good. Sometimes my conscience was more of burden than my immortality could ever be. So I walked off and sniffed the night air looking for the scent of a scared child.

I had hardly walked a half a block before a picked up the scent I was looking for. It smelled of their apartment and innocence but there was a tang of fear in the air too! Where ever the child was he was not only alone but frightened as well. I took off as swiftly as I could, running through the streets as nothing more than blur. When I passed the first corner I dove into a shadow and quickly appeared on the other side of the street. This type of pursuit was nothing new to me but most of the time I did this to track potential prey, not to find a lost child. I streaked past the horse paddocks, passing by the same black car I had seen before. The scent was getting stronger as I raced through Central Park. Up through the tree line the scent was the strongest, and there on one of the small hillocks I saw a sight that made me want to scream. It was one thing to push around a woman but it was another to manhandle a scared and defenseless child and threaten him with a gun! My rage got the better of me as I jumped into a shadow and then back out behind them. My claws were fully extended as were my fangs and the first strike at the one at my left sprayed the entire area with blood. My claws raked both his back and head in grisly pattern of gore. He screamed and landed on the ground with a sickly splat of blood and torn flesh. I looked down at him squirming and then stomped on his throat, snapping his neck in the process with a resounding pop. I growled in protest at the other three. One of them grabbed the child while the other two leveled pistols at me to stop my progress. I let out a let guttural hiss in response as I charged them with murderous intentions. Before the first shot was fired I moved quickly to the side striking the one to the right low, splitting his stomach open like a ripe melon. His innards splashed out onto the grounds as his friends shrieked in shock at what he had just seen. He landed in a heap of bloody gore on the dirt and I turned on his friend quickly. As he turned to fire at me I dove into another shadow and was gone from sight once again as his friend uttered his last cries through bloody gasps. A moment later I appeared in the trees next to my last attacker and my claw plunged into his back and out of his lower chest. He tried to cry out, but nothing but blood ran out of his mouth and his last looks in his eyes were ones of fear. I immediately noticed him as the one I had fed off of earlier and just smiled again at him as he whimpered and died in my arms. Quickly I tossed him to the ground and took off again after the one who had fled with the child. He felt he had a head start, but I knew better and took off through the trees trying to get in front of him. As I passed him by, I saw him half carrying, half dragging the small boy and I stopped a bit up front to wait for him. As he passed me by, I grabbed his coat from the shadows and tossed him backwards into the trees with one hand. He landed with a hard thump. The boy tried to scream out but I put my hand on his head and shushed him.
“I am a friend of your mother’s and she told me to give you this”. I said softly to him handing him the small ring and he looked up at me but said nothing back. “Now stay right here and be quiet. I have to make sure this one never tries to hurt you again.”
I watched as he sat down exhausted and scared in the middle of the small concrete path, looking at the ring. I walked back into the woods. There on the ground trying to get up was the one I had thrown. He stood up and began to say something but I grabbed his throat tightly; too tight for him to talk.
I looked him in the eyes as I forced him to his knees. “Shut up! A child! You would menace something as beautiful and innocent as a child with a gun! What kind of creature would harm something so pure when one like me would not?” My eyes must have blazed the cold blue as I have been told they do when I am angered, because his face shifted to one of fear. Against my own will, my claws extended once again, cutting deep into his flesh as I throttled him. My fangs extended and I looked at him as I hissed, “I should…drain you fucking dry…you pathetic excuse for a man and…and I think I will!”
With that I savaged his already torn neck and ripped open his flesh as I gulped at his blood as it poured out of his tattered throat! I threw a tight squeeze around him trying to force the rest of it out into my mouth as I heard both ribs and muscles popping and breaking. Blood squirted into my mouth and on my face as I savored the last of it since it was the sweetest at death. His struggle ceased quickly as I crushed his body and drained out his very last remnants. Then I tossed his broken and desiccated carcass to the ground with a thud and let out a growl into the night sky. As much as my darker half relished these kills, in the back of my mind I had to calm before I turned on the boy! As I did just that, I walked back out onto the path to see him sitting quietly not saying a word. He was just staring at the ring in his small hand. Even as I walked up to him, he hardly noticed my approach as silent as it was.

I looked down at him staring at the ring in his small hands, and then knelt beside him to see if he was hurt at all. His jacket was torn and he had a small cut on his chin but other than that he was no worse for wear. I began to think he was either mute or deaf because he looked at the ring and nothing else at first. Then I realized how easily human beings were shocked from being scared, as he began to look around again. At first he looked at me frightened, but as I allowed my own innate charms begin and he calmed quickly. He just kept staring at me then tried to speak for the first time but nothing came out. I smiled a little trying to be as inviting as I could, but this was a small child; and not some man looking at me with his own desires. Still he continued to stare at me.
“Come and I will take you to your mother. She is worried sick about you, you know?” I put out my hand but he didn’t take it and I was in no mood for idle tribulations right now, “Come on unless you would like me to leave you here.” I said more forcefully, but still he just looked at me. Then his face changed a little.
“My mommy said I wasn’t to talk to strangers in the city at all. I don’t know you and how come she’s not here?” He said back still with a confused look upon his face.
I only smiled a little to him again. “Your mother sent me one way while she looked another. Now come here and let’s go before we have more problems.”
He looked at the ring in his small hand and then to me again, “You look like an angel”. And I would have blushed if I could but then his face changed. “But why would an angel have blood on her face?”
I put my hand up quickly and felt the sticky fluid on my face for the first time. In my rage and curiosity I forgot to wipe it away! I looked up again but only saw him run off into the trees as quickly as his little legs could carry him. Now I had a dilemma. The boy had seen too much and if I didn’t do something quickly I would be declared a criminal against my kind! It was forbidden to allow any mortal the knowledge of the immortals, supposedly decreed by the Dark Mother herself. If he told anyone what he had seen or thought he had seen, I would be judged for the full weight of my crimes. Even if no one believed him, my kind knew the truth and they would silence anyone with even the slightest scrap of knowledge of us. If I didn’t catch him and take the memories of this night from his mind my own life would be in jeopardy now! I sniffed the air again and took off as quickly as I could, but I had to be gentle. This was a child and not some brute that had seen what he shouldn’t of. His small mind could be broken if he saw more and to be the cause of a child losing his mind would haunt me until eternity. I had to fix this before it was too late, for both of us.

How stupid could I have been? I was almost two hundred years old and over two hundred if I counted my mortal years. I was no fledgling immortal! To walk into plain sight before checking myself after I had fed was foolish to say the least. Now I had a scared child running through the night with a small amount of knowledge of the existence of the immortals! Even if no one believed him, the information was not something I myself of a powerful and ruling house could allow. If he told his mother and she believed him, what would happen next? I knew what would, and many of times did I have to judge one of my own kind for such stupid and ignorant acts. My mistress would be called home at her next available convenience and she herself would judge me. She was not known amongst our kind of being lenient or merciful either. My punishment, depending on how quickly these mortals were silenced, could be painful or even result in my own destruction. Not to mention my own mistake would be the cause of the deaths of a mother and her young child, because I was careless. If I wished to keep my immortal life and preserve theirs, I had to catch that boy and purge what little information he had before he was able to tell another. As I rushed through the park I easily picked up his scent but before I could close in on him the scent ceased. I stopped running and sniffed about like a predator that had just lost her prey, but nothing came to me. We were near the old amphitheaters and still nothing but the scents of the coming spring and the city came to me now. I sniffed again but still there was nothing until I walked a little bit and found my answer. The little one had run through a very deep puddle and obviously slipped in it from the looks of it. The water from the puddle had washed the scent off his small body and had rendered my ability to track him by scent useless till he dried off. Still, I wasn’t without options and looked around to see a set of small wet footprints leading behind the amphitheaters. I looked around like I was confused and let my heeled boots click loudly on the concrete. If he was hiding nearby he knew all too well I was here and looking for him. I made like I was walking in the wrong direction and then silenced my own steps once I was convinced he thought I was gone. From a crouched position near the edge of the pavement, I saw him emerge from his hiding place. He began to walk back the way he came from but I had other ideas and began to move silently through darkened trees along the path. He never even knew I was there or that he was being watched. Since this was my element, the shadows were my realm. When he knelt down to tie his shoe and tried to wipe the water off of him I walked up behind him silently.
“You cannot run from me little one, and you have seen something you should not have.” I said from behind him. .
He looked up quickly and went to run again but I grabbed him from behind and lifted him off the ground. He struggled with his jacket but I spun him around to face me again.
“I will not hurt you and your mother did send me to bring you to her. So stop all this incessant struggling and running and behave yourself this instant”.
He only looked up at me and then tried scream out as I put my hand on his mouth tightly to stop him. I looked into his eyes and my patience had run out!
“One more peep out of you and the next place your mother will see your face is on the back of a milk carton! Do you understand me? Nod once if you do or so help me the next sound you hear will be the snap of your little neck!”
He stopped struggling and then quieted a little bit but the terror in his eyes was enough to make me sick. I myself would never ever hurt a child since they are innocent and pure, but I couldn’t let him go with the knowledge he had. I took my hand slowly off his mouth and then looked at him, trying to be as caring as I could. “Now if you will just come with me I will take you to your mother.”
He looked back at me and let tear roll out of his eye, “You’re not going to hurt me like you said you would, are you?”
I smiled at him warmly trying to ally his fears. “No, unless you give me reason to. All I want to do is take you to your mother and be on my way, nothing more.”
He looked at me still a little scared. “Really, you’re not lying are you? I saw the blood you know? I know what you are I saw it in a movie, a vampire right?”
I only smiled again wider trying to look as unthreatening as I could. “I am only here to make sure you see your mother again. My name is Michelle and you can trust me that I will not harm you.”
He looked at me with a trusting face and then it changed to one of fear again. From behind I heard footsteps and then a voice. “Give us the boy or we will just take him from you when you’re dead.”
I placed him on the ground and turned quickly to see nearly a dozen men looking at me guns drawn and I pushed the boy a little behind me. I only smirked back at them. “And who might be asking me such a request? It would be rude of you to just ask something of me before introducing yourselves properly.”
One tall and thin man stepped forward and looked right at me. “Give us the boy, and we won’t ask again, but if you must know Mikhail Demonostrav has requested his presence”.
I smiled back in response, but knew full well that this boy and his mother were in real trouble. Russians! Most people in this city knew to never double cross them or you were dead. Even I, as an immortal, knew well enough to steer clear of the Russian mob and now I was neck deep in their affairs. In my mind I kept thinking to myself to give them the boy before I have problems of my own now. Still something about both this boy and his mother made me want to help them. Before another word was said I heard the slide of a gun cock back and I knew this wasn’t going to go well, but I had to play along. I pushed the boy further behind me and then looked back at them.
“So what’s to say if I give you what you want I will leave her with my life?” I asked him sarcastically.
He grinned back to me, “Nothing, I would have to say since you’re with the boy, and not our associates, that you must have interfered with them. Now, give us the boy and I will go easy on you, since you are as lovely as you are. We may even be able to work out this small debt to us”.
I scowled at him and then sneered. “Never, I will not be one of your whores to pay off some imaginary debt! To so insult me and then ask for something, no demand it! I would rather watch you and all your friends simultaneously shoot each other”!
The next sound I heard was the sound of silenced gunfire. I shoved the boy out of the way as bullets slammed into my chest! So quick to try to kill but the pain was real enough. As I fell to the ground and I heard the boy scream and the man yell back to stop shooting. Blackness was closing in and I watched as the boy was snatched up. I felt my blood run down my chest and then nothing, as my world went black and my body tried to heal.

A hard smack to the back of my head jarred me from unconscious state and it was a small dark place. Another bump made my senses come alive once again as I tried to breathe, but no air came in. I opened my eyes fully to see my vision blurred and then realized what was going on. I was in a trunk of a car, wrapped in plastic, and being driven somewhere; not to mention I was angry and hungry too. I extended my claws and cut the plastic easily and cleared it away from me. My wounds were almost healed but the blood it cost to heal them was extensive so I would need to feed again very soon. A little while later as I lay there in the truck and the hunger beckoned me, the car finally stopped and I heard the doors slam shut. The next thing I heard was footsteps coming towards the back of the car and someone speaking in Russian, which I happen to speak as well. They sounded annoyed but still went about their business.
“Too bad, they say this one was quite pretty and could have turned a decent profit. Too bad she’s dead and we’re dumping her here.”
Before they could say anything else the trunk began to open and my fangs slid into my mouth. I grabbed the one who was opening it and slammed his head into the trunk lid hard. Next I sprung out of the truck and with unearthly speed and I tackled the other as we tumbled to the floor. My fangs bit down deeply into his neck before he could use the gun he was reaching for. Pinning him to the ground I bit down harder driving my fangs in deeper into his soft flesh. His blood squirted into my mouth. I let my dark self enjoy this one kill as I greedily gulped down the precious blood that I needed so badly to heal myself fully again. Even injured, mortals were no match for me, and this man died within a few minutes of me feeding upon him. I looked up and saw the other one laying face down in the trunk and my first instincts were to slake my hunger again. Still, I had other ideas. Not only was I pissed off but my five hundred dollar blouse and nine hundred dollar jacket was ruined! I was also thrown in a trunk, wrapped in plastic, was going to be used as a whore, and worse shot for no reason what so ever! Combine that with the bad mood I had been in for close to a decade, I was not one to be fucked with right now! I walked over to the car and grabbed the man by the back of the neck, turned him over to face me, and then slapped him a few times to wake him. On about the tenth one he came around and I just growled a little bit to let him know what he was dealing with. He looked up at me and I watched as the color drained from his face.
“You’re…supposed…to be…dead”, he said in broken English!
I only smiled back a little evilly. “I died almost two hundred years ago and for almost the past decade I have been in a really foul mood! Tell me what I want to know before you end up like your friend over there!” I grabbed his neck and pulled his head violently just far enough to see his friend’s corpse sprawled out on the street. He began to babble in Russian and I clamped down harder on his throat and shook him violently. “Tell me where the boy is before I pop your head off like a beer cap and drink what’s left from you! Do not lie to me either or I will make you suffer in a way none of you pathetic and useless species was ever meant to!”
He looked at me and closed his eyes a little when something warm brushed up against my leg. This disgusting man had just peed on himself and the urine had found its way to my leg! I nearly tore his head off just for that, but calmed quickly enough.
“You fucking piece of shit! Now my three hundred dollar pants are soiled with your foul stench, along with the rest of my wardrobe and if I did not need information from you I would tear you limb from limb! Tell me what I want to know or so help me the last thing you will see is when I rip your head from your body!” I growled back picking him up by the throat and slammed him down violently.
Once again he began to whimper but I slapped him one more time and his eyes opened wide. In Russian and shaky voice he began to tell me where the boy was taken and who it was who took him, which I knew already. But now I had a place to go and look for him too. And I meant to get him back and some payback also. When he was done I looked at him one more time and smiled sweetly, “Thank you so much and also thank you in advance as well.”
He looked up at me still terrified, “For… what?”
I only looked away and then let me fangs extend, “For this!”
With that I bit down roughly on his neck and pinned him down hard and began to feed from him. He pounded on my side with a fist but in response I reached up and snapped his arm cleanly with a sickly pop as his elbow exploded and his arm hung limply to the side to stop him. His feeble struggles ceased quickly enough, and the blood flowed into my mouth rapidly since I had torn open his artery with my fangs. It was laced with adrenaline and fear but the flavor didn’t matter only that I needed it to heal. He died slower than the other did and when I was done I tossed his broken body the rest of the way into the trunk. I grabbed his friend and threw him in there too, then slammed the lid shut. The car was old and where it was parked, downtown, no one would look in it for quite a few days, or until the stink got too bad. I had to make my way uptown again; closer to midtown since that was my new destination. The Pavilion Coffee house and I couldn’t go in there dressed like I was either.

After a quick stop at a store in midtown, where I knew the owner, a very nice Immortal who had helped me out in the past, I got some clean and fresh clothes. Even though the price was unbelievably high, it was a necessity since mine were all ruined. I also needed them tailored right away which was expensive also and then the disposal of my old clothes which cost me again. Being Immortal didn’t mean you did not need money anymore. Still, I paid without question. Once I was changed and freshened up, I departed. Silence was the key to our survival and using one of my own kind’s establishments to clean up and replace my clothes was well worth the price. But with my family’s name, I was treated fairly. The trip to the Pavilion Coffee House was quiet enough but I had to get there quickly before the boy was moved again. If he was, more people would have to die and my search would have to start over. I kept thinking how I got mixed up with this and why in God’s name did I need to see this through. Still, at least my boredom was being dealt with while I tried to recover a stolen child. The coffee house was just like any other, but this one was Russian mob owned and run. It was also a known hang out for Mikhail Demonostrav whom I was looking for at the moment. I strode through the front doors with all the swagger I ever had and looked around. To my surprise I found my tall thin man who had so insulted me from before, along with a few other sitting quietly in the corner, enjoying their time and coffee. I was in luck as well because sitting right across from him was Mikhail Demonostrav. I walked up to them and Mikhail looked up first. Then my friend from earlier looked at me as well.
I only grinned at them. “Gentleman please, do not get up on my account.” I said as I sat next to Mikhail and looked at the one who had so insulted me before and tried to murder me.
He couldn’t believe his eyes that I sat across from him but he never said a word. A long eerie silence ensued next when Mikhail broke it. “I don’t know who you are and why you’re here but I would suggest you leave before things get…ugly, as you Americans like to say.”
I grinned at him again never looking away from the one who had just tried to kill me before. “Now Mikhail is that any way to greet a guest and business associate, hmm?” He only glanced at me a little confused. “Let me introduce myself before you ask me to leave again, Michelle Gloria Du’Pree of the Du’Pree family.”
Their eyes went wide and I smiled back. Like I said before, most everyone steered clear of the Russians but my family was different. A cup of fresh coffee was brought to me and I smirked a little.
“Now, I am not too sure but I do believe the Du’Pree family is the current bank owners you use to finance your operations?” I said as I tapped my pearly white teeth with my long red fingernails. “I would have to say by insulting me, you tend to lose quite a bit in the city, since most all of the criminal underground uses my family to launder money for them. Treat me hostilely again and see what happens the next time you come asking for our help. I will see to it personally that all your percentages are doubled or maybe even tripled next time. You may even find yourselves out of business when it comes to Manhattan. There are plenty of other organizations that would love to make sure you did not do business here again. Let me think, the Japanese, Italians, Koreans, and Columbians would, to name a few. So are we ready to talk yet or should I just leave?”
Mikhail loosened his collar a little and then dismissed everyone else. He was a very smart man. He knew better than to enrage my family since that would end his cash flow and crush his businesses here. The thin and tall man began to leave, but I grabbed his hand.
“Not you, I would like you to stay since you are involved in this, too”. He sat back down and I looked squarely at Mikhail. “So Mickey lets just say by chance you have something I want how would one go about getting it back?”
He frowned back at me but still wouldn’t look at me either. “Who says I have something you would want?”
I only grinned back at him. “Ask your associate here why. He should be able to tell you if he still has the tongue for it.”
As they talked in Russian, I understood every word, but just kept looking at them like I didn’t. Next Mikhail turned to me again. “You ask a lot here. His father owes me a substantial debt.”
I took a sip of my coffee which nearly spat it out, “Ah but what he didn’t tell you, since I was listening was how he insulted me, had me shot, stuffed into the back of a car, wrapped in plastic, and then was going to dump me somewhere. He also offered to whore me out to pay off an imaginary debt as well. If my mistress finds out about any of this she should would be quite offended, to say the very least.”
He finally looked at me and grinned back as well. “So it is true that you and your family are not human and you run this city also. I always thought it was a story that you used to inspire fear amongst all of us.”
I looked back at him shocked a little, but had known that some heads of organized crime knew our true natures. It helped to keep most of them in line to know full well what they dealt with and not to double-cross us. After a moment I smiled again, “So, where is the boy, and he better not be hurt or dead?”
He smiled back a little and then waved his hand slowly. “Of course not, I need that little brat to draw out his father who owes me a lot of money as I said. Why do you care though? What’s your stake in this may I ask?”
I only grinned back at him. “I owe his mother a debt and I plan to deliver. Now, either give me the boy or I will make your life very difficult in the city, not to mention kill everyone in this coffee house for my troubles while you two watch. I am not in the mood for games Mikhail nor do I make idle threats. So unless you want to watch as I fill up those coffee carafes with the fresh blood of you associates here, and then have you join me in a little drink, I would give me what I want.”
He stared at me with a stern look then but shook his head. “I’d like to help you, but what would it look like for me if I just forgave old debts? If the boy’s father won’t pay then he and his mother must. You can understand that can’t you? You happen to be business woman yourself I would say?”
I was losing my temper again but understood him too. Weakness to one’s enemies looked bad, even for Immortals. Then an idea came to me and I reached up and took an earring out of my ear. Tossing it to the table I scowled. “That is a rare blue diamond and it should pay you back the money they owe and then some. I want the boy for it. Do you have someone who can appraise it here?”
Mikhail picked up the earring and then looked at me. “I so happen to, but if you’re lying I will find it quite insulting.”
I leaned back in my chair a bit and smirked back at him. “If you tell me I am lying then I will personally kill my jeweler. Trust me it is real.”
A short man came and took the earring and I watched as Mikhail nodded a little a moment later. “You tell the truth and the boy is in the back. Take him and may we never cross paths again.”
I only smiled at him but shook my head back to him. “You will take me to the boy, with him.” I said back and I pointed to the man I made stay with us.
Mikhail just smiled a little but still kept his stern face from before. “Why do you want Sergey with us?”
I chuckled and looked right at him. “Has he not told you? We are quite good friends and I would love to say my farewells to him as well.” I said back to him with treating grin.
Mikhail smirked as he stood up slowly. “Very well, so come and let’s get the boy. I’m sure his mother is worried sick.”
With that we all departed to the back rooms and I made sure to go last. Dead I was, stupid I was not, and if these bastards even tried to cheat me I would kill them all. We walked to the back rooms and through a set of doors that led down stairs and I only hoped the boy was all right for both of their sakes.

In the basement I felt at home, but I could see my companions weren’t. My kind so loved the shadows and darkness and we are drawn to them like moths to the flame. Still, to watch them squirm in my presence was enjoyable. What I saw next I didn’t enjoy though. The boy was on the floor with his feet bound and his hands cuffed. How could they treat one of their own kind like that and child no less? It took a lot to keep from tearing them both apart right then and there.
He saw me come down and smiled right away, “Michelle! I thought you were dead!” He called out with a wide smile on his face.
I only looked back at him and smiled warmly. “I am fine sugar, and you are going home very soon.”
Then I turned and looked back at Mikhail. “Release him this instant. He is mine fair and square.” I said back scowling at the both of them.
Mikhail smiled back and waved his hand to Sergey. “Of course, I wouldn’t dream of double-crossing you or your family.”
The boy was released quickly and he ran up to me like I was his friend. He grabbed my leg and held it tightly. “I thought you were dead and I lost my Mommy’s ring. She’s going to be so mad at me.” He said through tears.
I looked down at him and then back at Mikhail who began to turn and walk away. “Umm, I have one more request for you and then you will hopefully never see me again”.
He turned to face me again. “And what could that be?”
I grinned back at him, “This one is mine too.” I said pointing towards Sergey! “Think of it as a way to pay for the insults I had to deal with, at your hands. I paid for the boy in money but you will pay me in flesh and blood”.
Mikhail turned to face me fully again and smiled back. “Sergey is one of my best employees though, why him”?
I scowled back at him but shook my head in response. “Because he knows my true nature and cannot be allowed to keep such knowledge. I could wipe it from his mind but the abuse I suffered at his hands was so...how can you say...severe”.
Mikhail frowned and then looked over at Sergey again. “He has been a good man to me but, as you wish, he’s yours take him and go”. He said and turned away but Sergey began to protest in Russian to deaf ears.
I just looked at him and then to the boy, “Close you eyes little one and turn away. Then put your hands over your ears. This will not take long and I will tap you on the head when it is over”. He did as I told him and I looked up at Sergey. “Scream if you like. It will only make it more fun for me. Farewell you bastard and enjoy hell”.
Mikhail turned and watched as my claws extended as did my fangs. Sergey went for a pistol but it did him no good. I jumped through a shadow and then back out alongside him, then through another and again right behind him, toying with him.
He spun around again only to see me disappear. “I won’t die that easy bitch!”
I only whispered in his ear from behind, “Yes you will”, and I knocked the pistol from his hand.
When he completed his spin all he saw was fangs and nothing else! I grabbed him pulled his head to the side and drove my fangs in deeply. Blood squirted from the wound and into my mouth as I began to feed. He began to flail away at my back hitting my dead kidneys. In response I pinned he arms to his side and squeezed! My arms wrapped around him as his spine popped and then snapped from the pressure I put on them. As his arms crushed, he let out a shrill scream and I tightened my grip on him as I continued to feed. He yelled out again and in response I grabbed his jaw and pushed up hard as the bones in it crumbled from the pressure! He struggled a little more then he let out a short whimper as the ecstasy of feeding finally took him. I collapsed to the floor with his broken body still locked in a predatory embrace and began suck harder at the wounds letting my fangs rip and shred his soft flesh. Growling and snarling I took ever amount of blood his body would surrender to me. He convulsed once more, and then died in my arms. With a low hiss I licked the blood off my lips and fangs and then smiled a little. I looked down at his broken body and flung it like a toy into the corner of the room with one hand. It slammed off the hard concrete wall and landed in a heap.
Mikhail had watched the entire spectacle and was just staring at me. “I could use one like you in my employment and I seem to have an opening, care to join me?”
I smiled back at him but shook my head. “Not tonight Mikhail, but if you ever need something that you could use one of my talents for come to The Factory and ask for me. I do believe we could work out a business arrangement.”
He smirked a little but nodded in response. “What would the cost be I wonder?”
I laughed back in response but then fixed my gaze upon him. “High. But you have much that could benefit us so an arrangement may not be out of the question.” I said back and walked past the boy who had done as I asked and I touched his head gently.
His eyes opened and he looked right at me. “I can go home now right Michelle?”
I knelt next to him and smiled as I touched his cheek, “Of course. Your mother is waiting and she will be thrilled to have you back little one. You look no worse for wear but we will have to clean you up first”.
He smiled back at me. “I’m hungry too. Can we get something to eat”?
As we walked out and into the upper levels of the coffee house, I smiled back at him then nodded to him too. “Sure we can. Just you though. I already ate and am quite full”. He smiled back having no idea what I meant with my snide remark.

I took him to an all night diner and bought him some new clothes before I sent him home. He was a remarkable child, so thoughtful and yet so kind. He never asked for much from me and even when I told him he could have anything he wanted on the menu he just ordered what he could eat. I never got his name nor would I allow him to give it to me. It would only make things harder when I had to take his memories for the night. I called him Angel or Little One when I addressed him and he seemed to like it. As we walked back to his home the night was wearing thin and he was beginning to tire. I carried his little body as he slept in my arms for the last few blocks and then set him down on a dark corner.
I looked at him just as his eyes opened and smiled, “Almost home. Now little one, I must ask something of you.”
He looked up at me with a trusting smile, “What’s that Michelle?”
It hurt me so much to do this to him but he would grow up so much better if he never remembered this night, the horrors that dwell in it, or me.
I smiled back to him, “Look into my eyes and tell me what color they are?”
He did and I trapped his small mind so quickly.
“Listen to me Little One and remember”. He just nodded to me and I choked back tears. “You will forget everything that happened tonight and you will forget me. You never saw or met me and you just wandered home. Tell your mother when you see her that you fell asleep around back and just woke up. Forget me and this night forever. Now sleep.”
He fell asleep again quickly and I picked him up and walked around back to his apartment building. Twin crimson tears rolled out of my eyes and I wiped them away before the blood could stain either of our clothes. I took the other blue diamond earring out of my ear and put it in his pocket, which would help them start over. I placed him gently on a wooden pallet and then smiled as I stroked his hair and breathed in his scent on last time.
“Oh my little angel how I wish I could have one like you in my world. It would make it such a brighter place for me to dwell, but you are far too young”. I looked up into the night sky and nearly cried. “Grow up and live a good life. Be as you are now, and never lose your way. You are a blessing and testament to your kind’s potential and may they notice that. Goodbye my little angel”. I kissed him once on the head then roused him.
He woke with a start and got scared all of a sudden. “I lost my mommy!” He said with fear in his eyes once more.
I looked at him trying not to cry again and undo what I had just done. “There is a woman around the front of the building looking for a little boy. Could that be her?”
He looked at me and then ran off without another word and I smiled. I put my hands to my face and assumed the form of an older woman with blond hair and worn clothes. I followed him to the front of the building to see his mother still sitting on the stoop. She jumped up and ran towards him to meet him halfway. As I walked past in my new assumed form to watch mother and son reunite, I kept telling myself I did the right thing. As much as it pained me to take the memories from the boy’s mind it had to be done. Even though he was strong willed and very vivacious he could not be entrusted to grow up with knowledge of the immortals and the truth of what dwells in the shadows. The knowledge of my kind would be too much for his small mind to bear and he would better off growing up without it.

We live in the shadows away from prying eyes and kept our true natures unknown to all around us but our own kind. If mortals knew of us, they would hunt us down and exterminate us for being different. No, the way this night played itself was the way it had to be and as I watched Barbara pick up her son and hold him tightly to her; it all made sense, finally. We must be the way we were for this very reason because we are not like them and mortals couldn’t possibly hope to understand any of us. We are just two very different species. One was predator and the other prey; it was that simple. Still, as I walked past I kept thinking to myself; if one such as that boy existed the chances are that others may exist as well. Maybe human beings as a separate species had a chance if more of them were like that boy. If they had any chance at survival and to one day live up to the potential that very few of their race possess, then they could all learn a lot form that little boy. His heart was pure, his intentions innocent, and his mind true. I will miss him forever and when it comes to one like me, forever was a very long time. As I walked into the shadows and let my assumed form melt away I kept thinking of only two words as I did. The coolness of the shadows invited me in only a way one of my own kind would understand. As the shadows swallowed me up and reclaimed me for their world I just couldn’t stop the bloody tears from flowing down my perfect alabaster cheeks. Still in my mind those two little words rang true in my head. Over and over in my mind I kept thinking, chances are?
~Fin~

Uninvited Guests

There is a world around us that seldom one sees. This world takes place in the shadows of the one we know. Ancient and powerful beings live in this world and take great lengths to see that their secrets are kept safe. The world of the Immortals or vampires as they are commonly known seems to have little boundaries. In every vast city there are Immortals who stalk the mortal population for sustenance and servitude and we humans know little or nothing about this. In the great cities of the world reside houses that make up the Immortal world and one house will sit at the head of power for each city answering to another that sits above them. In the great city of New York one such house is House Du’Pree and it calls the entire city its domain. From there is rules over the continent of North America and all other houses answer to them who reside there. Mortals know nothing of this and even less about whom they serve. The immortals go about their lives and we go about ours, as short as they are. But sometimes those very worlds collide and this story is only one of many about such a time…

~

Hard rain poured down onto the cold concrete sidewalks of Manhattan and outside the nightclub known as The Factory. But there stood a single person in the driving rain, David Kingston, watching and waiting. This was the hottest club here in New York City and David made his living as a paparazzi photographer, and there was no place better in the entire city to snap a few choice photos. Celebrities came and went all night long and the owners of this club were A-list celebrities in the city as well. New York papers paid top dollar these days for photos of the Du’Pree family and even more for any dirt that could be found on them. Since their return to the city from England they were the hottest gossip around and everyone was trying to get what they could about them. David had been thrown out the club three times now and the last time was not in a very dignified way. He was always thrown out the back door of the club and into the alleyway by Francine Du’Pree’s younger sister Samantha who was known for hurting photographers, some severely. Francine was a great person to shadow and take pictures of because she was not only a known little party girl but the promoter of both The Factory and their sister club in England known as Sinful. Some rumors said she even owned Sinful and was close to being named as an owner of The Factory as well soon. So she was always up to something, but she was also constantly shadowed by her younger sister all the time.

But Samantha was different entirely. She liked to stay out of the papers and liked it even less when she was mentioned in one. Samantha was a brut and had no issues with destroying film and entire cameras while assaulting photographers and journalists who didn’t make appointments to see her sisters. Last time Francine had him removed, Samantha had not only smashed David’s new digital camera with a panoptic lens but punched him in the gut for his troubles too. Lawsuits didn’t help at all either, because everyone knew better to bring one against the Du’Pree’s in New York. They almost all got thrown out of court and no one was ever successful. The last time one of David’s associates tried he was laughed at by the judge who promptly threw out the suit and then him out of his courtroom. So now here David stood in the pouring rain soaked to the skin, hoping and waiting to get a shot tonight that would help pay his rent and few other bills tonight. Things looked bleak until someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind and he turned around to see Maggie Crest looking right at him.

She smiled widely while shaking her head at the same time. “You know Dave, you could get better shots inside right?” She asked in a very condescending tone.

David looked back briefly and then frowned, “Thanks for the hot tip Maggie, but I got thrown out again last night and lost my new camera to boot. I really don’t feel like getting beat up by that she-brut again, thanks”, he answered back turning towards his camera again.

She only grinned back at him and then laughed, “Well next time don’t shove a camera in Francine Du’Pree’s face and you won’t have that happen you know?”

David just laughed back at her sarcastically not looking back with. He liked Maggie but she could get on peoples nerves pretty easily these days. She was a journalist for the New York Post and for their entertainment division of the newspaper. She had thrown him a few assignments here and there, when she needed a photographer. Still she was paid by the week where David was paid by the shot and that sometimes made him angry. All he ever wanted was to be photographer but he could never find steady work and only an assignment here and there. David looked back towards the doors and waited while occasionally looking over at Maggie under her umbrella now and then.

“So is this a social call Maggie, or something else?” He asked looking away for a moment and shot her a snide look. “Time is money to me because unlike you I got paid when I work not when a gawk and bullshit.”

Maggie laughed back at his sarcastic comment. “You know Dave, you wouldn’t be busting on me if I told you why I was here.”

David looked over at her again and then listened to her instead of looking at the front doors of the club, “What do you want then before I miss a shot”, he asked her quickly?

Maggie smiled again snidely this time and then let it go, “What if I told you I need a photographer for an assignment? I need someone to take pictures while I interview the one and only Michelle Du’Pree.”

David stared back at her stunned just then, “Stop lying Maggie, you’re just not good at it and she almost never does interviews anymore, not after the Daily News torched her so bad. She went ballistic and almost sued the paper for slander. They had to print a retraction and then almost literally kiss her ass in public to make her drop that suit. I’m surprised she didn’t end up owning that paper when it was over. How could you ever get an interview with her?”

But Maggie nodded back to him and then grinned widely, “That is quite true Dave. But unlike you, I asked and then offered to make sure it was not only a very informal interview and nothing would be taken out of context either. She accepted after I signed a non-disclosure waiver and then set up a date when the club isn’t open. She’s giving me the grand tour, speaking for the first time to the press again, and even letting me take pictures which is almost never allowed at The Factory. I need a photographer for tomorrow night, you available? This is going to be a huge exclusive for the Post and I need to make sure it’s great, so you in?”

David nearly fell over because of his luck, but then he had to ask, “Maggie this is a paying gig right? Not some we’ll see how it goes first and if it’s printed, then we pay”, he shot back at her with frown.

Maggie smiled back and nearly laughed again, “Yes it’s all legit, and yes it’s going to be printed too. I’ve already got the ok from the editor and chief at the Post. So yes, you will get paid this time, and who knows if we work great together again you may get a permanent position down at the Post.”

David had heard that story before but a definite paying job was better than sitting in the rain and waiting on luck. He looked over at her then, “Do I meet you here or at the office.”

Maggie smiled and just handed him a folder, “Office, and I knew you’d say yes too Dave, see you tomorrow night at six and don’t be late”.

David took then folder from her and slid it into his camera bag, and when Maggie had left he went back to his car to dry off and go home. No need to sit in the rain with a paying job right in front of him now.

Meanwhile back at The Factory, Michelle Du’Pree sat alone in her office for a stolen moment of sanity. She was going over everything in her mind that had been going on in the last year and how her life was getting to the point of sheer frustration. Since spending almost fifty years in England in the large townhouse their family owned, she felt getting back to the city that she loved so much would help to calm her down. Michelle never liked London. It was dark, cold, and it rained all the time, not to mention she was French. She had lived with her Mistress Anneke, her beloved prodigy Zack, her two sisters Francine and Samantha and her own creator Elijah in that house for far too long. Immortals enjoyed their own kind mostly when it came to companionship, but that got out of hand sometimes. While not living in New York and under the watchful eyes of the ruling family of London and they were guests in another’s domain. So they had to keep themselves somewhat reserved. Even opening up the sister club to The Factory called Sinful had only done so much to relive the stress. When she got back to Manhattan and Anneke returned to her Long Island estate quickly things seemed to settle down a bit. Michelle was then left to watch over the city with her two sisters and her lover at her side she felt things were just beginning to take on the ways of old. How wrong could she have been?

In the first two months after their return home Michelle had granted an interview with the Daily News for a promotional piece for the club. She felt the interview went well, but when it hit the paper it was a scandal. Michelle nearly went down to their offices and killed them all but had her lawyers do the dirty work instead. She had so many lawsuits hovering over them in New York that she was going to end up owning that paper when it was over. In the end they printed a retraction, which almost never happens in a New York papaer, made a public apology to her and her family, and they had to apologize to her at the club personally. The reporter who wrote the article was fired, and then to Michelle’s delight, Zack her beloved companion made him disappear all on his own. Anneke was so mad that she forbidden any of them from speaking to the New York press anymore. Then she put Samantha in charge of security here, and finally told her any pictures that were used to hurt any of their images were her responsibility. So Samantha had been terrorizing the press and the photographers of late, much to the dismay of Francine who loved to get into the papers. She took every opportunity to have her picture taken which in turn irritated the already sullen and sometime nasty Samantha. To make matters worse with the media blackout on the family, the paparazzi had been having a campout in front of The Factory harassing them. In turn Samantha who provided security to almost all who visited the city on her extensive list of celebrity clients had been on a rampage lately terrorizing them. Now Anneke had given permission for Michelle to speak again to the press with hopes of stopping this media storm for the most prominent family in all of New York’s return. Michelle hoped this went well soon enough. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Michelle looked up as Zack entered and she smiled. He was the only source of relaxation she seemed to have anymore because he never seemed to do anything to add to her already stressful nights. She got up and wrapped her arms around her lover and smiled. The club was closing soon, and it would soon be time to go home and sleep in his arms once more.

The next evening David met Maggie out front of the downtown offices of the New York Post ready to go to work. He had his camera bag and was dressed decently to meet with the elusive Michelle Gloria Du’Pree one of Manhattan’s most reclusive celebrities as of late. Everyone who ever tried to get pictures of the raven haired bombshell always met with disappointment since she was never where anyone said she would be? Recently David himself had paid a little over seven hundred dollars trying to get club employees to tip him off to her whereabouts. Every time he thought he had a solid lead she was nowhere to be found. So after a long month of setbacks and wasted attempts to bribe club employees trying to photograph her he just gave up, which is why as of late he had turned his attention to Francine. She was easy to follow, all one had to do was just either tail her white Bentley or follow her limousine, a stretched pink Cadillac Escalade from their upper eastside apartment building on 5^th Avenue. She was a moving party and always had an entourage in tow so it was easy to locate her at a moment’s notice. Francine was the perfect Du’Pree to photograph and she even posed for the camera and sometimes blew kisses due to her demeanor or the level of alcohol in her blood. She was never far from a bottle of Kristal lately and even flaunted herself to the camera. The pictures were easy to get, but keeping them was a different story altogether because then Samantha would inevitably show up. The next thing that happened was usually the pictures taken away, threats, and then the occasional beating. Francine was never the problem. It was always her tall bitchy blond haired younger sister who was her personal security guard as of late.

Maggie walked with David down the avenue waiting to find a cab with its light on to take them to the Chelsea and their meeting with Michelle. It was a Wednesday night and everyone knew the club was closed, but Michelle was giving an exclusive interview that she had the right to pull the plug on any time she wanted. So for tonight, the club would be empty according to Michelle and Maggie along with David for photographs. They were invited to New York’s most famous and well known night club where photography of any type was strictly forbidden normally inside the club and so were reporters as well. No one was allowed to harass the long list of celebrities that frequented New York’s most famous night club since Studio 54. So as Maggie hailed a cab David went about making sure all his equipment was ready to go. She turned to him as the cab stopped and he opened the door for her.

“Dave, I want you to promise me that you won’t try anything stupid, or take pictures when you are told not to. This interview means everything to me and should help to maybe make me into something more than an entertainment reporter. Michelle has the right to end the interview at anytime, take any film or pictures you’ve shot, and then throw us out of the club. So don’t irritate her please. It took me close to two months to get this interview and I mean for it to be an exclusive, the likes of which no paper has been able to get as of yet. So please leave that sneaky paparazzi shit at the door and act professional.”

David got into the cab and looked over at Maggie as he shut the door, “Look I‘m not going to screw up anything. If this article gets me out of the hole I’m in, and I get paid for photos, then alls fine with me. I need a steady job not a onetime big score then back to looking for that next amazing shot. You point at it and I shoot it agreed”, he said back.

Maggie nodded and had told the cabbie where to go and silently looked out the window as they made their way over to the club. She thumbed through her notes and made some last minute changes to her questions for Michelle. She then looked up at David again with a grin.

“If this interview goes as planned and everything goes smoothly then we both might not be looking for good steady work for very long. Michelle has had a closed door policy to reporters for almost nine months since their return from London and the Daily News debacle. She’s giving the Post the exclusive, and if we both play our cards right we may be doing exclusives for her for a long time too. So let’s just be pros ok and make this work.”

David didn’t answer but looked over his gear again making sure he had everything he needed, letting Maggie go back to her notebook and check her digital voice recorder.

The cab pulled up to a dark an empty night club but the light was on at the front door giving the place an eerie look. This was Manhattans most posh and famous night club and it just seemed so different dark and lifeless. Without the music from the first floor blaring, along with the constant streams of people coming and going and the long lines of those waiting and hoping to get in, it looked ominous and cold. Maggie walked up to the door and was met by Samantha, of all people, and David cringed a little. The last time he had seen her he was being tossed into a pile of garbage cans as a broken camera nearly hit him in the head. As Maggie walked up to her she scowled, and David tried to walk past without her looking at him. But then she grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him to face her. Her grip was like iron as she looked him right in the eyes then scowled and David swore she was going to growl at him any second. Her icy blue eyes opened wide as she flipped her long hair out of her face and leveled her gaze at him. Samantha was tall for a woman and she easily looked at him with a level gaze but as beautiful and shapely as she was she seemed like she was going to tear him apart.

“You, I threw you out of here two nights ago didn’t I, for harassing my sister, didn’t I?” She said loudly and then she shook David a little. Samantha then turned to look at Maggie and the wrath in her eyes was evident. “This interview is over before it started since you brought this slug with you, get them out of here!” She said back scowling at both of them and her long black leather overcoat fluttered in the breeze as she turned.

Maggie turned to say something but was cut off quickly by a cool and calm voice from the blackness of the club’s foyer.

“Samantha, please calm yourself and relax a little. I gave our reporter friends here a chance at an interview. Let us not be so hasty and just end it because you do not like the photographer. Come to think of it you don’t like any photographers or reporters for that matter lately, so please let him in.” The soft voice called out from the swirling blackness inside.

Out of the shadows stepped Michelle Du’Pree in a long black leather coat, with scarlet pants and black high stiletto boots, her hair perfectly kept, and her perfect alabaster skin glowing in the low lights. As she walked towards them her boots made small clicks on the hard marble floors of the foyer and then on the concrete out front of the club. Next out stepped a tall but thin man behind her with his long grayish blond hair along with his perfect skin showing in the moonlight as well and he wore dark wire framed glasses, and a long over coat as well. His pants and shoes were almost visible and his footsteps made not a sound on the floors. Finally out stepped Francine in her normal regalia as of late. Her white blouse, short cut leather jacket, and her tight tan pants, along with open toed shoes making the same sound on the floors as Michelle’s did. Francine wore her curly strawberry blond loose tonight, and the amount of gold and diamonds she donned was astonishing as always. She then looked at David and smiled.

“Ah, it’s my little paparazzi that loves to photograph me, and then get beat up by my sister”, she said in a melodic but sarcastic tone. “Have you come here again to try to sneak a few more photos of me, hmm? As flattering as that is I really have become bored of watching my sister Samantha beat the hell out of you lately, as amusing as it has been”, she said with a laugh but a scowl at the same time.

David only smiled as Francine just flashed him an annoyed look. Michelle walked towards them a little more and fixed her gaze on Maggie then.

“I have granted your request for an interview but do not insult my hospitality or my family at all”. She then began to wave a finger in front of her. “One slip and this is over, and all the tape, photographs, and story becomes mine. I will also call your editor over at the Post and have you fired so make sure this is done legit. I am in no mood tonight at all for games. Wednesdays are quite busy here and we all have a lot of work to do, but we are making time for this. So do not turn it into a waste of time for both of us”. Michelle then looked over at David as Samantha roughly let him go then pointed at him. “That goes double for you and if you violate my trust I will make sure you will be the sorriest you have ever been. Trust me I have ways to make garbage like you suffer”, she said with vicious glare.

With that Michelle turned and walked back into the club and everyone followed her. But David made sure to keep his distance from Samantha who just watched him and looked like she would to kill him for the slightest reason.

Inside the dark nightclub, Michelle started some light music throughout the floors as the doors shut and locked again. She walked with them up to the fifth floor known as “The Lounge” of the newly renovated Factory and had set a place to start the interview. Francine would also be speaking with Maggie about upcoming events and the direction The Factory was taking since she was the promoter. Samantha watched from the distance and Maggie and David found out the lone man that had accompanied Michelle was her brother Zackarais. He stayed right behind the sofa they were sitting on and watched as Maggie sat in a plush chair to begin her interview with them. As an entertainment reporter she started with basic questions and got more complex as they continued. Michelle answered them quickly while sipping at her glass of cognac and Francine had her customary glass of Kristal as well as a bottle on ice in front of her. She had offered a glass to Maggie but she had declined at first but took a small glass as the interview continued. David shot pictures of the fifth floor lounge and then the two sisters who had all but cornered the market on nighttime entrainment in Manhattan. Michelle and Francine were gorgeous as usual and seemed to enjoy posing for the camera for David. Still when he asked that their sister and brother join the photo Michelle shook her head and said no. Samantha’s business in security business for the family wouldn’t permit it and Zack was a silent owner of the club and worked mostly with the exclusive Viper’s Club only. The private club here at The Factory that was a mystery to everyone.

Next, came the grand tour of all the rooms at The Factory while Maggie asked more questions. Francine answered most of them since she knew most of the upcoming events here and the big promotions. When they got to the fourth floor, Michelle turned on the lights to the live venue arena simply called “The Hall”. Here there was enough room to easily have a small concert and the acts were booked by Michelle herself. No small bands played here and the likes of the upcoming ones shocked both Maggie and David. The bands she had named could easily sell out Madison Square Garden for three nights, but they all played one or two shows here due to the modern acoustics and the sound the small arena offered. Next, was the third floor and the most famous room at The Factory, “The Rave Room” was known as the place to be on Saturday nights in the city. Michelle walked in and started the room up for pictures like she did for the fourth floor and Techno blasted out of the speakers. The floor of the room came to life as the beat controlled the laser light show and lit up the floor in an array of colors like a kaleidoscope. Michelle then showed them the all new five million dollar sound system here in the Rave Room, only the top DJ’s in the city performed here.

Next, was the second floor and the bar was new and completely made of glass. The new floor here had a diamond look to it and from the ceiling the lights created a prism like look on the floor. This room was only completed a year ago and the new “Diamond Room” was for VIP’s only, and it was created to give space to the celebrities and the wealthy that could buy their way onto the lists. Live acts could play here as well as DJ’s but the room was mainly used as an upscale party area and could be rented for private affairs as well. That was if you afford the deposit of a half a million dollars to secure it. Finally there was the first floor and the normal club setting called “Crystal Ship” it was so newly renovated it was the most modern club in all of Manhattan. This was the first room of the legendary Factory and it looked brand new and dark carpets, new rose quartz dance floor, and a new black marble bar serving only the finest liquor and drinks. The new brushed steel chairs and tables with frosted glass for tops gave it that ultra modern look. Still the new wall covers with frosted glass and mirrors gave the room a crystal like look making it very inviting. Not to mention every room had a VIP section said for the second floor which was for VIP’s only.

Finally, the foyer had new marble floors, mirrored walls, prism glass, and dark wooden panels that made it look inviting, but the new spiral staircase of glass and marble with the new glass elevator in the middle of the spiral stairs made it look unbelievable. Then there were the stairs in the far corner and the velvet ropes of the legendary Viper’s Club. Maggie walked towards the ropes but Zack stopped her and turned her back towards the foyer.

“I’m sorry Miss Crest but the Viper’s club is off limits even for this interview”, he said quickly showing her away from the velvet ropes.

Maggie then looked back at Michelle as she walked up from behind her visible upset. “Michelle you said all access to The Factory. Why not that room?”

Michelle looked over at her and laughed a little. “You saw the entire club and the Viper’s Club is separate from the club. I am sorry, but Zack is right.”

Maggie looked over at Francine then. “So what’s with the mysterious Viper’s Club that it has to be kept a secret? No one knows how to get a membership, and almost no guest invitations are ever given out anymore? What gives here?”

Francine only laughed at her question. “That is one of the allures of The Factory you see. Everyone comes here with a hope to be invited and then join the after party at a private location. It’s an exclusive club though and we like it that way. It’s Zack’s rule though. Ask him if he’s willing to tell you”. She answered with a sly smile.

Then Maggie turned towards Zack who just gave a small grin as Michelle laughed out loud again. Maggie began to ask a question but Michelle cut her off quickly.

“I have been very forthcoming with you, but the Viper’s Club is off limits and even now we have members down there that would not enjoy the intrusion. Let’s just call it what it is, an exclusive club that has its own set of rules. Sorry, but it is off limits. Now, if you would follow me to the reception room we can conclude the interview and my sister and I will look over the photos and see if we like them. Come, there will be refreshments for all of us.”

Maggie walked away but just looked back at the velvet ropes. She was going to get the dirt on that place one way or another even if she had to join the club itself to do so. Still, she followed all of them to the reception room which was a medium sized room with a coat check and a few places to sit comfortably. Drinks were brought but still Maggie was curious about the exclusive Viper’s Club shroud of mystery.

The interview went quite well and Michelle was more than pleasant, unlike everyone else who had told her at the office about her being an overbearing bitch. Michelle handed them all glasses of champagne and looked over David’s pictures, mostly with approval but asked for a few to be deleted since they showed more than she was willing to share. Still, Maggie’s curiosity was getting the better of her and she just had to ask.

“How does one go about getting a membership to the Viper’s Club may I ask?”

Michelle turned to look but Francine just smiled and spoke first. “Well, well aren’t we the curious one? It’s not that easy it’s more like an invitation from an existing member, then a little bit of a social change, followed by secrecy when it’s all done. You have to be invited, but first you have to find a member who is willing to do just that. Then maybe you can become a member of our private little club”, she said with a wide grin.

Maggie looked to Michelle but she smiled back at her. “What can I say? Francine is very right and that club is off limits unless you find an existing member to invite you first.”

Maggie then looked at all of them grinning. “So you all must be members, so invite me!”

Zack burst out laughing and then Michelle followed suit. Suddenly Francine began to giggle and then even Samantha began to laugh at the absurdity of her remark. But Zack was the first to calm though.

“Miss Crest, I don’t mean to laugh but it’s just not like that. Someone has to invite you. You cannot ask to be invited! Can you see the difference at all?” She looked over at him and frowned as Zack walked over to her. “Invites are rare, and we hardly ever do”, he continued on. “But who knows if you find someone who is willing, then you’re welcome to join but don’t get your hopes up. Besides it is just another room in the club here and nothing special at all. It’s just a group of friends who like their privacy and such.”

Maggie wasn’t too sure and felt like they were hiding something of great interest. Now she was even more determined to find out.

Once Maggie and David had left The Factory and the cab showed up which Zack had called them. She stepped into it silently and David followed her. He was all smiles but Maggie was withdrawn as the cab pulled away.

David then stared back at her with a curious look. “Maggie what gives? You just got one of the toughest interviews in the entire city and you aren’t happy?”

Maggie looked over at him and then frowned. “No, I was promised all access and Michelle never told me the Viper’s Club was off limits. It was to be the cornerstone of my interview and later exposé about The Factory and all of its little mysteries. I just lost out on the best part of this story and now I have to go back and see if I can get this printed without it since my editor is expecting it too. What am I going to do now Dave?” She said with a low sigh and frown. “Go back there and just tell him, ‘oh well’? I’m going to get this story tanked for sure. I know it.”

David looked back at her shocked a little. “C’mon Maggie are you kidding me Michelle hasn’t given an interview for almost a year and you get it. Isn’t that enough for your editor?”

Maggie smirked back at him but shook her head. “Probably, but this is only half the story here. No one has seen the inside of the Viper’s Club outside their little group ever. That was going to be a big part of the story and now I just lost it.”

David looked over at her and grinned again. “How good are the lawyers at the Post? I need to know and I hope better than Daily News.”

Maggie looked back at him curiously then. “Why? What’s going on inside that crazy head of yours Dave?”

He only smiled back as he looked at her and then lowered his tone. “We’ll get the story, but I’ll have to use my sneaky tactics that you loath so much. You tried it your way and got nothing. Let’s try it my way and see what we can get. Meet me at The Factory early before it opens tomorrow and dress very nice. You just became my date and we’ll see what we can get on a hectic night at that club.”

Maggie wasn’t too sure but then she thought about it. But if she broke this story and even if the Post wouldn’t print it there were a few magazines that definitely would. This could take the both of them out of the background of reporting and put them to the forefront in Manhattan. She looked over at him then and grinned then. “I’ll see you then and I just hope the little stunt we are about to pull will not land us in too much trouble?”

David smirked back as the cab pulled up to downtown offices at The New York Post. He helped her out of the car and then smiled. “Ok then, see you tomorrow night and make sure you’re ready. I’ve got a good plan”.

Maggie started to ask but David just got back in the cab and it left. She watched it go and then turned to leave and submit what they had already but suddenly she got a grave cold chill down her spine.

David met Maggie at about an hour before the club opened and to her surprise he was dressed very nice. She walked over to him in her tight little dress and her heels on and looked at him with a sly smile. “So you said you have a plan. Tell me”. She said to him curiously.

He just grinned back to her as he walked with her. “Well as you know I’ve been tossed from this place plenty of times before. So what’s one more right”? He said and then handed Maggie a small camera and told her where to hide it. Next he took out a larger one and put it in her purse and then they began to walk towards the front doors. “We are going in there and I’m going to at some point attempt to get a picture of Francine in the Diamond Room. So when I do head for the Viper’s Club entrance and wait there. Last time I got tossed, Samantha had almost all of the security guards escort me to the back doors. There’s your chance, slip into the Viper’s Club and look around. While you’re there snap a few pictures and then get out of there. There you go and you have your story. But don’t take too long down there or the guard will come back and you’ll lose all you got, not to mention join me in a pile of garbage out back. So, in and out and meet me back where we met up tonight, ok?”

Maggie shook her head and stopped walking for a moment. “It won’t work Dave. What if they think you may have an accomplice? They won’t pull the guard then.”

But David shook his head and began walking again. “Maggie, I’m a paparazzi photographer and we never work together. We’d rather work alone most of the time and not help our colleagues at all. They will never suspect an accomplice at all. Trust me.”

Maggie wasn’t too sure but they were close to the front doors now and almost to the front of the line. They had gotten here early enough and were almost guaranteed to get in. This might be her only chance to get this story. She quickly checked the small camera between her breasts and walked up behind David. He had already slipped the camera out of her purse after the bouncers looked in it. He had done this before and she smiled. But still Maggie couldn’t shake the feeling that this would end badly for both of them.

The night wore on and David and Maggie went about just trying to look like they were nothing more than club patrons while staying away from the Du’Pree’s at all costs. Both of them had just finished a long interview with them and if they were seen it was over before Maggie got her shot. As the night progressed on David walked up to Maggie and whispered in her ear.

“It’s time you know”, he said. “Go to the Viper’s club entrance and stay out of sight. Francine and her little entourage are now living it up in the Diamond Room. I’m going to sneak in there and then snap a few shots. When you see me being escorted down I’ll make a break for it and the security will grab me again. There’s your shot to get into the Viper’s Club and head right down. Just remember, you’ve got five minutes tops before the guard gets back, so be out of there before then.”

Maggie nodded and walked down towards the Viper’s Club as David took out the hidden camera and looked at the doorway to the Diamond Room. He walked toward the doorway and just waited a minute till a large amount of people walked up and showed their VIP cards. David blended into their little group and slipped inside with all of them. Once he was inside he sat down quickly and waited out of sight. The little brat was at it again and now with all of her friends joining her, she nearly controlled the entire room. He felt Maggie should be ready so he swallowed hard and just stood up. He made his way slowly over to where Francine was just lounging with her little entourage. He turned his back, set the camera and exhaled slowly.

“She better get the pictures and the story for the beating I’m about to get”. He thought to himself as he checked the shutter speed. David whirled around as he yelled out loudly then. “Hey Francine, smile”, he called out and aimed his camera.

The flash went off as she not only smiled, but grabbed her breasts in a very provocative manner as well and nearly bent over for him. David began to head for the door but was quickly tackled by a security guard. Then up walked Samantha who grabbed him by the hair and stood him up as she snatched the camera from his hand.

She looked down then scowled like an angry shark, “Well hello again, and didn’t we have a nice chat about this last time”? She asked, then looked at the other three guards rushing in. “Get this sack of shit out of here this instant and out the back doors”, she said loudly.

Everyone in the room applauded as Samantha bowed in response. David was then led out and towards the stairs with Samantha behind him, his camera in her hand. Suddenly, just as he had planned he shook free of the guards and made a break for the front door but two other guards grabbed him in the foyer and tackled him again. Samantha walked down the stairs laughing at him and had him stood up. From the corner of his eye he watched as Maggie darted towards the Viper’s Club and rushed down the stairs. Samantha then grabbed him by the back of the neck and pushed him towards the back of the building. David had gone this way before. It led to the alley right between the club and the next building. He then began to believe this wasn’t going to be pleasant at all but it could be all worth it very soon.

Moments later Samantha told the guards to wait near the back doors and she said she wouldn’t be long. Then she shoved David though the doors and out into the alley. He fell to the wet grimy ground in the alley as he heard the doors close and then footsteps from her boots slowly coming towards him. As he began to get up a camera sailed past his head and smashed into the wall of the alley showering the ground with parts and plastic.

Samantha continued to walk slowly towards him slowly. “David, I must ask, are you out of cameras by now? What is that six I’ve smashed on you so far? Are you ever going to get bored with this anytime soon, because I am getting sick and tired of throwing you out and then doing this?” She said drawing closer to him in almost absolute silence.

Faster than David could react a fist slammed right into his gut and he went down in a heap. He was shocked how hard she had hit him actually. Before he could look up though there was a sharp pain in his hand and he looked over as Samantha’s heel from her boot was grinding into it. She glared down with a wicked smile on her perfect lips.

“Maybe you should find another line of work, like photographing kiddies at the mini mall. You’re just not good at this you know?” She said looking down at him and stepping hard on his hand as she took another step.

Then her other foot slammed into his ribs and he flipped over and landed on his back coughing and wheezing. Samantha reached down then stood him up again and then turned him a little and grinned once more.

“Do yourself a favor, don’t come back here ever.” She said brushing off his coat a little.

Then she spun on her heels, but before he even saw it the heel of her boot slammed into his head and sent him into the trash cans. He looked around a little stunned but then felt a slap as he almost passed out. The last thing he saw was the barrel of a pistol in his face. He tried to speak but was slapped again harder this time.

“Next time I ever see you here I will kill you for stalking my sister, do you understand”? Samantha said to him as her eyes blazed in anger. “As of now you are being reported to the police by my firm as a stalker of my family. It will be in my rights to shoot you if I see you again. Good night and enjoy your stay in the filth you pile of garbage, but remember this little conversation the next time you think about coming here.”

Samantha let him go but slammed his head off the ground and David passed out. The last noise heard was the doors of the club closing and locking in the alleyway.

Back in the club, Maggie walked slowly down to the Viper’s Club and hoped David would be alright with what Samantha was going to do to him. She was genuinely worried about him but she had to try and keep a level head too. She reached in between her breasts and pulled out the mini-camera and came to a partition at the bottom of the stairs. It was carved into the dark wood was an Ankh and a few other symbols that didn’t make sense. There was a t-intersection and everything was so dark here and hardly lit at all. She could see a door at the end of each hall, but from around the partition was where the most noise was coming from. Maggie straightened herself and walked around the partition and into a large room. It was barely lit at all and the walls were a dark earth tone color that helped to keep it that way. In the far corner was a bar and all throughout the room were tables and chairs all looking expensive and very comfortable. Near the far wall were large couches and love seats around low tables and a lot of people were congregated there. On the other side there was a small but loud music set up playing hard rock and Maggie walked in and onto the thick, expensive black carpets. As she walked, people looked at her and then away and Maggie tried not to stare or make any eye contact. As she got closer to the bar, she noticed the noise from her footsteps and looked down to see the floor had changed to black marble. As she made her way to the bar the bartender turned away but then she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. An average sized woman looked at her and then frowned. She had long brown curly hair and then Maggie noticed her.

She started to speak but her voice trembled, so much. “Oh…oh my god, you’re… you’re… Sophie Trelin… and you’re supposed to be… dead.”

Sophie narrowed her gaze at her and her frown began to fade slowly. “And what pray tell would have given you that idea? I don’t look dead, do I?”

Maggie swallowed hard and then cleared her throat. “It’s because I covered your funeral for the entertainment section of the New York Post. You were the owner of Crimson Records and you’re company is one of the wealthiest in the city!”

Sophie just laughed and then Maggie saw what she thought was long sharp teeth. Suddenly from the other side there was another tap at her shoulder. Maggie began to look but only got grabbed by the throat and looked into Michelle’s deep blue eyes.

“Foolish mortal, you were warned and now you know too much! You should have left it alone, but I knew you never would”, she growled in rage back at her.

Sophie kicked Maggie’s feet out from under her and she fell to the ground in a sitting position as Michelle dragged her to the corner and tossed her to the ground. From around the corner came Francine and she smiled and when she did she hissed low and her teeth grew into long fangs right in front of Maggie eyes. She looked to Michelle but to her horror she watched her fingernails grow into long curved claws and then she wrapped her hand around her throat again. Maggie felt their razor sharp edges and then tried to speak but Michelle only tightened her grip. Francine then walked towards her and put her foot right on Maggie’s chest to keep her pinned down.

“Sister may I please, as you know I enjoy both sexes so much and she seems my type.” Francine said grinning with long fangs where her incisors should have been.

Michelle looked up at Francine but just hissed and then she looked over scowling at Maggie. “She’s a reporter what are we to do if she just disappears here!”

Sophie just frowned too and knelt next to her. “I can fix this if you want Michelle and since it was I that was discovered it is my right to do so.”

Michelle smiled back at her friend and loosened her grip on Maggie. “She’s all yours Sophie, but if she causes any more trouble it is your responsibility too.” She then grabbed Maggie’s hair and turned her head to face her. “Goodbye mortal. You should have left this alone. Now see what you have done?” Michelle gave her a light slap on the cheek and began to laugh as she watched Sophie’s fangs extend and then look at Maggie.

Maggie tried to speak but Francine put more force on her chest. Then from where Sophie was kneeling there was a pinch at her neck and something warm and sticky rolled down her skin. Her eyes rolled as they closed and she let out a small sigh of delight. The last thing Maggie remembered was Michelle had let go of her and someone was grabbing her and forcing her to the floor. She felt darkness close in around her as her body was flooded with waves of pleasure. She felt herself go limp and exhaled slowly as her world went black.

Back in the alleyway behind The Factory; David came to in about a half hour because it had begun to rain again. He rolled out of the garbage piles and shook his head a little. Then he looked around and tried to remember what had happened but as he shook his head again his jaw throbbed as did his cheek. Then he remembered, for the most part. Samantha had beaten the hell out of him and then left him unconscious in the alley. She had even threatened his life at gun point and told him not to come back again or she would shoot him for stalking her family. David looked around and saw what was left of his latest camera and picked up a piece of it. He pried the door open but the memory card was gone. He tossed the camera to the ground and started to get up.

“Fucking bitch could have at least let me have the pictures for the ass kicking I just took”, he said as he groaned again from the pain in his head.

As David got up he looked at his watch and nearly screamed. He had been out for almost thirty minutes since he had last seen Maggie. She had to be waiting for him by now and hopefully she got the pictures. Maybe he could get some pay-back on that rotten bitch for his latest broken camera and the beating. David stood up but as he did his left hand burned in pain, he looked down and saw a welt and then remembered that bitch’s heeled boot on his hand after she had kicked him in the face. But David didn’t care about that right now though and ran out of the alley to find Maggie quickly. If Samantha could be this ruthless then god only knew what the rest of her family was capable of.

Moments later, David ran down the block and across the street to where they had met up before and looked around, but she wasn’t there. He looked down at his watch and it was way past the time they were supposed to meet. He took out his cell phone and breathed a sigh of relief that it still worked. He dialed Maggie’s number but it only rang until it hit voicemail. He hung up and tried again. This time on the fifth ring someone picked up, but the voice on the phone sounded like Francine Du’Pree. He hung up the phone confused and then it came to him. Maggie was caught in the Viper’s Club and Francine must have caught her and answered the phone. But how did she get down there so fast, the elevator went up from the Viper’s club but never went down to it as far as he knew. She would’ve had to have walked down with her sister but he never saw her. David looked at his cell phone again and then checked the number. It was Maggie’s all right but Francine or who he thought was Francine had answered it. He dialed 911 but didn’t hit send. Who would believe him anyway? He was a known paparazzi photographer who would use almost about anything to get a picture, even the cops if he had to. Besides if he showed up and Samantha told the police he was in the club earlier and accosted Francine and was escorted out, he could be arrested. David had to think this out and think it through, besides they couldn’t hold Maggie forever she would have to be let go sooner or later, right?

The next morning David woke up just a little after eleven after he had passed out from exhaustion and pain. He had waited outside the club and had even seen the Du’Pree family limo leaving the club and watched the lights go out. Still there was no sign of Maggie so she was either still trapped in the club or they had let her go before. Maybe they had called the police while he was out in the alley and Maggie was in custody. David knew there was nothing he could do so he walked back to his apartment near midtown and fell asleep with his phone and his cell phone next to him waiting. He was waiting on calls that never came and when he woke up after a little less than four hours of sleep, he had no new messages and not even a new caller ID. David tried Maggie’s cell phone from his home phone but no one answered now. So after his third attempt he gave up. He sat on the edge of his bed and went over the night’s events and how badly they had gone. Worse yet, he had no idea of Maggie’s whereabouts and even worse it was his fault for sending her down there. He should have just let it go. But no, it was a story and a way to get back at Samantha Du’Pree for all the trouble she had caused him lately. David thought it would be so funny to watch her older sister and brother go completely insane over the idea that their little exclusive club was exposed and it was all her fault. Now Maggie was gone and David had no way to contact her. He sat there and began to think when an idea came to him. What if Francine only had her cell phone and not her? What if she had gotten away but lost her phone? She would be at her office? Where else to submit this story to her editor? Besides, he had no other options. He stood up and threw on some fresh clothes and gathered the last camera he owned. This might work out for the best he began to think as he walked down to the ground level of his place and hailed a cab. He had to get to Maggie’s downtown office before she either left for the day or thought he was hurt after his latest run in with Samantha.

David made it to the downtown offices of the New York Post in a little less than an hour, not to bad for the city near noon but only going twelve blocks on Friday. He walked in and asked to speak to Maggie Crest right away and was a little unnerved when he was sent directly to her editor’s office instead of hers. He sat down as a short man with a very bad toupee sat down and looked right at him. Barry threw a folder on the desk and then slammed his fist on it.

“That was just about to be printed in the Saturday edition and guess what. Now it’s not! You want to know why, you piece of shit?”

David looked down at the folder and it was Maggie’s original story and then looked up at him again with a frown. “Why? I’m asking?”

Barry looked back at him and nearly grinding his teeth. “Why, because I just got my ass chewed off by a lawyer for the Du’Pree family, that’s why! Michelle herself wants the story pulled, everything destroyed, and every photo returned to her in 24 hours! Yes, one fucking day and guess what hot shot? You really want to know the reason for that?” David tried to speak again but he cut him off quickly. “Save it asshole! She wants all of it back because two idiots ruined a big promotion at her club last night in their VIP room and I would bet money that it was you who tried to snap a picture of Francine Du’Pree in there. He said you traumatized her! Then later they had a break-in in one of their rooms and caught a thief. They handed her over to the police, and Maggie Crest your little friend is nowhere to be seen! Do me a favor, take yourself out of my office before I wring your neck! Also, tell Maggie Crest when she gets out of jail she’s fired! I just hope I’m not dealing with a repeat problem like the Daily News had and have to fend off a lawsuit because of you two morons!” David again began to speak but Barry only hit the desk again harder this time. “Out, and don’t come back here ever, looking for money, for photos, or for work! I need either of you like I need a staph infection, get out”, he yelled back nearly seething with rage.

David shut the door and knew something was up. He never saw a cop car and, if they had been called they would have arrested him in the alley too. Why would Samantha have one of them arrested and leave the other in a dirty alley for later. And Francine traumatized by his photos? She had practically posed for them. Something didn’t make sense and David meant to find out what. As he walked past Maggie’s office he watched as her name was scraped off the glass door. He looked up at the janitor doing it.

“Mind if I take a quick look”, he asked? “Maggie had a few things of mine and if she’s gone I want them back.”

The janitor looked at him and then shook his head. “Be quick and get out fast. I’m going to get some coffee.” He said back walking from the door.

David rushed in and looked around the desk and found Maggie’s Personal Data Assistant. He pocketed it and then found a spare ring of keys and took them as well rushing out of her office. Maybe she was home, and with her PDA he had her home address and her number too.

Just to make sure David stopped at Police Plaza which was a complete waste of time. As he walked out of the building in downtown for central processing there had been no record of a Maggie Crest brought in last night or early this morning. Actually there were no units sent to The Factory last night at all. The Desk Sergeant, who happened to be an old friend, said it had been a quiet night over there. He told him a unit a night was sent there usually to remove rowdy drunken patron being thrown of New York’s most popular night club, but none last night. David had asked him a few more questions but had only found out they always had a unit in the area due to the frequency of the calls and the club being owned by the Du’Pree’s so one would have responded quickly. Besides the Du’Pree’s were friends of the Mayor and big contributors of his city beautification program so they always watched over them. So David knew that the Du’Pree’s were lying and only hoped that they had just threatened Maggie and then took her home and she was so scared she never even left. Next stop was Maggie’s place anyway since David had her PDA and her home address. He walked down the Avenue towards the subway station quickly hoping to catch Maggie at home and before she went to her office to get the bad news about her job. He felt completely responsible over her getting fired and had to try to break this to her the easy way.

A little while later David arrived close to midtown in a little less than an hour and walked up to Maggie’s place. He buzzed the door but got no response at all. He tried again but still there was no response from the intercom. He checked the front doors since it was early enough and found them open for a change. His apartment building never left the doors open and he would have had to play a dirty trick on someone to get in if they weren’t. He walked in and quickly made is his way over to the mailboxes. He found Maggie’s name and her apartment number, and then he got an idea. Checking the key ring he had taken, he opened up her mailbox and took out her mail from today realizing she had yet to come down for it. So she may be home right now. To his surprise she had a lot of bills so she wasn’t lying either about needed to find a good job. She seemed to be in trouble too. He slid the mail back into the box and relocked it. No need to show up at Maggie’s front door having to explain why he had her mail. He walked down the hall from the mailboxes and found the elevator that would take him up to the fourth floor where she lived. He stepped out into the hall a few minutes later and looked at the apartment number in front of him and then turned to the left to find 5d. It was the second to last door on the left. He knocked first but there was no response. The paper had been left out front and still in the bag at front of the door. He knocked again and then tried the doorknob but it was locked as he thought it would be. He took out the key ring and tried a few and it opened on the fifth one. Slowly he turned the doorknob and opened the door quietly and walked into a dark apartment. David called out for Maggie but got no response. He felt along the clean walls for a switch. He found one and to his surprise when he flipped on the lights the apartment was empty. Nothing was in here at all. There was no furniture no nothing it was like no one lived here. He walked from room to room opening kitchen cabinets, and looking in closets but nothing was here. The only indication that Maggie Crest lived here was the mail in the box and the newspaper out front. He walked towards the front door and snatched up the paper and took it inside but inside the bag was a notice of finally copy, her subscription was canceled. Even the newspaper wasn’t really supposed to be here, it was the New York Post, of course. David opened it and began to thumb through the paper to see if anything turned up but there was nothing. Maggie had simply disappeared and he began to think of who was responsible and why. Then he realized he was just as responsible as they were since he had talked Maggie into last night’s stupid stunt that had cost her everything. The least he could do was try to find her before something really did happen to her.

David left the empty apartment and walked out of the building. He wanted to question the superintendent but he wasn’t in the building right now so he just left. Probably would be another dead end anyway so he walked down the avenue. It was getting late now a little past five in the evening. It was Friday night and the club would be packed soon. He might be able to slip inside and find Maggie but then he remembered Samantha’s threat. She would kill him if she saw him there again, so he felt he needed do a few things first. He looked down at his Minolta Maxxum 7D. The camera was worth a few grand with the lens attachment he had, but he needed cash right now. He walked into one of the few pawn shops around and was able to hock the camera for three grand even though it was worth close to five. Still he needed the cash. He had to take a little trip uptown and hoped Cameron was still where he always was on a Friday night. As David hailed a cab to take him uptown to the high hundreds, that only meant Harlem at night. He hoped he wasn’t going to end up worse for wear. That part of town wasn’t too friendly and he was taking a big risk going there.

Later David arrived at about 148^th Street a little after seven in the evening and it was already dark outside. He walked up to a large apartment project that looked like it was going to fall down. He was stopped at the door by two huge thugs and was immediately grabbed from behind. No one said a word but then David heard the sound of a switchblade open and the slide of a pistol pulled back as well. He looked over at the one who had originally stopped him and looked him right in the eye like Cameron had taught him long ago. The thug never backed down but David didn’t either.

“Look I don’t want trouble, I’m just a photographer and all I want is a moment of Cameron’s time, that’s all.”

The thug reared back to punch David but then someone yelled out. “Cut that shit out fool! And I know this white boy! Let him go, he’s legit! He helped to get that article about us published and out in the open. He’s got game!” Out of the dark building stepped Cameron and David was let go. “You’re lucky I was down here and not upstairs you asshole, or you may have just got yourself lit up and then dumped”, Cameron said with a grin.

David looked back at Cameron as he walked back inside and he followed him past the thugs. When they got a little further in David glanced over at him and then frowned. “I need a favor Cameron and you said I could ask if I ever needed a few because I helped you out once. You think you can help me out now? It’s not going to cost you anything but a few minutes of your time.”

Cameron stopped and turned to look at him. “I know what I said partner and yeah if you need something just ask, I’ll see what I can do.”

David pulled out a few hundred dollar bills and looked at him. “I need a gun Cameron, something light and easy to use for someone who has hardly ever used one before. I need it tonight and that’s why I came to you I don’t have time to wait.”

Cameron looked down at the cash and then laughed. “Well you came to the right motherfucker but let me ask you son, what the fuck do you need a goddamn gat for anyway”, he asked back still grinning. “Not that I don’t appreciate the business and such since I only sell guns, no drugs, and no hoes, just guns and in this city that business is pretty good but you knew that already didn’t ya?” Cameron said poking him in the chest a few times and started laughing again and not in a jovial way.

David looked back and then shook his head at Cameron’s joke. “I need a gun Cam, and I need it now and ammo too. I got to help a friend who I got into trouble and the cops won’t help at all. You know that scenario far too well, right?”

Cameron stared back at him and then stopped laughing. “You serious aren’t you? Well you have to be one crazy ass white boy, but I gotta know why? Call me curious and looking out for someone who helped me out once, not to mention my business, player.”

David didn’t have the time but then he looked up at him again. “A friend of mine disappeared and I think I know where she is, but I’m going to need a way to defend myself”, he explained to him.

David then told Cameron the entire story of what had happened, and Cameron took off his skull cap and shoved it in his pocket. He then pushed him once and then stared at him seriously. “Are you fucking nuts? You wanna fuck with the Du’Pree’s! Let me tell you something and this is straight up partner, I wouldn’t fuck with them if you gave me a fucking arsenal out of Fort Bragg! You want one gat and think you’re gonna just walk in there and they are gonna see the gun and give you what you want?” He said back staring at him intently. “I’d rather give you the gun and let you shoot it at me, fool!”

David looked at him and then took out more money. “Cameron I need a gun and I need your help too. Please it’s my fault and I got to help her! I’ll pay double, I’ll even give you all the money I got, but I need a gun tonight and you have to help me!”

Cameron laughed again and then shoved him once more. “Listen, let it go and walk away before you end up on a milk carton fool. You fuck with the Du’Pree’s and more than likely you aren’t gonna see your next birthday player. Let me tell you just this. Those motherfuckers got enough muscle in this city to take someone like me and make me disappear! I’m giving you this as advice. No bitch is worth your life son, and that’s my word.”

David looked back at him and peeled off a few more hundreds. “A thousand bucks for one gun and a few clips and I’m out of here. I swear to you Cameron I’ll never tell anyone where I got the gun. Just help me out and consider all the favors you promised me paid up.”

Cameron looked at the money and then up at David and thought for a moment. “Give me five hundred for the gat, and another hundred for six clips and you got a deal. Consider it the ghetto special and I no got doubts you aren’t gonna tell no one because when you use that gun on the Du’Pree’s you’re a dead man anyway. I’m telling you though, this isn’t worth it! You’re gonna end up dead before the end of the night. Forget what they look like on the outside. That family is bad news and even up here no one fucks with em.”

David didn’t listen and took the Glock 9mm and the six clips and walked out of the building without another word. He walked towards the subway station and as he did Cameron watched him go.

“Good luck Player and peace”, he whispered quietly to himself.

Cameron knew this was the last time he was going see David again if he went through with his crazy plan.

Later, David made his way back to Chelsea but it was late, almost just about midnight when he arrived. The crowds were dying down and he watched on, and then made a decision that tomorrow night would be better for this but he had a plan. He snuck over to the alleyway and then climbed on one of the dumpster and checked a low vent and saw it was loose. He had a way in tomorrow night and one that didn’t involve the front door. He could slip in here and then out into the club. But he would need a change of clothes so he didn’t stand out. He checked the vent one more time making sure it looked tight and then jumped down off the dumpster and looked around. He made his way back to his apartment and needed to prepare a few more things before tomorrow. David found some decent clothes and slid them into a backpack and a few other things. Next he loaded the Glock and checked the other clips. When he was satisfied he was all set, he took a shower and then some Valium he had on hand and while he waited for it to take effect he took out a pen and paper. He wrote down what had happened and who he was, and what he was doing about it and slid it into a drawer of his desk. At least if he did end up dead, someone would know what happened and why he died. He felt himself begin to relax and got into bed and closed his eyes. Tomorrow night would be here quick and he just hoped Maggie could hold on for one more night.

The next evening; David opened his eyes and looked at the clock in his bedroom and it was just after dusk and it was the first decent sleep he had had in two days. He looked at the back pack and picked it up and threw on jeans and a t-shirt along with his jacket. From listening in at The Factory last night it was going to be a hectic night. He walked down the stairs and out into the street and continued to think. The Rave room was always packed on Saturdays and there was a live concert on the fourth floor as well. So there would be plenty of people to blend into easily. As a photographer for the Paparazzi, David had learned to blend in pretty well these days and a few other tricks along the way. They helped when he was trying to get a tough shot. Tonight he needed to watch the Du’Pree’s and wait for the right moment to get them to bring him to Maggie. It’s the only plan he could come up with besides watching them and hopefully they just led him to her.

When David got to The Factory he found the vent shaft again and climbed up to it. He checked around and then pulled it off the wall and placed it on the ground in front of the dumpster to make it look like it had just fallen off. Then he shoved the backpack in and pulled himself up and into the vent. It was dirty and dusty in there but he pushed his backpack and crawled along until he found an opening that had no noise coming from it and was dark. David pushed hard on the vent until the cover popped free and he pulled it back inside then looked out to see he was in a store room. He tossed the backpack in and then slid out feet first and falling to the floor. Looking around he determined he must be on the first floor from the faintness of the music now and the contents of the store room. There were bottles of champagne, cases of liquor, and beer, along with a few other things. David opened the back pack and took out his clothes first, and then a few other things he had packed. He ran a brush through his hair, and used some deodorant and body spray to freshen himself up. He put on his nice slacks, a nice shirt, and made sure he took out the Glock last and put the clips in his pocket. He stepped out of the store room and walked past some of the bouncers easily and like an expert thief he snatched a VIP card from the front desks and put it in his pocket. Then he walked up the stairs to find one of the Du’Pree’s and watch them for awhile to see if they led him to Maggie.

A few hours later, David was on the third floor in The Rave Room and watching Francine. The little bitch was going about her night as normal. Techno blasted from the speakers along with the laser lights going on in the floor and the room was packed. This was a good room in which to watch her in because it was dark and blending in was easy due to the amount of people. Suddenly Francine got up and shouted something as a song started up like enthralled teenager. She tossed her jacket to the couch and strode out to the dance floor past her younger sister Samantha, who followed her. She waded onto the floor and the crowds parted. To David’s surprise Samantha joined her and she could really dance. They dance together and then the crowd parted once again and in walked the queen bitch herself. Michelle walked in and looked right at her sisters and suddenly she smiled and joined them on the floor. All of them danced and as people got closer, David just watched from a distance not taking his eyes off of any of them. Michelle moved just like her sisters and her body flowed with the music. All three of them moved with such grace and ease to the beat. The faster it got the three of them adjusted to the beat without a problem. They bumped and grinded with each other and others on the floor, and they all looked to be having a good time. The laser lights began to intensify and David watched all three of them now dancing close to everyone in a big crowd. Then things got strange suddenly. David has gotten closer so he didn’t lose them his mind started to haze as he just watched all three of them and he virtually couldn’t take his eyes off of them. He wanted to walk out to the floor and join them for some reason. Something called to him as he stared and watched. They seemed so inviting, so beautiful, and so sexy that he wanted to go to them and get closer. He shook his head once as he remembered Maggie and his mind cleared a little but went hazy again quickly. He simply couldn’t take his eyes off them and as he tried to look away but he bit his tongue hard. Finally he was able to snap out of it. The music sped up and everyone converged on them. All three were swallowed up by the crowd just then. David looked around in a panic but spotted Francine soon enough. She and her sisters walked off the floor with an entourage of men following them. David followed as the music died down but still he felt strange, but following anyway. He didn’t drink anything here but it felt like he had just been drugged by something just by watching them. He watched as they left the third floor and made their way to the stairs, up to the fifth floor with almost ten other people walking along silently. Everyone with them seemed smitten and in a slight haze like he just was before.

David followed all them to the fifth floor slowly and watched from a distance as they walked inside. He waited a few moments and then made his way closer to the doorway. The room was empty besides them due to the Rave Room in full swing tonight. He watched as they made their way to the far corner and then he slipped inside closer to the side near the doorway as they all sat on the couches. The music played a gothic rock slow beat and then the party began as Michelle flopped into the couch next to her sisters after. Suddenly David didn’t know what he was watching at all. All three sisters got very involved with their little group of people quite quickly. At first David thought it was nothing but when Francine had her blouse pulled down and she spilled out in front of them giggling, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The Du’Pree sisters were having an orgy in the top level of the club and with a bunch of strangers? Even the normally bitchy Samantha was involved and Michelle had just mounted one of the men and began to kiss him passionately. Two others were caressing her as she tilted one of their heads to the side and she kissed him on the neck. He cried out quickly and David couldn’t believe his eyes wishing for his camera instead of the gun he had. Michelle was having sex with three perfect strangers like it was nothing. He was moaning as she kissed him and he slumped down on the couch as she turned her attention towards another one. Francine had one guy on top of her and she was kissing him too. Another was groping at her and looked on waiting his turn. Samantha had already fallen to the floor with another one. She was out of sight but from the noise David had a good idea what was going on. This was unbelievable. Three sisters having casual group sex up in the lounge of the hottest night club in Manhattan? David turned and left quietly, he had seen enough. But if he had watched for a moment longer he would have seen Michelle’s head rise again as her eyes burned cool blue and blood dripped down her chin. She looked over at Francine and smiled as she tossed her latest meal to the ground and took the other one forcefully. Samantha got up on her knees and grabbed another as she hauled him to the floor and bit deeply into his neck with her already bloody fangs. All three of them feeding and enjoying it, but Michelle was the very first to finish blotting her lips and chin with the red handkerchief she kept with her. She then tossed it to Francine who caught it mid air and began to clean her lips too, as they watched Samantha finish her last, enjoying and taking her time like she enjoyed doing.

Meanwhile David watched from the doorway, out of sight, for about a half an hour and then out came all three of them, laughing and joking like sisters would. He never even bothered to look inside The Lounge because if he had he would have seen all nine men passed out. He walked behind them at a distance and followed them to the fourth floor. They walked into The Hall, but he had a problem at the moment. The concert was by ticket only and he didn’t have one. He watched the door for a while but there were too many bouncers and they checked every ticket. Then David watched as one of the guys who had been with Francine was being helped down to the first level. He was so drunk he could hardly walk and he dropped is jacket to the floor. David walked over and picked it up for him. In the pocket as he went though it fast was two tickets for tonight’s concert. Again he slipped one like an expert thief into his pocket from the jacket and caught up to him quickly. He handed the jacket back to him and the guy hardly said a word as he was led down the stairs. How a guy could get so drunk, so quick, after getting laid was beyond him. But at least he had a way into the fourth floor now. He walked over and flashed his VIP card to the bouncers and then handed him the ticket and he walked in without an incident. Good thing he did have a ticket because the stub was checked right after he got in. He walked into the bar area and watched from a distance as Michele and her sisters sat down in the VIP area waiting for the show to start. All David could do was watch from a distance and wait, but from what he now knew about the three sisters thus far, they wouldn’t stay seated for very long.

Soon the concert was in full swing as gothic rock poured out of the speakers and the lights went low. The sisters had split up quickly after the show started. Francine had walked in one direction while Samantha was somewhere else entirely and Michelle had simply just vanished. David decided to find Francine since she was the easiest to spot. He walked in the general direction from where she had gone. He had to watch his back though, because Francine almost always had Samantha near her on the weekends. To his surprise he found her quickly, and the little brat was with another entourage of people, but this time mostly girls. She seemed to be having a few drinks and chatting. Suddenly and without warning Francine kissed one of them but when she opened her mouth and started kiss her passionately, David looked on in shock. She was kissing another girl with tongue in front of all her friends who just laughed and looked on. The other girl seemed to enjoy it and even put her hand on Francine’s breast and she seemed to approve of. David looked away and left. Francine was involved and she didn’t have Maggie with her either. She also looked like she was staying for awhile because of her company. So the rumors were true, Francine Du’Pree was very bi-sexual enjoying both men and women alike. There were always rumors of her being very promiscuous and bi-sexual but no one had ever had the guts to print it let alone even hint at it. But David had seen it firsthand now, and he was amazed she had never been found out before the way she flaunted it.

From the other side of the room David saw Samantha and he ducked into the crowds of people to watch her walk past and sit down at a table with a few men. He fully expected something sexual to happen but nothing did, but when the lights flashed a little he saw the man’s face. It was Ivan Demonostrav and he was a known Russian mobster. Samantha chatted with him like they were old friends and she was even laughing with him from time to time. Suddenly she palmed something to him and he looked in his hand and nodded to one of his associates and handing something as well. They talked a little more, had a drink together and then Samantha departed with a light kiss to his cheek and then walking back from where she had come. David followed her, and just before the VIP section she met with a few people and began to laugh. She handed a small bag to a man there and then she hugged him and he left. As he walked past, David noticed who it was. It was Christopher Catlin a famous musician just between bands right now. Samantha had just delivered an eight ball of cocaine to him through Ivan Demonostrav the son of a well known Russian mobster? Samantha had gotten drugs for one of the upscale clients of her security business and had ties to organized crime. Who knew her little business that was so clean on the outside did celebrity dirty work. She was helping to fuel a destructive behavior because Chris had just gotten out of rehab for substance abuse and Samantha just got him going again. She was supposed to be looking out for him, not helping him get high again. She then went back to her mobster friends and continued their little chat. David felt she was a dead end too now when it came to finding Maggie. Still, he wished he had a camera instead of a gun tonight because he would be a very rich man by now if had gotten all these shots.

He walked over to the VIP sections and looked for the only person he felt would be of any help right now, Michelle. Only she would know where Maggie was and since she was the eldest sister she seemed to run the show here. He looked in the VIP sections and in the back something moved but the area was so dark so David had to get closer. As he neared he heard two people quietly talking and moving a little and then looked over and saw Michelle alright. She was there in the dark with her brother and they were kissing and touching each other passionately. She and Zack were so involved with each other they never even noticed him. David watched for a moment or two and then had to leave. Michelle was repulsive to him! She had just had group sex with a bunch of strangers and now was looking to top that by having sex with her brother? David left and he would have to wait for the right moment to confront all of them. With the amount of dirt he had and the gun they would easily give him Maggie back to buy his silence. If this night’s activities got out to the papers their family would look horrible in the New York media’s eyes. He could see the headline now, “Prominent Family Falls from Grace!” They would also have no way of knowing if he had a camera or not tonight and David had no intentions of telling them he didn’t have one either.

As Zack made his way out of The Hall and walked out towards the stairs on the fourth floor. David watched and waited as the band finished their last set. He had already found an excellent hiding place in a secluded alcove and he was only waiting until most of the crowd had left. He watched now as Michelle and her sisters socialized with the band and a few others and David just waited. He had to time this right, because if he didn’t they may be able to call for help. As the band began to pack up and leave for the back stage area, he saw his chance. He watched as all three of the sisters walking towards the elevator to go down to the first level. David stepped out of the small alcove he was hiding in.

“Good evening you three and I really have something I want to discuss with you all”, he said loud enough for all three of them to hear him.

Samantha whirled around almost too fast and went for her gun, but David already had his out. He leveled it all three of them and scowled back.

“Lose it bitch, or you’re the first one to get shot”, he said back quickly.

Samantha looked at him and then took the gun out slowly the rest of the way and dropped it to the floor. She flashed a wicked glare but David continued to scowl at her.

“Kick it over to the VIP sections and put your backs on the elevator doors, all of you.”

Michelle looked at him and glared back at him in anger. “You are a fucking dead man do you know that?” She said back viciously.

David got closer to her and frowned back. “Who’s got the gun you sick fucking bitch?”

Francine suddenly moved but David looked at her. “Wall, freak and I mean it or you’re going to get some new jewelry to wear and it’s going to be lead!”

Francine moved towards the wall and then looked at him. “I thought you took your shots with a camera David, not a gun”, she said back with a sullen expression.

He then stared at all of them intently waiting for the elevator. “Get in the elevator. We’re going to take a little trip, one that will produce my friend you’ve had here for two nights.”

Michelle looked at him and her demeanor changed instantly. “What do you mean David, your little reporter friend? We turned her over to the police.”

David leveled the gun at her again. “Don’t lie! I was already at Police Plaza and she was never brought in. Her apartment is bare, and you had her fired too! Besides I’ve seen all your little sick activities tonight!”

Michelle’s face was in total shock then she stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

David looked over at Francine first but kept the gun trained on all of them. “Well your lovely little sister there is not only a sex fiend but also bi-sexual freak.” Then he glanced over at Samantha quickly. “Your next sister over there has very nice connections to the Russian mob and loves to make drug deals for her upscale clients, and finally you, Michelle”. He said fixing his gaze on her. “Do you like fucking your brother may I ask? Not to mention that little orgy on the fifth floor earlier was quite eye opening. Let’s see almost three men a piece and then Francine over there shifted her interest to girls. And Michelle you decided to add a fourth man in the form of your own brother? I wonder how the headlines are going to look when I blow this story wide open.” He said with a wide grin.

Michelle looked at him in disbelief as did Samantha and Francine. After a moment of silence Michelle was the first to speak as the elevator reached the fourth floor. She looked right at him and scowled back. “What do you want David? To keep you quiet and forget what you saw”, she asked him softly.

David finally smiled smugly as the doors opened. “I want Maggie. Let her go and you can have any pictures you want and no one will ever know.”

Michelle looked back at him and then smiled evilly. “Agreed, but how do I know you’ll keep your word? I mean where my proof that you will remain silent that is?”

But he said nothing but motioned them towards the elevator, and got in with them. “When I have Maggie then we can talk but not before.”

All of them got in the elevator and to David’s surprise he watched Francine hit the one and five button together and the doors closed. It began to proceed down and to David’s surprise they were headed to the Viper’s Club. That’s how Francine got down so fast without anyone knowing. The elevator went both ways if you knew how to use it. Meanwhile, Michelle and Francine listened intently to Samantha as she spoke to their minds through one of her extraordinary gifts. She told them not to press the issue until she was certain that David’s gun was not loaded with Glazer Rounds or Phosphoric bullets. At this close of a range one decently placed shot could kill one of them. He knew too much, and no one knew how much he really did know maybe even their true natures. Using their abilities in a glass elevator with mortals around could be a disaster. Once they got him in the Viper’s Club they could deal with him and besides, Zack was down there and could help disarm and subdue him too. Michelle only nodded and so did Francine and they would have to wait and look for a good opportunity to take out this brash and smart mortal.

The doors opened and all four stepped out into an almost empty Viper’s Club with David getting out last. Michelle started to walk one direction while Francine went another, but David poked the gun in Samantha’s back hard. “The two of you get back over here or so help me you’re going to have one less sister.”

Michelle stopped dead and so did Francine and waited for David and Samantha to catch up to them. “Now where is Maggie and don’t lie to me”, he said gruffly.

Michelle began to laugh and so did Francine. “We need to discuss terms first before we let go of our insurance policy”. Michelle answered back coldly.

Francine turned and then smiled warmly instead. “Why yes, how do we know that once you have what you want. We will get what we want, our pictures and your word about your silence, not to mention not getting shot either? You’re a very angry man David”, she said coldly.

David shoved Samantha hard in the back and she stumbled over to them as she looked back and nearly spat at him. He then had them all sit and then he looked over at the rest of the room. “Clear the room, Michelle and have a seat. Then we can talk. Everyone’s hands on the tables too.”

Michelle waved her hand and the remaining people began to depart but then Zack walked around the partition and looked directly at David surprised. Zack watched as he leveled the gun and he dove to the side. David heard a gun slide drawn back from where he was. Zack didn’t move and David looked over at where he was. “Come out of there you or so help me”, David said back loudly.

But he didn’t budge and then David walked over to Francine and grabbed her hair and pushed her head down on the table. “Zack, come out of there or you’re going to have one less sister! I’ve got nothing to lose here, but you do! Her nice curly hair is going to look ugly with brains in it!”

Zack stood up slowly and dropped the gun to the floor and stared at David with a look that could have cracked stone. He motioned to Zack to come closer and away from the gun and he walked slowly towards all of them. David grabbed him and forced him to his knees then.

“Well Michelle which is it going to be? My friend or do I start with shooting your brother and lover here first?”

Michelle glanced over at Zack who had a shocked expression on his face and then she looked at David. She had to stall long enough to make sure one of them could get that gun away from him.

The conversation went on for a good twenty minutes as David got noticeably irritated by Michelle’s vagueness. Zack was still on his knees as Michelle got more and more brash and arrogant with David. She was trying to wear him down and make him slip, so Zack could get the gun from him. David was starting to get annoyed too.

He took the gun away from Zack’s temple and pointed it at Michelle, “Tell me where she is damn you, or I’m going to shoot you first, bitch!”

Michelle saw his mistake and decided to get cute, because Zack was now able to get the gun. All he needed was a split second anyway when it came to his amazing speed. Michelle looked right at him and then held her middle finger up at him and smiled. Then, just as Zack began to move David squeezed the trigger three times and three bullets slammed into Michelle as she flew off the chair and slammed hard into the wall! She shook violently and then stopped as blood poured out of her. Blood sprayed everywhere and Zack moved so fast that David couldn’t hope to react fast enough. Zack grabbed the gun and then kicked him hard in the chest, sending David across the room in a heap. Francine got up quickly and dived to the side as Samantha looked over at Michelle and screamed out.

“Zack, they may have been Glazer Rounds!” She screamed out!

Faster than Samantha could even see, Zack scooped up Michelle’s lifeless body and saw all the blood Michelle wasn’t moving at all. He looked at the gun and then at Michelle, as bloody tears streamed down his face. Then he laid her down on the table and let out a primal scream as he looked over at where David had landed. Samantha watched as Zack’s eyes changed. He stood up and walked with an angry step and quickly closed the gap between them. Samantha looked at Michelle bleeding and not moving, but then she looked over at Zack. What she saw next was almost too frightening for her…

Zack closed the distance to face David as he started to get up holding his chest. He walked close to the cement wall and he smashed the gun against it shattering it from the force of the blow. David went to throw a punch, but Zack was too fast and he sidestepped it. He hit David in the face and then grabbed him by the throat with ease. Zack forced him to knees and glared directly into his eyes.

“She was all I had! She was my life, my love, and my heart and soul! Now you’ve taken her from me, you fucking bastard! I’m going to rip you apart myself!” He creamed in rage.

Then he picked him up by his throat and Zack threw David across the room like a sack of garbage. People started to come back down to the Viper’s Club and watched as Zack let out a guttural growl and let his fangs snap into place. Then his claws extended as he moved with such speed it nearly shook the room around him. The force of his speed sent chairs and tables toppling over as he moved with unearthly speed towards his quarry. He grabbed David and tossed him into the air as he slashed him hard across the chest. Blood sprayed from the wounds and splattered to the walls and carpets. Zack jumped into a shadow on the wall and came at David from the floor. He hit him with a hard uppercut and then went through another shadow and came at him from the ceiling hitting him so hard he bounced off the floor. At once he stepped back out of the shadows he rushed him again, using a wicked backhand punch that sent David flying again as he crashed hard into the wall. He landed close to Samantha, who grabbed him and flung him back towards Zack with a punch of her own. David tried to get up, but he was grabbed again. Zack twisted one of his arms hard as the bones exploded. David screamed out in pain but was hit in the back of the head for his troubles. He felt himself begin to fall to the floor. But Zack grabbed him again and then drilled his claws into David’s shoulders close to his neck severing a few tendons rendering his arms useless. Blood sprayed again and from behind just as David went to shriek out in pain, in came Zack’s knee as his spine snapped and blood poured from his mouth. Zack dragged him to his feet, spun him around then punched him hard again and sent him spiraling towards the side of the room. As David landed he was sent into the air again from a kick to his side from Francine. The force of her blow sent him hurtling through the air. But Zack met him quickly in the air as he dove at him. The two of them smashed into the wall and the paneling broke from the force. Then Zack began to flail away now punching and slashing with his fists and claws, spraying blood everywhere. His sisters looked on and so did the rest of the Viper’s Club now back in the room cheering him on. Just then Michelle stirred a little as she looked over at Samantha’s back and she heard all the cheering. Her senses came back to her and the bullets were expelled from her chest slowly. What she saw next would have turned her ghostly white if she still could. There at the far wall was he beloved Zack, ripping and tearing a man apart with an evil look on his face. Blood was everywhere, club patrons cheering him on, and there was no sign that Zack’s brutal assault would be ending anytime soon. If she didn’t stop him he would soon kill him if he hadn’t already now that he had given in to darker half’s rage fully.

Michelle rolled off the table and to her knees but no one heard her. She got up and stumbled across the room blood still dripping from her wounds. She tried to close the distance between herself and Zack quickly but she just couldn’t. When she got there she watched as Zack’s claws raked David’s upper body again and more blood sprayed out into the crowds who cheered in response. Michelle looked up and then fell to her knees behind Zack.

“STOP”, she screamed out as loud as she could! “Stop it Zack this instant!”

She grabbed Zack’s legs and with all the strength she could muster pulling him to the floor as he growled and hissed in anger. She crawled on top of him and then looked him in the eyes as she held his wrists.

“No! You are not going to kill this man through blind rage, my love! It will haunt you forever that your rage was the cause of a brutal death. Come back to me, my love, and let your rage go. Look I am just fine, sugar.”

Zack growled back in protest and tried to get up, but Michelle pinned him quickly again.

“Look at me Zack! Look. It’s me and not anyone else. It’s me, your Michelle and I am fine. Let go and let it pass. Do not give into your rage, not like this!”

He finaly looked at her and then he calmed a little as he took Michelle in his arms and hugged her. She got off him just as David had finished falling to his knees and then fell to the floor with a splat. He looked up at her and Michelle flashed him a look as her fangs sprang from her upper jaw and she hissed loudly at him. David couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak, and he knew he was dying, but his eyes still worked. When he looked around the room he knew what he saw. Every last one of them, they were Vampires, all that were in this room and they all looked at him with hatred in their eyes.

As David wheezed and labored to draw breath as Michelle got to her feet and grabbed him by the throat. He felt her long sharp claws on what was left of his neck and she dragged him towards the bar. With one hand, she tossed him onto it and looked him in the eyes. Her eyes burned a cold blue as she stared back at him.

“You insolent little fucking mortal slime, you dare to threaten us, touch me or my family, and then hurt me! I am over two hundred and fifty years old and never have I been so insulted by the likes of you!” She hissed again and then flashed her fangs at him making sure he saw them. “How dare you touch me, what gives you the fucking right? I’m not even your fucking species, how dare you try to blackmail and then judge me or my sisters?” Michelle then slapped him hard as more blood sprayed across the room from her wicked claws. She then turned and looked at the crowd with a vicious grin. “As everyone knows when we get an uninvited guest here in the Viper’s Club, the wet bar is open and drinks are on the house until it goes dry, enjoy”, she called out to the crowd.

Michelle walked towards Zack still on his knees trying to get his bearings, and she helped him to his feet. David watched as all of them converged on him but then a brunette woman stopped them all and looked over at David.

“Not yet! All of you know who I am, and I ask you all to wait until I am through with him since this is partially my fault!” Then she turned to look at David again. “I know you can’t speak or move, so I will make this quick. My name is Sophie Trelin and I am like all of us here, immortal. I know you too, David and someone has told me a great deal about you. But I never expect you’d go this far. You asked for something vital to be returned to you and I just wanted you to have it before you died.”

Sophie then waved to someone and out of the crowd stepped Maggie. She looked at him and she looked as vibrant as ever, her skin perfect, her eyes flawless, her hair shining, and even her body looked slimmer and shapely. She walked over and Sophie whispered something to her before walking back out into the crowd.

Maggie got close and then looked him the eyes. “David why”, she asked him with a forlorn face. “Why didn’t you do what you always did and let it be. I never wanted you to go this far and now look at you, dying in a bloody heap on a bar. David, I’m one of them now, an immortal. I got my wish. I’m going to be more than just some rinky dink entertainment reporter. Sophie promised me and she is my mistress now, and I serve her. I owe her my new life and existence. I thought you would just walk away but you just couldn’t, could you? Now I must do what I must and I’m sorry, but I will make the last moment’s pleasant ones. Sophie asked me to make it quick so I will. Forgive me.”

David watched as Maggie let her fangs extend slowly and then she bit him gently on the neck as his body was numbed and bliss surged through him. Maggie drank slowly and then with one quick move she grabbed his hair and snapped his neck clean. She looked down and kissed him on his smiling lips and said goodbye with a single blood tear running down her now perfect cheek. As she walked past, the rest of them made sure the still warm blood didn’t go to waste.

David Kingston disappeared and was never seen nor heard from again. It was as if he just vanished. When his colleges reported him missing, all they ever found was an empty apartment and some unpaid bills. It was as if David has just fallen off the face of the earth there was no body, and no sign of foul play. After a few months his case was considered one of New York’s many “Cold Cases” and with no leads detectives thought they would never find him or anything about his whereabouts. The Viper’s Club was ready for the following night and Michelle and the rest of her family had no idea what happened to David after the incident, nor did they want to. As far as they were concerned, all was well with their world and no one would ever know the truth about that night except themselves and how they were all discovered by one mortal. Maggie Crest in about two months became the new Publicity and Advertising Executive of Crimson records. She was to run the company after the supposed untimely death of Sophie Trelin and she was to do so until Sophie’s young daughter could take the head of the company her mother had worked so hard to build. She was still too young by all indications to be ready to do so, but in her mother’s honor she bears her name.

Still this was all a rouse that Sophie and Michelle had worked out for her to reinvent her life. Her death was faked, the birth announcement years earlier was all a lie, all going though the motions to look mortal. Sooner or later they would all have to do this to keep up appearances but it was normal. Sooner or later Sophie Maxim Trelin would be ready to take over the family empire and run it as her mother had done before. Still Maggie had to wonder how long could these games go on and to what end too. Still, she had her dream job and she was in charge of a powerful entertainment company as she took directions from her mistress. In the end though, she realized quickly that she had been part of the cause of her friend’s death. But that’s what happens sometimes in her new dark world, when you get… uninvited guests.

~Fin~