Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz!

AN: Okay, so…I've been throwing around some ideas lately, and I'm going to attempt to write two fanfics at the same time. Not an easy thing for me, because I normally like to invest myself in one plot at a time and see it through to the end, but with all the ideas I have in my head, threatening to make it explode, I have to begin writing them. I promised the readers of my story Night Stalkers a sequel, and damnit, they're going to get one. So I'll be alternating between that sequel and this story, so there might be quite a while between updates…but I'll do my best. Anyway, enough with my chattering…on to the story!

Walking into the building, Leigh took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. For a moment, she vaguely wondered what the hell she was even doing there. Only the crumpled sheet of paper clutched tightly in her had reminded her of why she had risked everything to come here…she needed answers. She prayed to god that, while she was gone, nobody noticed her absence. If it was discovered that she'd left…well, she didn't particularly want to think about that.

The elevator arrived at the floor she'd selected within minutes. Her palms began to sweat. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know anymore…but there was a part of her that forced her to keep going. She'd come too far; she couldn't turn and run away now…not now that she'd risked everything for this…not now that she was so close.

Taking another deep breath and brushing some of her shoulder-length hair out of her face, she knocked loudly on the door in front of her.

MLMLMLML

Mick sighed. He'd been trying to get some sleep, but he'd had little luck. Now that he was just drifting off into an uneasy sleep, someone was knocking on the door. He grudgingly climbed out of his freezer and got dressed, doing so with lightning speed so that whoever was at the door wouldn't be kept waiting.

Rubbing a hand through his hair, Mick ran down the stairs, pausing only for a moment to allow himself the impossible possibility that maybe it could be Beth knocking at the door. He highly doubted it though; three weeks had passed since Josh's funeral, and since then she'd barely spoken to him. He'd given her space, not forcing anything…but he couldn't help the hope that maybe she would come around. He missed her terribly.

The cure had worn off mere days ago, though he still couldn't help but miss being human, even if the brief opportunity to be human again had given him the chance to let go, to say goodbye to it once and for all. It had helped him to finally come to terms with his vampirism…to embrace it.

He shook his head slightly, clearing his head of his numerous thoughts before walking over to the screen mounted to the wall beside the door. As he'd expected, it wasn't Beth on the other side. Instead, he was met with a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old, with shoulder-length, vibrant red hair streaked with blue. She wore a leather jacket, combat boots, and a knee-length black skirt over fishnet stockings. She was extremely beautiful, but it was slightly obscured by the heavy black eye makeup she wore. She was about 5'10, and slim, but not too skinny. She had a distinctly determined look on her face.

Mick stood watching her on the screen for a moment before she knocked again, impatiently. He opened the door just as she was raising her hand to knock for a third time.

"Hey, sorry for the wait. How can I help you?" Mick asked the girl. She stood silently, taking in his appearance. After looking him up and down several times, she finally spoke.

"My name is Leigh. Leigh Francis." She said, a tinge of uncertainty in her voice. Mick noticed this immediately, but made no indication. She continued. "I-I'm looking for Mick St. John, the Private Investigator."

"Well, you came to the right place. I'm Mick." Mick smiled, extending his hand. Leigh took it uncertainly. Mick stepped aside, allowing Leigh to enter. Mick walked into the living room area of the apartment, while Leigh stood in the doorway. Mick noticed her hesitation and gave her a reassuring smile. "Why don't you and I talk in my office?" He suggested.

Leigh nodded silently and followed him into his office. Mick took a seat behind his desk and motioned for Leigh to take the seat on the opposite side. Leigh walked over to the seat and sank wearily into it. Mick regarded her for a moment across the desk before speaking.

"So…Miss Francis-"

"Leigh. It's Leigh."

"Alright, Leigh." Mick corrected. "What is it that you need my help with?"

Leigh sighed, clearly steeling herself for what she was about to say. She wanted to choose her words very carefully. Finally, she spoke.

"Look…I know this might sound really strange, but…well…I think there might be something wrong with my parents-"

Mick sighed.

"Look." He said, inadvertently taking on a somewhat patronizing tone. "You're not the first teenager to think that something's wrong with their parents. Everyone's parents are a little strange, but-"

"I'm not making this up!" Leigh cried, resisting the urge to jump up out of her seat.

Mick sighed, trying to figure out how to say what he needed to say without aggravating this girl any further. He decided to try a different approach.

"Look, Leigh. Unless you have any evidence to support this theory of yours-"

"How about this for proof?" Leigh asked angrily, thrusting the paper still clutched in her hand in front of Mick. Mick glanced at it and quickly fell silent. It looked to be a printout from a website. A website for missing children.

Mick held the paper up so that he could take a better look at it. On the paper there was a large picture of a thee-year old with straight brown hair in pigtails tied with red ribbons. The freckle-faced girl was smiling widely, showing a mouthful of tiny teeth. She wore a small, purple polka-dotted turtleneck shirt. Mick read the name on the bottom of the page. The little girl's name was Elizabeth Georgia McKnight.

Mick's eyes flew from he paper in front of him to Leigh sitting in the seat across from him. Despite the difference in age, it wasn't difficult for Mick, or anyone for that matter, to see that Leigh and little Elizabeth bore striking similarities. Mick knew that Leigh thought that she and Elizabeth were one in the same. Mick couldn't help but suspect the same thing.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Mick asked, suddenly taking on a serious attitude.

"Yes, I am. Can't you see that this little girl is me?"

Mick regarded the photograph again. The little girl had been kidnapped in 1993, when she was just three years old. Leigh was about the right age. And the physical similarity in appearance between the two girls was uncanny.

"I have to admit, there does seem to be a definite similarity between the two of you." Mick admitted, looking Leigh in the eye, a serious expression on his face. "How did you come across this?"

"Well…about a week ago, my parents went out, and I was left home alone." Leigh began. "I snuck onto their computer…I was curious what adults used the computer for." She shrugged. Mick found her comment a little peculiar, but allowed her to continue without interruption. "So I hacked into their system and came across a file with a list of names of people I'd never met before. This one in particular jumped out at me."

Leigh gestured to the piece of paper in Mick's hand.

"It seemed oddly familiar." She continued. "Like I'd heard the name before…maybe in a dream or something. So I cross-referenced it with a search engine on the net and this came up. I recognized the picture instantly…it's pretty hard not to recognize yourself, even if it is from years ago."

Mick looked at her. There was something slightly off about what she was telling him, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Leigh…" He began, "what did you mean when you said you 'wondered what adults used the computer for'?"

Leigh just looked at him as though he'd just asked what colour the sky was.

"I would have thought that would be obvious. I mean, the only reason someone who hasn't come of age uses the computer is for training."

Mick stared at her. He had no idea what she was talking about. "But…kids use the computer just as much as adults do. Haven't you ever just surfed the web? Played computer games? Listened to mp3's?"

"Uh…no. What the hell are computer games? And mp3s?" Leigh asked, looking at him as though he were crazy.

It was Mick's turn to look at her as though she were an alien. Then another thing she'd said struck him.

"Leigh…what kind of 'training' do you do on the computer."

Leigh looked at him again as though he'd just asked about the most obvious thing in the world. "Computer training…hacking, decoding, programming…the usual."

Mick looked surprised. How could she possibly think that being trained to manipulate computer technology like that was normal?

"Leigh…what exactly are they training you for?"

"For adult life…after the 'coming of age' ceremony, of course."

Mick was thoroughly confused now. "Is everyone trained like that?"

"Of course." Leigh replied…she couldn't understand why he wasn't getting it. This stuff was common knowledge.

For the next hour, Mick continued to question Leigh, who revealed some rather disturbing information. She told him that she lived in an isolated community, where leaving was forbidden. She explained that she'd risked severe punishment from the community tribunal by going there and asking him for help. She explained that what the children in the community read and watched, as well as where they went, was closely monitored at all times. She'd had a hard time sneaking off to see him. Also, from the time they were five years old, every child in the community began rigorous training in everything from combat to computer hacking, in preparation for the day they would leave the community after they came of age. She also explained that, in a month's time, she would turn eighteen. She explained that, on the eighteenth birthday of every child in the community, a 'Coming of Age' ceremony was held by adult community members. The coming of age ceremony was shrouded in mystery, because no community member under the age of eighteen was allowed to attend. Also, the day after their 'Coming of Age' ceremony, community members left the community. Only the parents of community members remained in the community.

Mick listened, fighting a sick feeling that was growing in the pit of his stomach. This 'community' she was speaking of was beginning to sound more and more like some sort of cult.

With each of Mick's questions, Leigh became more and more sure that something was definitely wrong in her community. After all, it seemed that every time one community member came of age and left, their parents would bring home a new baby, or adopt a young child. She was also beginning to think that the way things worked in her community wasn't exactly the way things worked outside of it, like she'd always been taught to believe. New and disturbing questions began popping into her mind, each more disturbing than the last.

As Leigh was finishing answering one of his questions, a thought struck Mick, hitting him like a ton of bricks. Her scent! He hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now that he thought about it, there was definitely something different about her scent. She was human; he knew that much for sure, but there was an underlying scent…a vampire's scent! Mick realized that something definitely was wrong with her parents…and possibly her entire community. They were vampires! Mick vaguely wondered if she knew about the existence of vampires, but quickly realized that she didn't. If she did, she wouldn't have come to him to ask him to investigate her parents.

Which only raised more questions in his mind…how could someone live in such close proximity with vampires on a day-to-day basis and not know? If she did, indeed, live with vampires, surely she would know after fourteen years. And what exactly was this 'Coming of Age' ceremony?

"…So will you help me?" Leigh asked, drawing hi from his thoughts.

"What? Oh, yeah…I'll look into it." Mick assured her.

Leigh pulled an envelope out of her pocket and threw it on the table. "Will fifty thousand cover it?"

Mick just stared at her. How the hell could this girl get her hands on fifty thousand dollars…in cash?

"Yeah, that'll more than cover it." Mick replied. "Are you sure you can afford fifty thousand dollars? And won't your parents notice it's missing?"

Leigh laughed. "My parents are a little more than comfortably well off. They won't notice. Besides, I hacked into a secret account they had set up for me for when I leave the community. Turns out it wasn't so secret. They won't suspect a thing."

Mick looked at her seriously and nodded. Leigh looked at her watch and jumped up out of her chair.

"Shit! I'm late! Look…I have to go. I stayed longer than I thought I would. And if anyone notices I'm gone…"

"I understand. I'll look into it for you." Mick promised, extending a hand. Leigh took it, before grabbing her bag and rushing out of the apartment.

Mick walked into his living room, standing for a moment in the middle of the room. He let out a breath, running a hand through his dark hair. He patted the pockets of his black jeans, looking for his cell phone, before finding it sitting on the coffee table. He sunk down onto the sofa, looking at the phone for a few minutes. He debated whether or not he should make the call. But he needed help with this…

He'd dialled the number before he had a chance to stop himself. He listened to the ringing; afraid she wouldn't answer his call. Which was why he was surprised to hear her voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Mick."

AN: Well, there it is. It's not much, but it's a start. As I predicted…not to mention everyone else in town…it was a snow day. So I was able to get this done sooner than I'd expected. The next chapter might take a while, though…I'm going to be working on a sequel to my story Night Stalkers at the same time, so I'll be alternating between them while writing chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter…please review! I need the love and inspiration.

Love always, Cat.