Lockley: Birthright

by Alister J Cooling

We begin with Lockley in mourning for the murder of her beloved at the hands of a Vampire. Having had revenge, the woman is now at a loss of where she is in life, no hope, no faith and no future, someone closely connected to the ancestral history of the w

Title: Lockley: Birthright

Author: Alister J Cooling

Rating: 17

Summary: We begin with Lockley in mourning for the murder of her beloved at the hands of a Vampire. Having had revenge, the woman is now at a loss of where she is in life, no hope, no faith and no future, someone closely connected to the ancestral history of the woman is about to change all that and give her a purpose.
Reluctantly teaming up with the Buffy character, Andrew Welles, her dead fiances Cousin, Esteban Cortez and the mysterious Baron Ibrahaim, Lockley begins a journey taking her to the darkest parts of Europe in search of a creature that has plagued her family since its creation

Pairing: Lockley/Andrew(not in a romantic sense)

Disclaimer: Kate Lockley, Andrew Welles and one or two other characters are the property of Joss Whedon, but for the most part these characters are from my imaginingsJ

Distribution: Please ask first!

A/N: This is a continuation of my 'Old Friends: One More Night' story.

Lockley: Birthright

Kate: "I'm okay. - Anyway, I'm not headed towards another pillathon. I'm very grateful. I never thought you'd come for me, but...I got cut a huge break and I believe...I don't know what I believe, but I have faith. I think maybe we're not alone in this."
Angel: "Why?"
Kate: "Because I never invited you in."

A Gentle fog slowly passed through the mind of Kate Lockley. Tired, she was so tired. The last week of her life had been the most hectic of her existence, culminating in a fight to the death with two beings who had caused her great pain. That was over now. The train was 8 hours away from arriving in Atlanta, where she would change to the 'New York' line. Perhaps, now she could leave L.A. behind her and start again. The slow rocking combined with the heat of the carriage gave Lockley the almost immediate need to sleep, something she had declined to do since her decision to come to L.A.

It was in L.A. that Lockley had come face to face with the monsters that had murdered her fiance this evening, monsters being the correct term, as these beings were Vampires. Blood Sucking, life-destroying Vampires, living separately from the human world, these beings controlled the night. Until four years ago, Lockley had lived in sheer ignorance of the Demonic world. As an LAPD cop, she had been witness to many different things, but had never managed to see them for what they were, had never thought the existence of these foul creatures to be true, and that the most heinous of crimes were perpetrated by the scum of the human society. It was true that some of those acts were at the hands of a human, but the more the ex-detective thought about it, the more she saw the full extent of the horror in the world.

Shortly after facing the true threat posed to humanity, Lockley's father was killed by a Vampire, bringing the world of Evil closer to her door then ever before. A slow spiral of hate, rage and disgust brought the woman to an eventual end with the LAPD, in a forced resignation, which led to a suicide attempt.

The irony of the womans life being the person who saved her, a Vampire named Angel. This single act caused Lockley to re-evaluate her own life, deciding to start afresh in New York City, hoping to become an NYPD detective.

Finding a new reason to live, Lockley soon was betrothed to a wonderful man, a Cop himself, Jason Cortez. The fates had other things in mind for the woman however, as a cruel twist Jason was murdered by a Vampire gang on the eve he proposed, forcing Lockley to visit a darker place within herself that she had never seen or new existed. One of pure bitterness and vengeance, one so dark that any light entering would be trapped forever. Following the killers to L.A, Lockley became entangled in battle against the forces of evil, reuniting with Angel.

After dispensing with the Vampires who caused her pain, Lockley left before the battle had ended, which brought her to where she was right now, alone, tired and mourning on a train home.

Looking out of the window, Lockley watched the telephone poles almost dancing by as the train travelled at great speed, almost hypnotic in their movement. Vast, open country lay beyond the banks of the track, cattle grazing as the morning sun cast a beautiful orange glow, further adding to the weary feeling inside Lockley.

...a small humming sound fills the mind of the woman now, as she sees a door at the far end of a dark corridor. The presense of the door only known due to light penetrating the cracks of where the door and frame should meet. Moving closer to the door, the humming gets louder, a melodic feel to it now. The sound is obviously coming from a living being, with something strangely familiar about the tune. As Lockley moved further, she looked around the passage, feeling the same sense of knowing recognition she was experiencing about the song. Kate Lockley had seen this bare, dark corridor before.

Finally reaching the door, Lockley outstretched a hand and grabbed the doorknob. It felt hot to the touch, almost burning her hand, but Lockley was unable to let go. The urge to open the door was too strong.

The door began to open slowly as the woman pushed, when suddenly a loud screeching sound caused the woman to let the door go and fall to the ground holding her ears.

Lockley's eyes opened. She was sat on the train again. Obviously, having fallen asleep, the woman was disorientated as her mind tried to clear up the dream and the reality.

A gentle buzz was coming from her inside pocket. Still disorientated it took a few seconds for it to register that the buzz was her mobile phone.

Reaching for it, the woman looked at the screen before answering to see who was calling. The screen simply said 'Esteban'.

Esteban Cortez was the cousin of Lockleys fiance, Jason, and since the murder, had become a little too close to Lockley, constantly checking up on her.

Lockley answered the phone.

"Hi there, Este," the woman sighed, a slight yawn breaking too.

"You ok?" the voice on the other end of the line asked.

Lockley thought for a moment, 'am i ok?'. The very notion of the question made the woman almost laugh in a depressed way. Everything she wanted from life was gone, her sole purpose of vengeance now dealt with too leaving a great chasm of emptiness residing inside, tinged with a new sense of despair of loss at what might have been.

"I'm fine," she lied, "Just on my way back to New York, should be there by tonight."

"Did you, ummm, is it done?"

Lockley knew instantly that Esteban was refering to the killing of the demons. She had taken it upon herself to tell the young man all about the demon world when Jason had died, she knew that he needed to know.

"Its done. I killed Cornelius then the other one, she didn't pose too much a threat in the end. I kinda ache now and i'm really tired, i need to get some sleep."

A short silence on the other end of the phone told Lockley that Esteban was slightly upset that she wasn't going to go in more detail.

"OK, well i'll meet you at the station when you get back to New York, give me a call when you are an hour away, ok."

"I will Este, oh and please, don't bring Sharon with you, i just want to get home and rest, its been a long few months, ok."

A single grunt of acknowledgment came from the Esteban, then the phone went dead.

Its not that Lockley didn't like Sharon, far from it. She realised the positive effect the woman was having on Esteban, it was just too much for her to see two young lovers at the moment.

Lockley placed the mobile back in her pocket and tried to sleep.

It really had been a long few months.

Slowly, her mind fogged over again, as she fell asleep.

Three months later.

A foul smell of tobacco smoke and stale beer was filling the nostrils of Lockley as she sat in the bar. A thick hanging smoke filled the surrounding area obscurring the darkest, dankest corners of the place from the bar seat where the woman was sat. On one side a large jukebox that must have been older then Lockley was, was playing some god awful music that noone in a sober state would listen to. Thankfully most of the 'noise' was dulled by the decades of dust that clogged the speakers and the din of conversation from the other customers. Opposite her, a large mirror giving her full access to the large room without ever having to turn her head. The bar itself was a combination of a putrid green and oak finish, adding a sense of nausea to the sorrowful womans current feelings of depression, however the half bottle of Jack sat taunting her from the back of the bar only helped with the feeling of imminent sickness.

"Another," Lockley told the lone bar tender.

The man appeared to have been waiting for the order as he moved in quickly, loading the shot glass to the brim with the brown, yet clear alcohol.

"Leave the bottle," the woman said before the tender placed the bottle back in its place.

As she lifted the glass to her lips, the woman paused.

"Cheers," sarcasm dripping from each syllable.

It hadn't meant to be like this. She should have been planning a wedding now, looking towards a future of hope and promise, not sat in the seediest bar in Brooklyn knocking back enough alcohol to knockout a semi decent alcoholic.

Since the destruction of the being who had caused this pain and self loathing, nothing had given Lockley a purpose. When she had followed the beings to LA, she had not dared hope to have the chance of a normal life again, but when the demon had died, for the briefest moment she allowed herself to dream of a future where she had moved on with her life, but for the last three months she had sat in the same bar, on the same stool nursing the name drink until closing made her go back to her large empty apartment, open a new bottle of cheap whiskey and drown her sorrows deeper until she gave to unconciousness. It hadn't helped that since LA, she had been having the same dream of herself in a long dark corridor followed by a soul piercing scream that seemed vaguely reminisent of a memory that just didn't want to be remembered. This feeling of emptiness and despair had creeped into every aspect of her, even forcing the one person who needed to be around her to back off a little.

"This seat tak..." a voice began behind the woman.

Lockley looked up and saw a man, neatly presented standing in a perfectly crisp grey suit.

"Its occupied," she answered, not a single tone to her voice expect that of lost cause.

The man smiled and proceeded to take a seat.

"The last guy who sat next to me has three broken ribs, a black eye and memories of intimate relations with a pool cue. The seat is taken." she said more forcefully, leaving no doubt she meant every word.

Lockley saw the man give her a look of disbelief, then he turned to look at the barman, who nodded in affirmation of her comment.

With a look of horror, the man turned and walked away faster then he should have and accidently banged into a table clearer causing a load of half empty glasses come crashing to the floor leading to a spectacle of stale beer and glass shards spilling across the already stained floor.

"You see Charlie, if i wanted company i'd go somewhere better then here. All i want is a drink, occasionally a plate of nachos and solitude. Thats not too much to ask, is it?" asked without even looking at the keeper, "Watch my glass."

With that she stood and began to walk to the ladies room. She walked past more people playing pool and was aware that each man was giving her the once over, wondering if they would get lucky with her tonight. She knew that none of them would ever attempt a come on as they had all witnessed the way in which she told men to back off. She had never struck a man, but the story she had used and the bar tender had helped spread was now almost a legend of the bar, giving everyone who frequented the place pause to even say 'excuse me' when they tried to pass her.

The last few meters before the restroom was always the part of the bar that Lockley hated. Due to its location, it was illuminated rather well and both sides of the corridor were covered in a mirror like reflective surface that showed Lockley the full force of what she was doing to herself that the murky lighting of the main bar hid from everyone.

As she walked to the end, she came to a stained cream coloured door, with "L", "A", "D" and "S" in small black letters across the top, leaving room for an "I" and a discolouring of the area between the "D" and "S", showing that the letter was missing, but had gone relatively recently. Underneath was a stick figured woman that someone had decided to 'fill in' with what they thought was amusing breasts, obviously there for the 'so drunk they can't read so need pictures" crowd that came in.

Slowly pushing the door, the full glare of flourescent lighting made Lockley recoil ever so, as the dark of the bar, and even the lighting of the corridor, were no match for the powerfulness of the restroom itself.

A new smell penetrated the womans nostrils now, a smell of stale urine and bleach. The entire time Lockley had come to the bar, she had never seen anyone enter this area with so much as a cloth, let alone stronger cleaning products and accessories, but if she had wanted class, she wouldn't be sat in 'Jacksons' would she?

She walked straight to the only sink that worked and began to run cold water. Hot would have been prefered as the time of year was cooling, but as it stood the bar was lucky to have anything running to this part of the place, and beggars certainly can't be choosers.

Allowing the cold, almost freezing water to slowly glide over her hands, Lockley felt numb to the temperature and allowed her hands to fill as she had them cupped.

Lifting the water, she doused her face in the bitter coldness giving a short, sharp, shock to the system as the she did it.

Looking up, she saw the full extent this barrage of drinking to extreme and the restless nights sleeping was doing to her face, but she didn't care, she had nothing to be presentable for.

Looking deeper into her eyes, the woman saw a deathly emptiness that seemed to be consuming her from within leaving her bare.

Her consentration was taken from her as a loud scream suddenly filled the restroom from the open window next to a fire escape at the far end of the lavatory. Instinctively, Lockley began to move to the door, when a realisation made her stop. Whats the point? She could go and help, but why should she? Chances were she'd not be much of a help and would wind up dead herself.

But a second, louder scream from the same person wiped away any doubt and Lockley ran fast to the door.

Forcing it open with a well placed foot on the opening bar, the door flew open, allowing Lockley to see the dark alleyway with the street covered in garbage and rats running across.

The light from the restroom illuminated the area opposite allowing Lockley to see the source of the scream.

"Please, get off me," whimpered a woman, as a man had her pinned against the wall.

The man had his arm holding the woman, while another was reaching inside her clothing, molesting her.

Lockley saw the womans face, stained with tears, her eyes hollowing with what was about to happen.

"Let her go," Lockley ordered, without moving from the spot.

The man didn't pay attention to her words at all.

"Listen Girly, just do yourself a favour and go back inside." he said still groping at the woman. "My boys are in talking distance and wouldn't mind having a go on something that hasn't already been used by me."

Lockley was disgusted by the man, so reached round her back and pulled out a revolver.

Her father had given her this weapon some years ago to carry on such occasions. He had told her that even though he was a cop, he didn't want his 'Katie' walking around Downtown LA unprotected. This gift had been put away when she had joined the Police Academy, but when she resigned from the force, she had to return the issued weapons leaving her with only this one.

Without even waiting for further commentary, Lockley fired the gun right into the leg of the man, forcing him to yell in pain and let go of the girl.

As he fell to the floor, Lockley walked up to him.

"If your 'boys' want the same, let them come out to play."

The man continued to scream in pain, but no one else came out of the shadows.

"I thought not," Lockley said as she turned and walked back to the doorway.

The woman who had been attacked had run inside the bar before Lockley could close the door. Lockley opened the door leading to the horrid corridor, then proceeded to the bar itself. As she entered, she saw the woman standing at the bar, talking to the bar man who inturn grabbed the phone.

"I so don't need this," Lockley said to herself.

A crowd was forming around the other woman now, as people showed some concern, however Lockley didn't want to be part of it. She walked to the bar, reaching into her pocket for any money. Two twenties came out in her hand, which she left on the bar.

Her eyes caught those of the bar tender who gave her a nod as if to acknowledge he wouldn't he didn't know who she was.

As she continued to walk to the exit, the other woman called after her.

"Thank you," she yelled above the din of the music and people talking.

Not stopping, Lockley opened the bar door, walked onto the street and headed for home.

The cool night air collided with Lockleys face as she walked down the sidewalk. In the bar she had been warm and maybe a little tipsy, but now she was standing in the cool night air, she began to shiver, her senses returning to a near sober state. Hands firmly in her pocket, she continued in the direction of her apartement, realising she had one stop along the way. Head down looking at the street, as to not make eye contact with anyone, Lockley started to speed up, she just wanted to get home.

The street itself was very quiet, a little odd for this time of day, but that didn't concern the woman, infact it made the walking easier. After walking the street for ten minutes, Lockley finally started to slow down, 'Joes Liquor Store' was just around the corner and she needed to stock up.

As she turned the corner, sure enough, the bright lights of the store seemingly splashed out onto the street, giving the sidewalk a weird yellow glow. Walking faster now, Lockley reached the door and firmly pushed.

There was no give. The door was locked.

This made no sense to Lockley, as the store generally stayed open till midnight, and it had only just past 10 when she left the bar. Looking through the window, Lockley saw Joe milling around in the back of his store, with a concerned look on his face. Not really sure, or even caring, what was going on, Lockley wanted some whiskey so began to knock on the window.

Joe didn't even look at the knocking. This caused mild concern in Lockley, this wasn't normal, not at all, but she really didn't want to hang around. She hated to stay long in this part of Brooklyn, as opposite the shop was St. Maria's Church. The church itself wasn't an issue. Lockley had used this as her Church since she had arrived in Brooklyn. The issue was this was the Church Jason had planned to marry her in. They had discussed it long before Jason even proposed as Kate had grown quite friendly with Father Mulcahy.

Looking in the direction of the Church, Lockley saw a moving light in the window. Someone was inside the Church with a torch.

Hesistating slightly, Lockley realised she had to investigate, if only to put her mind at ease.

Walking across the street, the woman slowly pulled out her gun, again, going into 'cop mode', edged slowly towards the door.

The door was unlocked, which again was not right, as this time of night, in this neighborhood, the church would be locked down. Opening ever so slightly, Lockley tried to get a glimpse of the area near the window where the torchlight had been, but the area was dark again.

Pushing the door open just enough to allow the slender woman to move through, she quickly scanned the area for movement.

At the far end of the hall, by the altar, someone was moving. Whoever it was appeared to be re-arranging things, but it was too dark for Lockley to see who it was, and what they were doing exactly.

Stalking, slowly, Lockley moved up the central passage of the church, making sure not to make a sound.

For the briefest moment, Lockley felt at home. Her gun in hand, moving in on a 'perp', it was almost like being back in the LAPD, but she snapped out of that rather quickly. She wasn't a cop anymore, she didn't want to be.

"Freeze," She shouted to the person at the Altar, as she drew up close enough.

The person stopped doing what they were doing, and began to face Lockley.

As the person turned, the flashlight was still on, illuminating certain features of them.

"Father Mulcahy?" Lockley asked rhetorically.

Before her stood the priest who she had grown friendly with. She had not seen the man since before Jasons death. His face had weathered some since then. The light of the torch, gave a ghostly feel to the man, highlighting all his facial wrinkles, but it was his eyes that made Lockley feel the aged man had advanced. They seemed dark, lifeless, as if the soul inside him has withered and died leaving behind the slowly decaying body of a once proud man.

"Katie, its lovely to see you again," came the response in the Irish brogue, Lockley had found endearing at one time.

"Whats happening Father, why are you here so late?"

The man moved from his place towards the first pew and took a seat.

"I bore witness to a heinous crime," the man began, "a crime of the Devil himself."

Lockley sat, wondering what the Priest was going on about.

"Three weeks ago, the Church was broken into. Nothing was taken but heathens desecrated this Holy House. Luckily, the congregation had left, for i know not what these people would have done to them. They were like wild animals, taking pleasure in the vandalism of this sacred place."

Lockley looked on in concern. It was no secret that the area surrounding St Marias wasn't exactly the safest area, but the local gangs tended to leave the Church alone.

"Did you recognise any of them?" She asked, almost wishing she had not come to the Church this evening.

Last thing she needed was to fight someone else's cause, especially the Church.

"Well, Katie, thats the thing. I recognised none of them, but i saw evil in their eyes. Their faces were demonic, with bulging brow and protruding teeth. If i didn't know better, i would have called them...well I would say they were..."

"Vampires," she interrupted.

"I'm a silly old fool," he finished, "you don't need to listen to the rantings of a man about these demons, especially as they are not real."

This made Lockley smile. For the first time in as long as she could remember she smiled, though it was one of bitterness. Life would have been so much easier had the Priests statement been real.

"Oh, Father, they are," Lockley replied.

Lockley looked into the mans eyes, but instead of seeing a look of horror, or realisation, she saw one of confirmation that he knew they existed, just wasn't sure she knew.

"This new gang have been plaguing these streets for weeks now. The people are scared. I know you have had troubles, but I would ask, can you help?"

This was tough. The Church was asking for her help, but she didn't have the strength to say yes. It pained her, but she had no will to do so.

"I'm sorry Father," she replied, "I, I can't."

She began to get up ready to go home.

"Please, I implore you to reconsider, if not for me, then for your God?"

This last comment made Lockley stand still.

"God?" She sneered. "Where was 'God' when my father was killed? Where was 'God' when Jason was murdered by similar Godless creatures? When my mother was taken from me, did 'God' help me? No."

Lockley felt a feeling of pain, anguish and hatred building inside her.

She turned towards the altar, looked upon the large Cross dominating the central space of the room with Jesus hanging from it.

"How dare you ask for my help in his name, when he had no time for my prayers, my life," she fumed.

Without a second thought, Lockley grabbed the gold cross around her neck, and with one swift tug broke the clasp. She threw it to the base of the cross, then turned to leave.

"I have no need for a 'God' in my life."

With that, she walked faster to the main entrance.

Father Mulcahy stood where Lockley had just been, and picked up her cross necklace.

"She has indeed lost all faith," the Priest said out loud.

"Excellent," came the reply of a man with an indistiguishable eastern European accent, walking from the shadows.

Standing at least 6 foot tall, the man was completely covered in a red robe, head covered by a hood.

"She is almost ready, I will make my presence known to her in a few days, when the time is right"

The man reached out his hand, old an withered, and took the cross from the Priests hand.

"Until then Father, i must insist on my existence to remain a secret from her."

The Priest nodded his head in agreement.

Lockley slammed the door to the Church closed behind her. Immediately as the door closed, she felt as though she had slammed the doors to her Heaven, her salvation, and looked upon the street ahead, a sight akin to her perception of Hell.

In the time she had been inside the Church, two cars had been ignited, flames of golden orange with a mild ameythest heart had started a dance through the hood of a beat up Volkswagon, beautiful in a sinister way. The flames were almost hypnotizing the woman to stand and watch, ignoring the rest of the scene, her troubles, her life. Coming too and shaking that off, Lockley scanned the street, seeing things she had missed in her attempt to be as quick as possible in this area.

Graffiti strewn across anything big enough to be legible saying, 'Darkness of Hell, wash away thy hope', 'Night-Riders of Brogan' and 'The Blood of Innocent' labelling walls, abandoned cars and windows. Shop windows were bare of stock, even when Lockley looked back at Joes, all sale signs had been taken down, almost suggesting that no one was at home.

The air had a smell of death, one reminiscent of Lockley's last trip to L.A. This was not where she wanted, or needed, to be right now.

As she began to walk down the steps, a huge crash and smash followed by a heavy thump drew the womans eyes back to the store front of Joe's Liquor Store.

The sidewalk that was bathed in the yellow light earlier, now had the body of a man, Joe, covered and surrounded by glass from the window he had so obviously come through.

In the store, standing at the new opening, three men, shadowed by the the bright light behind them, appeared to be watching the crumpled form on the ground hoping for movement.

A scream, forced Lockley to take her eyes off this situation and look up at the window above.

Standing, banging on the glass, a woman was crying, pleading something, tones of anguish and pain in her voice, a feeling Lockley was more then able to understand.

Of course it was Joes wife who Lockley had seen a few times when she had been in the store for her supplies.

Lockley felt a need to help Joe, the need being stronger then her resolve to just walk away.

As she moved closer, the visage of one of the men became clearer.

The man was a Vampire, though, in honesty Lockley had known this from the moment she had seen them in the window.

Another urge to reach for her gun was submerged by the realisation it would have little effect.

On the ground she noticed exactly what she needed, a piece of wood about 10 inches long, a rough splintered edge to it, indicated it was from something carved, such as a piece of furniture, that had been ripped apart and left on the street.

Still in stealth mode, Lockley walked slower, hoping that none of the demons that had now moved from the window, to the body, had noticed her.

"...Brogan demands the money or next time its your child." the voice of the Vampire Lockley had been watching said to the unmoving form on the ground.

Another one of the men moved forwards.

The light from the window now illuminated the faces of the three men, who still had not noticed Lockley edging ever closer to them.

The faces of two lit up, at the prospect of devouring the life force of the man on the street, but the third seemed hesitant to begin kill him truly.

"If we kill the man, Brogan will kill us," The hesistant Vampire said, a tint of fear in the words, "or worse."

Mere meters away from them, Lockley was almost ready to pounce.

Lifting the stake in her hand, she began to count to herself.

"1" she whispered, more to reassure herself she was about to do what she planned.

"2", fingers gripping the stake harder, feeling the ragged wooden edges grate against her skin.

"3", a bead of sweat, trickled down the side of her face, drawn from the anticipation of her next move.

"4" final positioning ready to make the attack as swift, specific and powerful as possible.

"5," she bellowed.

But something held the woman back from her attack.

The back of her neck felt the pressure of something grabbing it. Head locked in place, Lockley had the unpleasant, but familiar, sensation of being lifted from the ground.

"Seems we have a new face." came the soft sutble tones of a very sensual, feminine voice.

The voice was too distant to be from whoever was holding Lockley up.

From the way Lockley was being held, she could still see the three Vampires, but could not see who the woman was, or the person holding her.

"Markus, Herc, I said no one is to feast on anyone in this neighbourhood, without my say so." The female continued, "I hope, that was never your intention."

Lockley noticed the two Vampires who had seemed to consider eating Joe, cower slightly behind the third.

"So, who do we have here," finsihed the female.

Lockley didn't answer, instead tried to wriggle ever so slightly to get the stake changing direction in her hand.

Movement in Lockley's peripheral vision, allowed her to know someone was moving.

Lockley didn't have time to think too much, she had to escape the clutches of who, or indeed what, ever was holding her.

Moving her arm slowly, Lockley was about to thrust with all her might the stake backwards and hope it would pierce whatever stood behind her, but an odd sensation in her arm told her this was not gonna happen.

Something sharp and pointed touched Lockley's wrist, indicating that the stake had been seen.

Breathing deeply now, Lockley felt concern in her stomach, concern that any moment she would be the thing that these Vampires would be feasting on tonight.

Walking into view, finally, the source of the voice had stepped.

Lockley was looking at a tall, beautiful black woman. The light from the store allowing Lockley to see every single feature of this woman. Her skin was perfect, flawless in design, no blemish needing covering from make-up. Her hair was perfect too, curls framing this beautiful face almost highlighting everything.

Her eyes were illuminating, brown in colour, almost like the most expensive Belgian chocolate drops swimming in an ocean of the purest milk.

As a hand slowly passed the face of the woman, Lockley noticed that each had a finger nail atleast 2 inches long with a point on each, giving her hands a claw-like feel.

"My name is Brogan, why are you in my neighbourhood?" she asked Lockley.

Still insistant to not say a word, Lockley just stared into the eyes of the woman. Further movement behind Brogan caught her attention. Joe was alive.

"Ahh, you are awake, I hope that my 'collegues' have instilled in you the importance of our business arrangement."

The man stood, shakily, and moved in closer to Brogan.

"Y-y-y-yes, i w-w-was going to pay everything tomorrow, I swear," he stammered, "its been a really p-p-poor weak..."

"These sound like excuses Joe, and you know I don't like them. I'll be sending Gustav here tomorrow night, if he doesnt bring me good news then you will have one less mouth to feed, ok?"

Joe quickly agreed.

"Now, go back in your store, clean up and look after that delightful child of yours."

Lockley noticed the look of horror in Joes eyes, obviously understanding the hidden threat within that last comment.

"As for you," the woman continued, "if you refuse to talk, then i'll have to have my own fun."

The beautiful vision of this woman, suddenly became distorted by the powerful cranial ridges of a Vampire. Long, pointed fangs, pearly white, protruded from the mouth.

Through everything that had happened in the last minute, Lockley had forgot she was still holding the stake. A movement of her hand alerted her to this fact, as she felt a stinging pain from what must have been splinters from the wood break the skin.

Before thinking through properly, Lockley thrust her arm backwards inserting the stake into some part of the beast currently holding her. She realised this would not kill the being holding her, it was too low for a start, but it did cause enough immediate pain for the thing to loosen its grip on her.

Falling to the floor, Lockley didn't feel like sticking around, so, with a quick roll to the left, she managed to pass the Vampire named Brogan then get to her feet and run.

This wasn't the first time Lockley had escaped from a similar situation by running away and she despised herself for it.

The death of Jason had truly knocked every ounce of her being from her.

Without looking back, Lockley pushed herself to run faster then she thought possible of herself. She had no other desire then to get home, lock herself away from everything that had happened this evening and drink.

Before she had realised it, she had run 7 blocks in a matter of minutes, and not one of the beasts had caught her. This was odd, as Lockley was more then aware that Vampires were faster then humans, so she decided to look behind her.

Nothing was there.

Finally allowing herself top stop and gain some perspective of the situation, Lockley began to look to where exactly she was.

At the same time, a powerful tightening sensation began to course its way through her chest.

She was terribly out of shape, more down to the alcohol consumption then lack of exercise, though the morning run she used to enjoy with Jason was but a mere memory these days.

Gasping for air, the woman leaned against a wall. She needed to gather herself for the last couple of blocks.

The thought of what just happened started to filter back into her mind now the adrenaline was calming.

She saw the Vampire almost ready to attack her. She felt the larger beast behind her holding in the air. She also remembered something she hadn't noticed at the time. She had been feeling fear. Lockley was remembering being scared in that situation, something she had not truly felt before.

This was disconcerting, allowing these demons to scare her.

Slowly gaining some strength, she began to walk in the direction of her building. The streets were slightly more occupied around here, a few bars led onto Lockleys block.

Lockley had tried a few of them, but she wasn't impressed by the fuss of them all, and one of them, Morgans, was a Cop Bar and she didn't want to be surrounded by Cops.