Bones

I was sitting with my mate Randy in a bar, him shifting nervously, me drinking my normal whiskey. Lucifer's bouncing balls, I wish I could still get drunk. For four years I had searched high and low for Kitten. Four years since I went out to get us the ID we would need to start a new life together, and came home to a note telling me that she had to leave in order to protect me. That she had been approached by the government and agreed to go to secure safety for me and her mother. That I should get on with my life. That was the bloody best part. 240 years I spent alone until I found her. 5 months with her (and weeks of that with her hating me) that were the best of my life. And then right when things seemed to be coming together, and we were going to run away with each other, she leaves. And since then, 4 years of searching, chasing down lead after lead after lead. I'd finally narrowed her down to probably being in Virginia, but now it was just looking for names in databases, checking up on the deaths of vampires and ghouls in the area, and attempting to drown my sorrows in as much whiskey as the bartender would give me. Like I said, I wish I could still get drunk. Bloody vampire metabolism.

"Cris? Cris? Are you listening to me?"

I broke out of my revelry. Randy had been trying to get ahold my attention for a while now, judging by the annoyed look on his face. Didn't help that I'd given him an alias, I wasn't used to responding to the name Cris. "Sorry mate. Thoughts got away from me. What was that?"

Randy broke out into a wide grin. "I met this amazing girl, and I proposed. I was hoping you would be one of the groomsmen." He looked so bloody happy. Crazy to marry a girl he had just met, but when you know, you know. I'd known from the day I met Kitten. Maybe if I had proposed the day I rescued her instead of putting it off for a more romantic time she wouldn't have left.

"Be glad to mate. Anyway I can help out?" I asked, trying to look genially happy for him, though I was more than a little jealous.

"I'll be moving into her house this weekend. She says she has enough help, but another pair of hands could be helpful. And you are a damn sight stronger than I am. Can I let you know if we need you?" Randy gave me a knowing glance. He knew I was a vampire. Known it since the day he sat next to me in a bar and mentioned that I hadn't breathed for half an hour.

"Sure mate. Just give me a ring."

Cat

I was standing outside my best friend Denise's house, watching her fiancé Randy pull in with the moving van. He carefully backed it up into the driveway as I helped guide him like a Ground Marshall at an airport. Randy jumped out of the driver's side and looked around. "Where is everyone else?" He looked at Denise. "I thought you said you had plenty of help."

Denise nodded. "Cat comes from a long line of farmers, she'll be plenty."

Randy looked skeptical. "I have a friend who said he'd help if we need it." He looked at the quickly darkening sky, and the hundred feet between the truck and the entrance to the house. "Looks like a storm is brewing, I'd like to get as much done as possible before the rain starts."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself." No use explaining a half vampire was all the moving help you need. No need to tell Randy about vampires, he was a nice normal guy. Just let him believe my preternatural strength was due to growing up on a farm. I picked up a Lay-Z-Boy and headed inside.

Bones

I was sitting at the bar when I got a text. 'Looks like we might need your help after all. Thunder storm coming, want to get as much in as we can before it starts.' I tossed a $20 on the bar (still don't quite get tipping in America, so I just always vastly overpay) and climbed onto my new Dukati. I raced off to the address he had given me, enjoying feeling the wind in my hair. There is nothing like being a vampire on a motorcycle. I'm practically indestructible, so no need for a helmet. Now, bugs in the face are still a right nuisance, so I avoid breathing at all. Blunts the sense of smell, but no one wants a case of gnat-nose. I still own a helmet though. I went back for it after ditching my motorcycle in Ohio. There were still a few of Kitten's long red hairs caught in it. I had so little of her; I put them in a small glassine bag and would sometimes leave them on the pillow next to me while I slept.

A couple miles from the address, it started to rain. Thunder rolled in the distance. The air smelled of ozone and dust, overwhelming everything else. The moving truck came into view, and as I approached it I turned into a stop, hopping off while letting the bike slide under the truck to keep it dry. Hey, sometimes I still like to show off. I walked around the truck, and my world stopped.

Cat

Damn, as fast as I'd worked, I hadn't been able to clear out the truck before the rain hit. I got about half of the boxes in (which Denise and Randy were unpacking), and some of the furniture, before it started raining buckets. The air was charged with the threat of lightning, and it seemed to be getting stronger by the second. I grabbed one last box, some computer accessories according to the label, and came out of the truck. I turned around to face the house, and dropped the box.