How to Survive a Vampire Attack

"Shit!" Sean exclaimed.

He actually kind of liked his dishwashing job. As much as any of the shit jobs he'd held over the years. It was such a repetitive task that Sean could just let his mind run free while he did it. The hours passed like minutes and it was almost like he wasn't there at all.

Even better than that as long as kept up (which was very easy for Sean) he was left alone. The very design of the kitchen insured that. The dish tank was in a cubby at the back of the kitchen connected by a sliding window that dirty dishes were slipped through. The staff exit was at the opposite end of the cubby from the tank so even people coming and going didn't intrude.

Calling Sean anti-social really wouldn't have been fair since he didn't really oppose social interaction; he just rarely felt a need to be a part of it himself.

But if things continued the way they were going in the dining room, Sean felt certain he wouldn't be here much longer. Truth be told he'd been thinking that was the case since the vampire had come in the better part of an hour ago.

Not that this was the first vampire to dine at the Evergreen Grill. The Grill was one of the finest eateries in East Lansing, and vamps are nothing if not pretentious. Masters even more so. And this one was definitely a master with a capitol M.

But the moment he'd felt the vamp the hair on the back of his neck had gone up. The little voice in the back of his mind said trouble was heading his way.

And the vibe coming from the dining room said it had arrived.

Of course there was nothing saying he had to go out there. There was a chance the situation would calm down on its own and there wouldn't be any bloodshed. There was also a chance a snowball wouldn't actually melt in hell. But Sean wasn't willing to place any money on that either.

The sound of breaking dishware let him know his time to stall was up and that if he was going to have any chance of stopping things before people died he had to go now. So he did.

Melissa was beginning to think confronting Frederick in the middle of the restaurant was a bad idea. A very bad idea. It'd seemed to make sense at the time. After all, how could he be willing to attack with a room full of witnesses? But apparently he was.

Whether she'd underestimated his temper, or overestimated his good sense Melissa didn't know. All she did know was that unless something happened (and fast), she, Uncle Andrew and a lot of innocent bystanders were going to die.

Melissa heard the kitchen doors open and wondered why she heard such a small sound so clearly. Then she realized it was the only sound. All conversation had died at the vampire's rising. It was probably the sounds of dishes crashing to the floor that had drawn their fellow patron's attention, but even someone with no sensitivity to the supernatural could see something was very wrong.

There was a sound of movement to her right and Melissa looked over to see the waitress Frederick had knocked over when he stood. She was a redhead with startling green eyes, and Melissa supposed was considered quite lovely by most.

But right now all Melissa saw was the fear in her eyes as she tried to drag herself away from the now unveiled monster. It struck Melissa that she didn't know the waitresses' name, and it seemed very strange to be about to share as intimate an experience as dying with someone, without even knowing their name.

"Enough."

At the sound of a voice, any voice, a wave of surprise ran through the restaurant. This surprise didn't lessen any when everyone realized who had spoken. Standing across the table from Frederick's elegant menace was what appeared to be a member of the kitchen staff. From the jeans and t-shirt he wore under his apron it was obvious he wasn't expected to interact with customers under ordinary circumstances.

He was tall, at least six foot and thickly built; but standing across from a vampire with amber glowing eyes and inch long fangs, he seemed less than adequate to the occasion.

Frederick seemed to come to the same conclusion. "Really, is it Mr-..." Frederick looked the newcomer up and down "dishwasher? And why would that be hmm? Are you going to make me wash dishes if I don't? Do you really believe you're the one to stop me?"

"First of all," answered the dishwasher "is everything a question with you? Try actually making a statement sometime. Who knows, you might like it. And it's not just me, as you know; it's who would follow after me. But that's not why you're gonna stop."

Here the stranger paused to help the waitress into a nearby chair. Melissa heard him whisper to the waitress "Just relax Deena, everything's gonna be fine." Melissa felt strangely glad about knowing the waitresses' name. As well as comforted by the stranger's promise. She tried to analyze why that should be so.

Part of it was just the stranger's attitude was so out of context for the situation. He didn't seem frightened or surprised to be facing a vampire. Nor did he seem like someone bracing for a fight. He just seemed; annoyed was the only way Melissa could think of to describe it.

And now that Melissa thought about it, Frederick's attitude didn't fit either. He should be angry, or surprised at the very least to have someone facing him down. But he just seemed strangely expectant.

"Why will I stop then?" Frederick asked. Then he frowned at the sight of the stranger fighting back a grin. Melissa had to fight the urge to grin herself as she realized the stranger was amused that Frederick had asked another question.

Mastering his mirth the stranger answered "Because it's stupid to continue that's why."

"Stupid!?" Frederick asked seemingly surprised by the suggestion.

"Dude, seriously, you gotta stop that. I'm trying to be serious here." Before Frederick could interrupt the stranger continued. "A little local geography pop-quiz for ya. Go out the front door, turn north and walk less than a block. Then cross the street. Where are you?"

Frederick now seemed confused. "I don't know..."

"I knew you could make a statement. Doesn't it just feel better than an endless series of questions?" Not giving Frederick the chance to answer the stranger answered his own question. "You're on the front steps of the police. And in case you were wondering, yes, ELPD does provide its officers with silver bullets. So you kill me, and slaughter the patronage, the thing is-that'll take time. And-"

"Not that much time."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. You big bad scary guy. We're all terrified. Satisfied? But in the amount of time it takes for even a quick kill the police will get here. And you will be caught. Now you might be thinking that's not that bad. After all silver bullets will hurt you, but unless they make a direct hit on your heart they won't kill, and what's twenty or thirty years in prison to someone like you? But you're forgetting one thing."

After a long moment Frederick finally asked "What is that?"

"Other vampires. Vamps aren't anymore interested in public attention than any other para's. And from what I hear vamps aren't particularly merciful to those of their own who bring that attention down on them."

"You hear correctly. My brethren are not a merciful lot."

"So let's do everybody a favor and drop it."

"I will do as you suggest, this time. But," and Melissa suddenly found herself on the receiving end of Frederick's murderous stare "if you bother me again I will not be so lenient. I will make you scream until you are no longer able. For your sake let this be the last time we meet Miss Forbin." Then Frederick was gone. No grey mist, no flash of light, one moment he was there, the next gone.

Melissa turned to thank her surprise rescuer, but didn't get the chance.

"So you're the idiot who set him off. Listen-Shut up!" This to Uncle Andrew who'd been about to interrupt. "Listen honey bun, the next time you want to attempt suicide do it privately. The rest of us would rather not be part of a bloodbath." Then he stalked of into the kitchen.

For a moment Melissa was stymied. Then she gathered herself and followed. She didn't really know what she was going to say when she confronted him, but she felt a great need to unload. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately she thought later), she wasn't allowed the opportunity. The hostess stopped her at the swinging door and wouldn't let Melissa any further. All Melissa accomplished was to get herself and Andrew escorted out by a very well dressed and well mannered man that until that moment she hadn't realized was security. She wanted to ask him where he'd been a few minutes ago, but overcame the petty impulse.

"Now what?" asked Uncle Andrew (he wasn't actually her uncle, but he was close enough). Melissa heard the suppressed emotion in his voice. He hadn't wanted her to come in the first place, but she was too old to be ordered not to, and he was unwilling to let her come alone.

"If we park in the bank parking lot we'll have a clear view of the employee exit."

"What? I mean..."

"There are way too many unanswered questions here. How did that guy back off a master vamp? Why didn't Frederick even seem upset about it? How'd that guy even know something was going on from the kitchen?"

"I don't know, but he didn't seem particularly interested in speaking to you much less answering questions."

"I'll just have to figure out some way of convincing him to answer."

"But-"

"I need those questions answered. I can only think of two people who can answer them. Who do you think it's safer to ask, Frederick or dishwasher guy?"

"Ideally neither, but since that's not going to happen..." Andrew headed for the car. "At least it's nice out; I can put the top down."

It was raining when Sean stepped outside but he didn't really notice it. He was preoccupied with wondering how they were going to fire him. If he had somebody to bet with he'd put money on a phone call. He was certain they didn't wanna face him in person.

Not that he'd ever given them any reason to be afraid of him, but weird stuff has a tendency to scare people. And a dishwasher facing down a vampire was pretty damn weird. People's reaction was usually to try to get that weirdness as far away from them selves as possible.

Sean didn't feel like walking in the rain so he put his bag over his head and looked around for a likely spot. That's when he saw two people get out of one of the cars in bank parking lot next door. Sean knew it had to be the two idiots from earlier. "What do you want? No; forget I asked that. I don't wanna know. Just get back in your little sports car and drive off." Sean saw there was no one in the alley and started off.

"We just have a few questions that's all. How about we give you a ride home, you answer the questions and then you don't have to ever see us again?" Melissa asked.

"Better yet," Sean answered "how 'bout we skip the ride, forget the questions and jump right to the never seeing you again part. That'll work just fine for me."

"I understand you're angry about earlier, but I do have reasons for what I'm doing that you don't know about. And there's no reason you should. I'm not asking you to get involved, I just need some information." Melissa had decided that blowing up at him about what he'd said to her earlier would be counterproductive (deep down there was even the thought that he'd had a point and that she was somewhat in the wrong, but she wasn't willing to admit that yet, even to herself).

Melissa was slipping in the mud that coated the alley. Her stylish flats were fine for the Evergreen Grill, but they weren't really made for the great outdoors. Even the tame version of it present in the alley. She looked down to watch her step and when she looked back up saw she was speaking to air. She quickly scanned her surroundings and found no signs of him.

"Where he'd go?"

"What?" Asked Andrew looking up from the umbrella he was trying to get to open correctly.

"He just disappeared!" Melissa answered. There were some bushes, but they were too short to provide cover for her; unless she dived into the mud. She just didn't think the dishwasher would go that far to avoid her. Walk away without answering, sure. Puddle diving? She didn't think so.

As the annoying blonde and her tag-a-long went back to their car Sean stepped out into the middle of the alley. It was unlikely they'd see him now; he had a real knack for blending in to the night. Turning away from them he took in the weather with a snort. Sean hated the rain. Even at his fastest he'd be soaked by the time he got home. His roommates would be bitching about the smell for days.

After changing into something dry Melissa looked around at the anonymity of her room. They'd moved in almost a month ago and she hadn't done anything to decorate it. This was not unusual for her. Andrew moved around a lot for his work and she went with him. Andrew didn't want to bother with decorating a place that he wasn't going to live in more than six months to a year. And Melissa had her own reasons for not wanting to set down roots.

Sometimes she wondered if it was worth it, but those thoughts never stayed long. Now there were too many unanswered questions for her to think about anything else. She grabbed a towel and took it to Andrew. He mumbled a thank you and started drying off. "We have to find out what he is."

"Hunh?" Andrew asks momentarily confused. Then realizing she's talking about their mysterious benefactor he says "Don't you mean who?"

"That too, but what is my first question. Backing down a vamp, disappearing like that; he can't be human."

"Are you thinking he's a demon?"

"Maybe, possibly; I don't know. But we need to find out."

"He could be a mage of some sort you know."

"Can you imagine a mage powerful enough to spook Frederick working as a dishwasher?"

"Can you imagine a demon powerful enough to spook Frederick working as a dishwasher?"

Melissa shrugs not having an answer. "Whatever he is, however he did it, we need to find out. He might be able to get the answers I'm looking for."

"First I think we need to get him to stand still so we can talk to him before we start having him run errands for us."

"He was just pissed tonight. I'm sure once he calms down it won't be a problem. Didn't you say a friend of yours had an interest in the Grill? Maybe he could get us a name and number. Or an address. An address would probably be better."

"No, a friend of a friend has an interest. David Mitchell, he owns Corner Antiques in Williamston. I'm authenticating some pieces for him." At Melissa's stare he relented. "Alright, alright, I'll ask him tomorrow. I'm not finished with the job I'm doing for him anyways. Though how I'm going to explain I want the dishwasher's address is beyond me. 'Hi Dave, you know that restaurant you mentioned? Well my niece thinks the dishwasher is a vampire-killing demon. Could you get me his address so she can ask him a few questions? Thanks!' That'd go over beautifully I'm sure."

"I have the highest confidence in you, Uncle. I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"Easy for you to say; I'm the one who has to do the talking."

After Sean got home he had a couple hours to kill before he was expected at his second job. He kicked back to read; but he wasn't able to focus on his book. This was unusual for him to say the least. Single-minded was his normal state when reading. After twenty minutes he got tired of reading the same line five times before digesting it and put down the book.

In the back of his mind he knew what he needed to do. But, dammit he didn't want to get involved with this. So he did what any intelligent person would do, he rationalized it. He'd just pass the information along to someone who was in a position to deal with it, and then he'd be out of it. It wasn't a very convincing rationalization and wouldn't bear much scrutinizing, so he didn't scrutinize it, he just acted on it.

He picked up the phone and dialed a well-remembered number. When he heard the voice on the other end he asked "Hi Brian, who do I talk to about an out of control master-vamp?"

A little after two the next afternoon Sean was outside the Pulse. The Pulse was a club owned and operated by a master vamp by the name of Alicia. Alicia was the most powerful vampire Brian knew of locally. Brian was a leprechaun and hooked into the local para' community. Generally when one para fucked up all para's were blamed for it. So paras took steps to make sure that didn't happen.

Sean knew that, but didn't know the details of how it was handled. According to Brian it was considered best for each type to handle its own problems if possible. Which Sean had to admit made sense. The only problem Sean had with the set up was that it meant he had to go talk to this Alicia, since he was witness to the vamp's freak-out.

Tired of his own stalling Sean opened the door and stepped inside. There was an obvious muscle-head type that was more than he appeared sitting in the foyer. Without even looking up from the magazine he was thumbing through the muscle-head said "We're closed."

Licking his lips Sean answered the non-question. "I have an appointment with Alicia. Brian set it up."

At this muscle-head looked up. He gave Sean a once over and said "I don't know any Brian." Instead of explaining who Brian was Sean let a little, a very little, of his mask slip. The muscle-head nodded in recognition. "But I'll see if Alicia is expecting you. For your sake I hope she is."

Sean waited, trying not to let his nerves get the best of him. Then deciding just standing there was stupid he pulled the ever-present book out of his back pocket and took muscle-heads now empty chair.

He hadn't gotten very far when muscle-head returned. "Alicia will see you now." Sean looked up from his book to see the muscle-head pointing through a side door. There was an odd look on the guy's face, but Sean was used to getting odd reactions from people. He just thanked the guy and started for the door. Before he got through muscle-head asked "What ya' reading?" Sean turned and held up the book so muscle-head could see the cover. Nodding his head muscle-head said "Good stuff."

Now it was Sean's turn to be surprised. Silently raising his estimation of muscle-head several points Sean agreed "Yes it is."

"By the way, my names Reese, sounds better than 'the thug'."

"Actually I was thinking muscle-head. Nice to meet you Reese, I'm Sean." Leaving Reese laughing Sean thought not what I expected, but it could definitely be worse.

Melissa was tired of waiting to hear from Andrew about the dishwasher's name, so she decided to do some investigating of her own. If you wanted to wander around E.L. a car could be more of a pain than anything else so she grabbed her cell and headed to the bus stop.

Big surprise, the office was kept dark. But Sean's eyes adjusted quickly. There were two people, a woman seated at the desk, and a man leaning against the wall behind her. The man was large, even bigger than Reese. Though if Sean had to place money on a fight between the two, he'd put it on Reese. This guy looked like he was more for show than go. Then Sean sensed what he was and had to repress the urge to grimace. Alicia had decided to bring a pet along. Sean wondered if it was some sort of weird test on her part, of if the boy toy were always there. He decided it didn't matter. He was there to tell his story and then split. And he wasn't planning on coming back. So let her play her games, I'm not a part of them he thought. The little voice in the back of his head had to laugh at that.

Sean started to sit in the chair facing the desk when boy toy spoke up. "Mistress Alicia didn't say you could sit."

"No she didn't. And she's not my mistress." Sean wasn't trying to be a smart-ass. Not really. Boy toy was just getting on his nerves. "I'm here to talk to the owner, not the pet; so why don't you take a flying leap."

Boy toy stepped forward and Sean heard a growl. "Are you seriously pulling that growl low in the throat shit, with me?" Turning to Alicia he continued. "You need to yank back on your pet's leash, he's about to have his tail stepped on." Sean realized tossing threats in a master vamp's lair probably wasn't the best idea, but he also knew backing down in a confrontation could get you're throat ripped out. His option weren't that good at the moment. Fortunately luck was with him.

"Enough Sasha, I agreed to this meeting with Mr. Melaney at Mr. O'Rourke's request; as such I am obligated to treat him with courtesy. Provided he treats me and mine the same." Sean nodded in acceptance while trying not to stare at Alicia. When she sat forward to speak it brought her into the dim circle of light that was all the small lamp provided. One look and Sean understood the word breathtaking.

Her skin was the mixed cocoa that bespoke someone of mixed descent. Her body was softly contoured, though not overly voluptuous. She was elegantly dressed, though Sean got the feeling that this wasn't any special effort on her part, but that rather she always dressed well.

With an effort Sean managed to remind himself why he was here and who he was dealing with. Then he quickly related all he knew about the strange master vampire from the night before. When he was finished Alicia sat staring at him with an unreadable expression on her face. Then she asked "Are you good at gauging a vampire's strength?"

"I'm not expert, but I was taught how. And he wasn't exactly trying to hide. Even before he had his little, fit."

"How would you rate me, compared to him?"

"That's difficult, because you are trying to hide it." At this she raised her eyebrow in question. "Yeah I can tell that; I was taught by someone very good. But gauging strength isn't a matter of technique; it's a matter of judgment. Which you need practice to develop, which I haven't had. To say this or that vamp; er, vampire is a master is one thing. To say how they stack up to another master, when they're not even there, that's something else. But if I had to guess, I'd say you're stronger, but that's just a guess."

"And what do you base that on?"

"The way you each handle your flows more than anything else; your's are smoother, for lack of a better term. Granted that's technique, not power. But it takes time to develop technique and with vampires usually older means stronger in any particular category. At least that's what I was taught."

Alicia nodded agreement. Then with a smile "I believe you just called me old."

At first Sean laughed, then he froze and his guard (which had been going down as the conversation went on), went back up. Sean was a man. He was a very smart man. And like most smart men he enjoyed showing off his intelligence. And he enjoyed it more when it was a woman he was showing off for. The more attractive and attentive the women the more he enjoyed it. And like most when doing something he enjoyed he relaxed.

The biggest difference between Sean and most smart men was that he was not in the least blind to this particular vanity on his part. And he was certain that Alicia was as aware of his vanity as he was. So the question was why was she working to charm him? Sean couldn't think of a single reason why a woman like Alicia would want to charm someone like him. This did not in anyway reassure him; as it just meant there was some reason he didn't know about. It'd be nice if the charm was because she was warm for his form, but while Sean was quite capable of vanity, he wasn't dumb.

Thinking things through Sean realized he'd accomplished everything he'd come here to do, so now was a perfect time to leave. "Been nice talkin' to ya', hope the info's useful." He scrambled out of the chair and headed for the door.

"I'll keep you advised of what happens with the rogue."

That is exactly what Sean did not want. He didn't want to know as much as he knew now. He didn't want to see or hear from anybody involved in this whole mess ever again. But despite his best efforts Sean felt himself being pulled in deeper and deeper. "Thanks, great. Brian'll know how to reach me."

After leaving the Pulse Brian stood on the sidewalk at a loss as to what to do next. He'd gotten the call he expected from the Grill before leaving home, so he didn't have to worry about work. After a short hesitation Sean started for the bus stop. As he walked the little voice in the back of his head said he still had a problem.

Alicia would eventually straighten out the strange vamp; one way or another. Even if he was as powerful as Alicia, this was her turf and Sean just didn't see the guy being able to match her resources. The problem was what about before that?

If the blonde and her entourage of one had any sense at all they'd steer clear of the vamp, but how much sense did they have in the first place to be hounding a master-vamp? Sean realized he was going to have to find the dimwitted duo and find some way to keep them outta the way until Alicia took care of the vamp.

A different voice in the back of his said it wasn't his problem. It said he'd done more than enough already and that what happened to the dimwits wasn't his problem. It said just walk away. Sean really liked what this voice had to say. He agreed with it on both a philosophical and emotional level. He was certain that following its advice was the best course. Of course he was just as certain that he wasn't going to follow it.

He was walking down the street across from the Evergreen Grill feeling a little weird. If not for last night he'd be starting his shift about right now. When he came upon the park on the corner across from the 'Grill he stopped and stared; he didn't know if he should laugh or cry. Unable to summon enthusiasm for either option he shrugged both off and continued on to the bench.

A voice out of nowhere snapped Melissa out of her reverie. "Why is it when I'm looking for something I wanna find, I search forever, and sometimes still don't find it; but when it comes to something I don't wanna find it shows up just like that?"

"Huh?" Melissa turns to find the dishwasher she's been trying to find standing right next to her. To describe her as nonplussed would be an understatement. She'd come back to the restaurant to see if she could find out something about him, only to be escorted out by a different but just as politely muscular and unobvious member of security. She'd been trying to figure out her next step when he showed up.

Melissa still hadn't quite digested what he'd said when he continued "Do you like Taco Bell?"

Melissa could only respond "Huh?"

"Seriously hon, if we're gonna talk you're gonna have to expand your vocabulary. I'm not expecting Lincolnesque eloquence, but some actual words would be nice, okay?"

"Hu-yes," Melissa caught herself annoyed at the stranger's attitude "but what about Taco Bell?" She thought about telling him not to call her hon, but considering that she needed information from him, she thought now wouldn't be the best time to make an issue of it.

"You wanna talk to me correct?"

"Well, yes..." It was true of course, but his know it all attitude made her loath to admit he was right about anything.

"I'm hungry and I don't feel like talking on an empty stomach. I like Taco Bell, and it's within easy walking distance. So, do you like Taco Bell?"

Melissa agreed, determined to get to the bottom of the stranger's ability to handle Frederick and anything else that would help her on her mission.

Things didn't go quite according to Melissa's plan. At first she tried to get him talking on the way to Taco Bell, but all he said was "Eat first, talk second." Having trouble keeping up with his deceptively shambling gait she'd decided to let it drop.

At the restaurant she found it easy to get him to talk, but had no control over what he talked about. Even worse when she tried to steer him around to where she wanted, she ended up doing all the talking. She did eventually find out his name was Sean, but that just because the counter guy called him by name. After they were done eating he walked her to the bus stop, but when she turned to give it one more crack, she found he'd disappeared again!

When she returned to the apartment she found Andrew waiting for her. "Where have you been, I called your cell but just got voicemail."

"Sorry, I turned it off."

"Not that it matters anyway. I wasn't able to turn up anything about our mystery man."

"His name's Sean."

"Se-How'd you find that out?"

"He told me. Well, actually someone called him that while I was with him and he admitted it was his name."

"How'd you find him?"

"I didn't, he found me." Melissa explained the encounter, as well as her failed attempts at intelligence gathering.

After she finished Andrew said "Don't expect anything from my 'friends' either. They made it quite clear they didn't want to have anything to do with anything "unnatural". So what now?"

"When I talked to Sean I got the feeling that in some way he's going to be keeping track of us, including Frederick."

"I suppose that's no more mysterious than anything else he's done, but how does that help us?"

"That desk of-"

"Bureau would be more appropriate."

"Whatever, of Frederick's that you used to track him here, you have a delivery address right?"

Sean's phone rang. He looked at the clock, almost eleven at night. Which meant it wasn't a telemarketer. Which was troubling. Not that he wanted to be called by a telemarketer just that was the only type of call he received on this line. If someone he knew wanted to reach him they usually called the house line and left a message. He just had this line for DSL.

The phone rang again. Against his better judgment Sean answered it. "Hey Sean its Brian, glad I caught ya'. I just didn't think you'd want this on the machine."

"What is this? What happened?"

"Alicia had one of her ghouls watching Frederick's, that's the vamp's name in case you were wondering," Sean already knew it from Melissa, but Brian didn't know that. "since you talked to her. Two folks who match your description to a T drove up a little while ago. They were taken inside."

"What does Alicia plan to do?" Sean thought he already knew the answer, but hoped he was wrong.

"Nothing. It's the vamp version of innocent until proven guilty. They went to him, you see. Of course if he does something, then Alicia will take him down, and take credit for stopping a dangerous; well you get the picture."

"Yes, I do."

"What now?" Brian asked.

Sean didn't bother to ask what Brian planned to do. Acting as a go between for him with Alicia was one thing, taking on a master-vamp; that was different. After a brief hesitation during which he realized he actually was going to do this, no matter how insane it was, Sean asked "Where's the house?"

Melissa sat on the only couch next to Andrew, more scared than she'd been in years. She looked at the trio of vamps on the other side of the room and thought in other circumstances she might've found them comic. They dressed in the style of "look at me; I'm a bad-ass vamp". It was so over the top it was silly. As if black, grey and white were the entire spectrum. But remembering their inhuman grip as she and Andrew were hustled inside Melissa found it impossible to laugh.

The reality of the situation was sinking in. If Sean didn't show, they were dead. And even if he did show; including Frederick there were two more vampires in the house that she knew of. Melissa's heart was going like a trip hammer. Her forehead and back broke out in a cold sweat. She tried to slow her heart but couldn't make it give up its elevated rate.

She wanted to apologize to Andrew for dragging him into this. But again looking at their deadly babysitters she decided she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of admitting how terrified she was. They no doubt already knew, so it wasn't much of a defiance, but it was all she could do.

But even as her fear grew, a certainty grew as well. Some part of her was sure Sean would show up. She didn't understand it. How could she be so sure of someone she'd just met? It didn't make sense. But in a moment of self-honesty Melissa had to admit making sense really wasn't her strong suit. The thought made her laugh, if only for a moment.

The laugh got the attention of the scrawniest of her watchers. Puffing himself up like a prize rooster he sauntered over and asked "What are you laughing at?"

Melissa knew the best thing to do would be just apologize and shut up. But she wanted to strike out, and since she couldn't physically; that left verbally. It took only a moment to realize the truth, properly phrased, would do the most damage. "Don't worry, it's not you." Melissa thought the look on his face would almost be worth the pain he was about to inflict.

Before scrawny could act one of the others spoke up. "Hands off; Frederick's got plans for her."

"I'm not gonna kill her, I just wanna teach this little bitch to keep her mouth shut."

"Fine by me," answered Big Red as Melissa had dubbed him in her mind and the relief that had only begun to fill her quickly fled. But before scrawny could resume Big Red continued "as long as you're the one who explains why she's all fucked up to Frederick. 'Cause there's no way in hell I'm takin' the rap for it if he's pissed." This pronouncement froze scrawny in his tracks.

After a moment of standing there scrawny muttered "Dumb cunt." and wandered back to his friends. Once it was clear he wasn't coming back Melissa let out a shaky breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Sean watched the house from the cover of some trees. He knew there were five vamps including Frederick. Frederick was by far the most powerful, but there was a second who wasn't to be taken lightly. The other three were pretty low-level newbies. He doubted if any of them were even a year dead. But numbers were definitely on their side.

Sean considered sneaking in, but there were a couple of problems with that. For one he didn't know much about wards, so he could be as stealthy as possible and still trip one off. Second he knew even less about mundane alarms than he did about wards. Plus there was the fact that he didn't know where in the house blondie and co were being held. So even if he managed to sneak in undetected he was bound to be caught looking for them.

He didn't really think Freddie would be bluffed a second time, especially in his own house, but at the moment that seemed Sean's only option. Then deciding simplicity was best for now he walked up and knocked on the front door.

At the knock on the door the three genius's looked at each other as if trying to figure out which one of them had let one go. Melissa coughed in a poor attempt to cover her laugh and said "Maybe you should answer it."

Scrawny yelled "Shut up!"

"Actually Ms. Forbin is correct. Answer it Scott." Everybody jumped and turned to see Frederick standing in the entrance to the dining room. Scrawny swallowed whatever else he'd been planning to say and moved to obey. Melissa saw Frederick's runty companion standing in the shadows behind Frederick and thought the gang's all here.

Hearing the door open Melissa turned hoping she would see Sean there. But as much as she believed he would be there she couldn't silence the doubts that ate at her.

When she saw him standing there a wave relief swept through her and a feeling that everything would work out grew in its wake. Rationally she knew that didn't add up. There were five vampires and only one Sean. After having been dragged in by the vamps Melissa doubted if Andrew and she could account for even one. And still the feeling remained.

"Mr. Melaney, please come in." Melissa realized Frederick must be talking to Sean and wondered how he'd discovered Sean's last name. Sean's reaction showed he was wondering the same thing. He covered quickly, but in that moment Melissa saw Sean was upset that Frederick knew who he was. By Frederick's smile it was obvious that he saw Sean's unease as well.

"Yes Sean, I hope you don't mind me calling you Sean?"

"It's your house."

"Thank you, Sean; yes I've been checking you out. And I found that you were less than honest in our last meeting. And so I am very glad that you showed up. I should thank you both. I thought I was going to have to come up with some scheme to get you both someplace private. Someplace where we wouldn't be disturbed, where we wouldn't arouse too much interest and I wouldn't have to worry about my brethren being troubled over my behavior."

"And here both of you just wander right in. There are days when things just go your way. And do you know why I want you both here?"

"I'm guessing it has something to do with torturing and killing one while the other watches."

"Good guess Sean. And do you know why I want to do that?"

"You're an evil sadistic bloodsucker who gets his rocks off watching other people suffer?"

"Sean, Sean, Sean that's far too general. Try to be specific. I want you because you lied to me. And her, besides the fact she's been a pain, because you lied to protect her. I'm going to fillet her alive while you watch. Only then will I kill you. Because contrary to what you led me to believe you are lone. There is no one to avenge you."

"And you expect me to just watch?" Melissa saw Sean's hands were beginning to shake. Her three former watchers had noticed as well and were grinning at his fear. Melissa felt her confidence begin to crumble. This was an understandable reaction on her part as she thought all the shaking indicated was fear. And of course there was fear there, but there was so much more that she didn't know.

"Not exactly Sean, I'm going to force you to watch. I will cut off your eyelids if I have to, but you will watch, you will pay. You made a fool of me Sean, backing me down with your empty threats. I did not like that at all Sean."

"So I decided to find a little more about you. And I find that you're nothing. Some bum that goes from crap job to crap job, never accomplishing anything. When you die Sean, I don't think there'll even be anybody who will truly miss you. You're an empty slot in this world, lone. Truly you're not even worth the time I'm going to spend removing you from it. How does it feel to be a zero Sean?"

"Heh, I suppose you can get used to anything." Sean's voice was muffled and Melissa saw that he was looking down.

"Pathetic, you can not even face me. Truly you are nothing. Grab him." Frederick orders his stooges.

As they move toward him Sean says "You know, everything you say may be true Freddie boy," Sean raises his head to display blazing red eyes and teeth grown to fangs "but I'm still a wolf." Then he moved.

When Melissa was a child she witnessed a vampire attack. Besides the sheer brutality of the slaughter the thing that had terrified her most was the way the vampires moved. The speed of it was breathtaking. It wasn't like super speed in the movies; that was just cartoonish. It was just faster than anything in human form should be able to move. The closest she'd ever seen to it was video of a cheetah. She'd never seen anything to match it, much less better it.

Until tonight.

Not expecting any trouble out of such an obvious coward the clueless trio had been moving toward Sean very casually. That changed when Sean sprang at them. At first they froze, but than as if by some guiding instinct they moved into formation. Big Red and the quiet one each going for an arm with scrawny Scott staying in the middle; presumably planning to assault the restrained Sean. It didn't work out quite the way they planned.

Sean spread his arms out making it easy for the first two to grab his arms, but he used their grip to pull them in and grabbed each by the front. Then he lifted them completely off of their feet and slammed them together with scrawny Scott in the middle. He repeated this move twice more before Scott bleeding from the nose and mouth collapsed.

One arm cradled Scott's middle but the strange angle of his left led Melissa to believe it was broken. Sean then dropped the other two. They fell to the floor but were quickly back to their feet. Unfortunately for Big Red he was the first to reach Sean. He struck Sean with a right that had little visible effect except to knock him back a little. Then Sean grabbed Big Red's head in both hands and rammed his thumbs knuckle deep into Big Red's eyeballs and then hurled him aside.

Big Red stumbled away screaming. One hand covered his ruined eyes the other waved around in an effort to navigate. He punched a hole in the wall trying to get out. Then had to pull half the wall down to get his arm unstuck.

Sean, already focused on the quiet one, ignored him. Seeing what happened to his friend the quiet one tried to back off, but he was far too late. Raising his right hand, which Melissa saw now had claws in place of fingers, Sean rammed it at the quiet ones chest. Then he pulled it back holding a black thing Melissa could only think was his heart. It didn't beat. It was black and shiny as if it had been slicked with oil.

The quiet one was on his knees, his hands clutching the edges of the wound Sean's hand left as if he were trying to close it up. He looked up at Sean; and as he did Sean, to Melissa's horror, raised the heart to his mouth and took a bite. Now blood poured from the heart down Sean's chin.

"Oh, God!" Melissa gasped feeling her stomach start to heave. She was starting to wonder if Sean showing up had been such a good thing.

Sean turned at the sound of her voice. Seeing her condition he winked and said "Tastes just like chicken." Then looking her right in the eye he finished eating the heart. Melissa didn't know what to think of Sean at the moment, but she knew damn well she wasn't going to let him make her throw up. She clamped her jaw shut and returned his stare. That actually made it easier as looking into his eyes allowed her to tune out the image of him chewing and swallowing the heart.

Seeing her hold it in Sean chuckled and said "Good girl." Then he went after Big Red who had actually made it to the door by this point. But before he could open it Sean grabbed him from behind and then punched through his back and out the front of his chest. When Sean pulled his hand out Melissa was unsurprised to see another black heart and knew what was coming. But Sean made no production of it this time; instead simply tossing the heart into his mouth and going to crouch over Scott on the floor. He finished Scott off similarly then sat down on the floor in front of the couch wrists on his knees.

Sean looked up at Melissa and with a tired smile said "Don't worry, I only eat vampires. And then only when they've really pissed me off." Melissa relaxed seeing the return of the Sean she knew (or at least the one she'd convinced herself she knew).

Melissa looked at the bodies of the now fully dead vampires with a question in her eye. "You didn't actually think they turned to dust did you?" Sean asked.

"No, it's just I've never seen one killed before. Or dead; I mean truly dead. I was just wondering, you seemed worried at first, but it seemed easy." At the look Sean gave her Melissa backpedaled. "I don't mean easy, easy; just you never really seemed in danger."

"Melissa, I'm going to answer your question with a question. Where's Freddie?" Melissa looked around realizing Frederick wasn't anywhere to be seen and she didn't know what happened to him.

"He left." Andrew answered for her.

"He ran away?" Melissa didn't quite believe this herself, but couldn't think of a better explanation.

"I wish." Interjected Sean.

"No, he didn't run and he didn't look scared." Said Andrew. "Shortly after Sean-attacked, he nodded turned around and left out the back."

"And that answers your question Melissa. The little rat faced guy that went with Freddie is way more powerful than these three were put together. And Freddie was stronger than all of'em. Add that to the fact that a master-vampire can coordinate other vamps in a fight, and believe me a coordinated enemy is much harder than three morons who do-didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground, and you can see why this was 'easy" as you say."

"But why, why would he just leave?" Melissa asked. "It doesn't make any sense." The question was asked generally, but she looked at Sean as she asked it.

Sean just shrugged his shoulders and said "Hell if I know." He laid his back on the couch cushion with his eyes closed. He was now back to looking completely human. Except for the blood splattered all over him.

"Now I have a question for you Melissa. Why?"

"Why what" Melissa seemed honestly confused by the question.

"Don't be stupid. Why in the hell were you hounding Frederick? What possessed you to mess with a master vampire?"

"Oh." Melissa responded in a small voice. She took a moment to gather herself and then answered. "When I was eight years old my parents were killed. I watched it happen. It was vampires. I hid and watched them be slaughtered. I know intellectually I couldn't have done anything, I was only eight, but it still bothers me. I want to get the vampire responsible"

"It's actually not Frederick. As far as I know he didn't have anything to do with it. But the vampire who turned Frederick is the one I'm after. And I think Frederick knows where I can find him."

"Shit." Is Sean's only response at first. "It had to be a good reason, couldn't just be too many Buffy re-runs could it?" Melissa's confused by his response, but before she can formulate a comment Sean continues. "Knowing that it will involve more like this, and worse, much worse; do you intend to continue?"

Melissa doesn't need to think about the answer. "Yes."

"Would it be enough it someone took care of it? Or do you need to be there yourself, to be part of it?"

"Why-" Melissa begins but before she can finish her question Sean interrupts.

"Just answer!"

After a very brief moment of thought Melissa answers "I need to do it. I just-I need it. I can't explain it any better than that."

Hating himself for asking, but deciding he was already committed at this point Sean asks "Do you want my help?" He doesn't look at her as he waits for the answer.

Melissa knows to not try to ask him anything this time. Instead she looks down at this man-werewolf-whatever, trying to figure him out. Why is he here? Why did he get involved in the first place? What does he want now? She doesn't know the answer to any of these. But looking around at the destruction none of that matters. She can't do this alone. And she can't not do it. That leaves room for only one answer. "Yes."

"I kinda thought you'd say that." Sean stands up and stretches. Then stands as if trying to remember something for a moment, then goes and crouches over Big Red's body. He tosses something to Andrew. "I think you're gonna need these." Andrew holds up the keys to the convertible.

Sean stands up with another set of keys in his right hand. Both Andrew and Melissa are staring at him, and he answers a different question from the one they're thinking of. "What? He's not gonna need it anymore. Don't worry about the bodies. I know somebody. I'll just explain just how bad it can get for her if she doesn't clean things up. It'll take a while to get things ready. But I'll get in touch when I am."

Her attention taken from her original question Melissa asks "Why, what's the wait for? I know you're new to this but it's been more than ten years for me."

"Why the wait?! Because honeybun, I AM NOT ready. And you, you don't even know what ready looks like." With that he turns around and leaves. A moment later they hear a motor start up.

As they listen to Sean drive away Andrew raises the question both of them had thought of before, though Melissa had forgotten it for a minute. "How did he know where my keys were at? Or which car the other set belonged to?" Both realized an answer was not going to be quick in coming.

Twenty miles away and thirty minutes later Frederick entered his Master's chamber. The room was kept so dark that even his vampiric vision could not pierce the gloom. But as always a small glow encircled Frederick, insuring he did not bump into anything. It also insured he could always be seen without seeing anything himself, but Frederick tried not to think about that side of it.

"It is as you ordered Master."

"Are you certain Frederick? This is a crucial component."

"Yes, I had cameras throughout the house and watched the feed over the web." Frederick paused for a moment trying to think how to explain cameras and the World Wide Web.

Do not worry Frederick; Reyna has been explaining much of these things of technology to me while you were on your mission. These cameras are like scrying, only without magic so they can not be sensed by magical beings. I understand."

"Now what Master?"

"For now, we simply wait."