Welcome, salutations, and manifold greetings o reader. What you look upon now is the first of a small series of tales that will feature a new character of Detroit. This story arc came about as I was working on developing a cadre of less then nice people to plague my poor battered heroes. One of them stuck out as having an interesting background, and I decided to embellish on it, this will be those stories. As always questions, rants, confusions, and that amazing story about the tuna and the weed whacker can be sent to me at arcanloth@hotmail.com. (For those who care about my continuity this story runs parralel with the Marv tale "Home Improvement", to be posted at a reputable server near you soon.) Now, please feel free to read on.

Sweet as Strawberries: A Tale of Detroit

Target 1: Wrong Bar

I'm a dead man, and I'm going to die. I realize that sounds a little...y'know, redundant. It ain't. Let me break it down for you real simple like. I'm a vampire. Every night I arise from my sleep to drink the blood of the living as I have done for the past sixty years. I'm part of a large group of vampires called the Camarilla. We're the reason you never know about us. We make sure that nobody ever remembers or can prove anything about us. We're very good at our job.

I also said I'm going to die. Speaking as a creature capable of bending steel in my bare hands and moving faster then you can imagine this might seem a surprising statement. But then you probably don't know about the Sabbat. They're the opposite of the Camarilla. While we try to hold onto and maintain an illusion of our human nature they revel in their own monstrous atrocity. We think of humans as sheep to be herded. They think of them as cattle to be culled. A minor difference perhaps, but trust me, you should be happy we control most of the major cities. Better a sheep then a Happy Meal after all.

But it's this control that pisses the Sabbat off. Y'see, we're basically winning the war because we know how to handle people. But the Sabbat don't wanna go easy, thus they tend to keep things simple. We outmaneuver, outsmart, outplay. They try to kill us. Sure we kill them too. In a face to face, one on one fight I'm up to taking on any damn Sabbat fuckhead. But the Sabbat like to hunt in packs, like jackals or wolves. They wear you out, reel you in, and bring you down. For as good as we are at dealing with humans, the Sabbat is just as good at dealing death and mayhem.

That's why I knew there was going to be trouble the instant I walked into my club. I'd been closed down for "renovations" to the place. In truth I'd been having a couple of meetings and trying to wrangle some extra power and control for myself. I'd been mainly using the club to help hold the meetings and house my human servants. But when I walked in tonight the place was a shattered ruin. My boys were strewn from the rafters, seriously! Their bodies had been ripped open and blood splattered and coated the floor. It looked like one of those Sabbat 'Blood Feasts' I'd heard about. All of them were dead, and the phone was ringing. I picked it up.

"You're next A.J., don't run off now."

The voice on the other end was practically laughing in amusement. I ran. I knew it had to be Sabbat. No one else would be that overt and vicious in a killing. I knew a pack had to have been sent to destroy me. What I didn't know is why. Why me? I'm really pretty small game considering most of their possible choices. It didn't make any sense to hunt me down! But that didn't matter right now, what mattered was getting out of there alive. Even as I burst out of the doors of my club I saw him. Standing across the street and hanging up the pay phone. Slim and pale motherfucker, his bleached blonde hair shaved close to his head. His hands tucked comfortably into his long black overcoat.

I moved faster then I had ever thought I could. I swear I was right out of the fucking Matrix. I leaped into my car and started it in a flash. My foot pressed the pedal to the metal as I peeled out. I saw him in the rearview mirror. Just standing there and watching me race away from him. An odd little smile on his pallid, inhuman face. I take a fast corner, tires squealing as I spin into the flow of traffic. I keep accelerating as I zip past cars and roar around trucks. A few blocks later I spin into an alley and slam on the brakes. Before the car has even stopped I'm out and running.

I had to ditch it. My car had been made and they would be hunting for it now. I'd need to find another set of wheels. I rush to the end of the alley and leap over the chain-link fence easily. I drop lightly on the other side and sprint down the next alley and across the street. I'm out in the middle of nowhere, a bad and poor section of Detroit. It's dangerous, cause out here there's nothing to dissuade the Sabbat from attacking if they find me. However they won't expect me to be here, they'd probably expect me to head towards downtown and the crowds. It's a good place to hide out. A good place to disappear. I keep moving, making sure to keep my path varied and impossible to follow.

I spot Gurdy's and head towards it. Gurdy's is a piece of shit country bar. Its only real clientele are losers, and people who wish they were losers. But the owner knows about vampires, and some of the anarchs hang out there occasionally. Anarchs may not support the Camarilla, but they have no love for the Sabbat either. It looked like a good place to hide. At least if I was found they wouldn't attack openly. If they did I could probably count on anarch support. All this, and Gurdy did a mean blood and alcohol mixed drink. I needed a drink. Actually I needed an army, but at least with the drink I might not think I did.

The bar was, as usual, filled with smoke and the stench of sweat and vomit. I walk up to the bar and nab a stool. I take a few moments to just try and slow down and relax. I had to try to figure out why the Sabbat had suddenly decided that I was worth hunting down. I was a small operator. I was a minor force in my clan, much less the Camarilla. I wasn't involved in any businesses that might help the war effort. I ran a club, and that was it! I didn't even bribe the cops! It didn't make sense, just no sense...

"Hey, Gurdy! I need a bottle of your special brew and a glass."

I call out the order to the grizzled man tending the bar. He nods to me and immediately produces a stained shot glass and a dark bottle. I slap a twenty down on the sticky surface of the bar. Gurdy's wizened hand instantly snapped out to grab the bill and cram it into his sweat stained apron. I pop open the bottle and sniff in appreciation of the warm and rich aroma of the blood drink. I pour myself a shot and down it in one gulp. The thick liquid is like fire as it rolls down my throat and fills my stomach. A figure slides into a seat a few stools down from me.

"A martini, dry."

His voice clues me in even before I get a good look at him. He glances up at me, his sunken dark eyes seeming to mock me. He can't be human! How did he follow me? The bastard sits there with a grin on his face and watches me quietly. I'm so fucking dead! I try to keep my hands steady as I pour another shot. What did I do to deserve this? The guy just sits there. How am I going to get out of here? Then I feel someone close behind me. My muscles tighten as I prepare for the worst. I spin my chair around and catch that faint scent that throws my world on its head. Strawberries, she always smelled of strawberries.

"Hello A.J., it's been a long time."

She stands before me. Her small and petite frame wrapped in a heavy pink fur coat. Her thick, full lips glisten with soft pink lipstick. Her pink gloved hands nervously clutch her small purse in front of her as she eyes me with her large and gentle blue eyes. Her strawberry blonde hair is shorter now. It curls around her slightly freckled cheeks and tapered chin. She tries to smile slightly.

"I know you probably never expected to see me again, but I had to see you."

Oh hell. Not here, not now. Of all the times and all the places for her to come back into my life. This was not good, this was not helpful. She takes a small and nervous step forward. Her wide eyes lock with mine. The deep liquid depths of them seem to swallow me up slightly. I'm drowning.

"Hello Becky."

"Oh A.J. don't be like that." Her eyes go hurtful, a slight trace of pain and loss in them. "Can't you call me what you used to call me. You remember don't you? Kandy, you called me your sweet strawberry Kandy."

I had. Back then, back when I had first drank of her and changed her life. God it felt like forever. She looked just as she had the day I had damned her soul. My childe, my Becky, my dear sweet Kandy. She had been my first, my first childe, my first love. I had given her all I could, I had given her immortality, I had given her my soul. But she had left me, said she needed more from life then I could provide. I cried that night, as I cry every night I think about her. I had heard she'd left town, that she'd fallen in with some Ventrue. That they were lovers and he gave her all that I couldn't afford. Why was she here? Why was she back? No, it isn't right. Don't offer me a taste of heaven as I'm running from demons.

"I found you, it took a while but I found you again." Her hand reaches out and brushes along my cheek. She smiles. "A.J., I had to find you and tell you. I was wrong to leave you. No matter what happened in the past, no matter what happens tomorrow, or the next night. I just had to tell you what you mean to me."

I'm speechless. If my heart could still beat it would be fluttering. My blood is surging through my veins, the heat filling me fully. I reach up and take her small hand in mine. I clasp it tightly, not wanting to ever let go of her again.

"Will ya look at that," mutters some bruiser as he nods his head towards me. "Some guys have all the luck."

"Whatever you say Marv," mumbles Gurdy as he cleans a glass with a dirty rag. Their voices are distant to me. All that matters is the small vision in pink before me.

"Kandy, you shouldn't be here. It's not safe." I turn to glance over at the Sabbat. But he's gone. I peer around the bar, but can't spot him. "Gurdy, where the hell did that guy at the end of the bar go?"

"Sorry man," Gurdy shrugs as he stands nearby talking with the large bruiser covered in scars and bandages. "I don't see anything."

"Kandy, I have to go, now!"

"Take me with you!"

She presses herself to me. Her eyes wide, her skin soft. Her lips parted slightly as she gasps in eagerness. I wrap my arm about her shoulders as we stand. Her scent fills my nostrils as we move towards the door.

"Hey pal, you gonna finish this?" Marv grabs my bottle, I don't look back. He starts drinking and turns back to Gurdy. "Heh, somebody's gonna be having himself a time tonight. Ain't love grand?"

"Whatever you say Marv."

"Kandy, my sweet strawberry..."

I lie on the bed of the cheap dive motel. Kandy straddles me, her eyes screwed shut in concentration, her lips quivering slightly. My hands run along her shapely legs. Fingers brushing across her delicate pink nylons. Her hands are pressed against the bed, giving her added support as she rocks up and down atop me. Her strawberry blonde hair bounces around her rounded face. Her glistening pink lips part slightly to release a small gasp of pleasure. Her other pink lips grow tighter.

I push the soft and light material of her dress up. My hands cupping the smooth yielding flesh of her buttocks. I feel the muscles in them shifting as she increases her pace. She clutches at her breast and throat. Her moans are coming faster now, sharp little hisses of joy. I feel the pressure building within myself. I sit up and wrap my arms around her. I hold her tightly as we reach the pinnacle together. Perfect, just like we always were. We sit there for a few moments, just letting the pleasant afterglow wash over us. My face is pressed to her heaving bosom. Her head rests against mine. Her breath flows gently across my ear. Her fingers play softly with my hair.

"Kandy...I love you," I manage to finally gasp out what I realized I'd been thinking this whole time. She was back with me now, anything was possible. "Come with me baby. We'll leave this town, go live somewhere else. I love you."

She turns away from me, pushing me back slightly. Her arms wrap around herself as she sobs slightly. I watch her bare shoulders shake. Her head tilts forward, casting her soft strawberry blonde hair across her face.

"I...I love you too A.J., I realize that now. I love you more then I ever thought possible. You're the only one I ever could love..."

"Oh baby..." She sobs again, shaking her head slowly. I reach forward, my hand rests on her shoulders as I try to comfort her. She suddenly goes quiet.

"That's why you have to die!"

She spins around, her face a mask of fury. Bloody tears stain her cheeks where she had been crying. Her hand chops hard into my neck, I feel it splinter and pop. Her other hand curls into a fist and slams into my solar plexus. My ribs crunch slightly under the superhumanly strong blow. I'm thrown back off the bed. I sprawl on the grimy floor as I land hard. She stands over me, her fingernails lengthening into vicious claws. Her eyes ablaze and glowing red. I look up and try to choke out the only words I can think to say.

"Becky...why?"

"Because of my friends A.J. After I left you I ended up with a real jerk. He beat me...abused me...tried to control me. I killed him. You see, it turns out I like killing, and I'm good at it. Very good. I found a group of people who appreciated my potential. They taught me all I needed to know. Tonight was my graduation into their organization. But I had to prove my loyalty, had to show my allegiance with one final act. If I could kill the only man I've ever loved, they'll know I can do anything."

She leaps off the bed and drops onto me. Her claws slam into my chest, ripping apart flesh and bone, shredding my heart. I lock eyes with her one last time, I smell her scent...like strawberries. Then I feel no more. Becky stands up and looks down at me as a figure speaks from the shadows of the room.

"Good job."

"I did cry."

"That's part of the process. You may go, I'll deal with the mess. But we'll need a code name when contacting you. Something you'll know." She wipes the blood off her hands onto the carpet. Then she grabs a sheet off the bed and uses it to wipe the bloody tears from her face. She looks down sadly at A.J., then slowly turns back to the figure.

"Call me Kandy."