Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible and company. They are owned by Disney and Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. In addition to any original characters shown or mentioned, any treatments and spins all belong to me and can not be used without permission. Okay?

Gypsies, Vamps & Thieves

Chapter One—Dropped Dead Gorgeous

Once more Kim Possible was surrounded by overwhelming odds.

Once more she had ever-faithful Ron at her back.

Once more she also devoted a sliver of attention to avoiding him somehow tripping her up, although lately he had been slightly better in that regard.

Once more the welfare and lives of others depended upon her. Nothing really new there. However what was different this time around was the nature of the situation. Things were getting seriously nitty, seriously gritty. Never before had she dealt with this particular breed of evil. Eyes scanned a snarling enemy filling the area, locking in their positions about her, especially those scurrying across walls and ceiling in defiance of gravity. Well on its way to being firmly trashed, the Possibles' living room was literally a bloody war zone; fragile furniture, furnishings and accouterments lay shattered or smashed, most lamps long since destroyed. Aside from battery-powered emergency lighting cutting the darkness into manageable chunks, one remaining wildly swinging hanging light sent shadows dancing bizarrely about. Gore and fleshly detritus were everywhere, splashed against walls, puddling floor and carpets, as well as in more than a few still dissolving mounds. The air was cloying and thick, reeking with death, decay, fear, sweat and desperation.

"Tell me again why I hang around with you?" at her back, her boyfriend asked, hefting a couple of his remaining bombs. "Times like this, I forget."

"Uhmm, because you love me?"

"Remind me to give that a serious re-think."

"Ditto."

Taking advantage of the momentary lull in the battle, Kim shouted, "Reload!" tossing a nearly empty weapon to where her mother crouched behind the sofa sectionals. Ready for the occasion, older redhead deftly popped up long enough to fling back an already refilled replacement, catch the empty, then back down for cover.

Once more swinging into action, giving the fresher weapon a pump to ensure it was primed, the teen hero surveyed the situation, almost wishing she could restart the day over from the beginning.

Once more unto the breach…


Kim awoke as the sun was rising, which was usual for her hyperactive personality. For a girl who while on missions was also hyper-aware of her surroundings, the initial few moments of her normal morning 'boot up' process was paradoxically slow. Thus, it took her a few moments to realize she was not alone in the bed.

Slowly turning, she saw someone was with her under the covers, their back to her. A someone with very pronounced curves and a head of luxuriously thick dark hair. It was nearly another minute for her sleep-addled brain to make identification as to who among her usual suspects fit both the description and the MO of breaking into her room in the middle of the night...

"Shego!" the redhead sprang to her feet and, since the light switch was on the other side of the bed, pivoted quickly to draw aside heavy curtains from her large picture window.

Sunlight flooded the attic. Yet as soon as it did the figure in the bed erupted into motion with a sibilant hissing shriek sounding like a cat objecting to being swallowed by a snake.

"What the hell?" Kim shouted, arms lifting in reflex to cover her face. Yet all that struck her were blankets and bedsheets. Yanking them off, dropping immediately into one of her kung fu ready stances, she stood prepared for Shego's attack. When nothing further happened, no movement occurring for thirty seconds, the teen hero cast eyes about looking for signs of her favorite green nemesis.

Which, since this was Shego she was talking about, meant her eyes had to include looking up.

Sure enough, amid the still shadowy rafters overhead a dark curvy form lay stretched along one wooden beam. "Shego! Come down from there and either fight or explain yourself!"

Only the sultry voice which floated down softly was not the thief's. "Kiiimberleee… I promise I… I didn't touch you… ."

It was a familiar voice. The redhead knew it; wracking an adrenaline jump-started brain to place it.

"Amelia?"

The older teen's eyes flared briefly with an inner light. "Heeelllp meeee… sssooo… huungrryyy… ."

Kim was stunned.

The room got brighter as the sun continued to rise, clearing neighboring houses and trees. Even the shadows at the top of her room were finding little place to hide. Shielding face with an upraised arm, Amelia hissed.

Operating purely on automatic the redhead re-closed heavy drapes, plunging the attic back into darkness even as her mind put the pieces together. Speed and agility atypical for the debutante, flaring eyes, adverse reaction to sunlight, hissing. Hunger…, and came up with: Vampire!

Amelia's been Turned! Which means she needs human blood to live. So why'm I going along with this? Why am I protecting her from the sun and not protecting myself?

Because now that vampires have been recognized as American citizens, she has rights, Kim sighed. There was more to it, She asked for my help... and I can't turn my back on anyone in need. I just hope that what she needs isn't my blood... . "It's safe now Lia," Kim used the in-crowd name she was granted rights to use by dint of her fame as a world-famous hero. She further assured her by stepping away from the curtains' pull-rod. "You can come down now."

The haut chic, high-classed, girl dropped from the height with impressive ease, landing in eerie silence, although so unsteady as to prompt Kim to step to her side, bolstering her upright. Feeling how weak the other was, the younger teen guided them backward to the edge of her bed, sitting them both down. The brunette was winded and shaking from the exertions. "Amelia? Lia? What happened? I mean… how long have you been a… a… ."

"…a vampire?" the other less than whispered. "nosferatu? little less than two years now."

After Outing themselves but before Citizenship, when even consensual Turning was illegal, earning death—or rather execution—sentences. Which means no matter what she's become, in the eyes of the Law she's also a victim…, "What's the sitch? What can I do to help?"

"…neeeeed helllppp… innn troubbllle… ." Dark green eyes, made even darker in the gloom of the room pulsed once again, although not as strongly. She leaned in, inhaling deeply. This close the redhead had no problem seeing pronounced and sharp canines marking the girl for what she was. Had become.

A sudden tension rose between the two, not unlike a pregnant moment just prior to a kiss. Slowly, gingerly, the taller girl leaned further. Hesitantly, mouth opening, fangs gleaming, "Ssooo… hunggrrryy… ."

Just as the teen hero was certain the other was about to bite her, wondering why she was staying so still for it, Amelia slumped against her limply as if, well, dead.

Abruptly less frozen and mesmerized, Kim flinched, dropping backward to elbows, former classmate's head coming to rest on her slight breasts. This is familiar, the teen hero sighed, a hand guiding the girl's head to her lap. It put her in mind the time Ron came closest to kissing her after an evening out. A date, it had been an early meal at the up-scaled Chez Couteaux before the actual dinner crowd began rolling in. If only we could have gotten out before that. Before anyone could witness him paying with coupons, insisting the two of them were under twelve.

She had walked out, embarrassed and fuming, leaving him to deal. Ten minutes found him catching up to her in the park. As it had been obvious to her right away how clueless the boy was, she once again swallowed down irritation. After all, there's no one else out there for me. And I can't fault his faithfulness. That has to count for something.

Right?

The evening ended at his house in the rec room watching a romantic movie of her choice. Patiently waiting for him to go through all the awkward steps ever seen on television about putting a move on a girl, she feigned not noticing the yawn-stretch-arm-drop-to-shoulder and subsequent yawns covering that oh so artificial maneuver. Finally thirty minutes later during a Big Kiss scene, feeling him lean into her she turned, ready to meet his lips.

Only to find boyfriend asleep, a shift in his center of gravity having been the cause of the leaning.

Getting up with a huff, angry motions failing to rouse him, she stormed home across their shared lawn and straight to her room. Even the tweebs had enough self-preservation to scatter from her path. Completely frustrated, she flung herself atop the bed, too angry to wonder why she was forcing aside images not of Ron, but of Shego instead.

In particular the woman's face. Looming, leering, into her own during various past encounters of close-quarter grappling combat, a hint of smile upon lips with something enticing dancing behind those olive eyes…

But why'm I thinking about that now? About either of them? She was going to bite me, not kiss me…

Right?

Whichever she almost was—potential make-out or snack—the lithe redhead eased herself out from under the unconscious girl. Taking a moment to turn on lights—artificial sources being safe for vampires—she adjusted her into a more natural repose, avoiding an impulse to set arms crossing chest as too television-cliché.

Having never had the opportunity before, Kim gave the older teen a thorough going-over. Nearly identical to how she remembered her, curvy and busty, Amelia had barely aged a day in the past two years, which made sense considering her… affliction. Same vampish—the mundane and human application of the term—beauty, her frame was almost the same as Shego's if slightly less athletically toned. Poured into a deep blood red gown… so stains don't show? …ankle length, sheer, strongly weaved, diaphanous, and backless with plunging cleavages front and rear. Apparently vampiric muscles provided more support than human as her body was tighter and perkier despite a glaring lack of undergarments. It was hard to tell, but Amelia's bust might even have gained a couple inches.

Kim marshaled her willpower not to freak out as everything about the 'sleeping' woman screamed dead. Room temperature with no breathing or chest motion; even minor things such as eye movement under closed lids were missing. All the things her mother had taught her were missing.

Mom! She'll know what to do…

However, a combination of doorbell and rhythmic knocking at the front door stayed a hand reaching for the phone. A glance at the clock telling her it was, "Right! Breakfast time…"

A dash downstairs and in less than a minute her best friend for life, currently boyfriend, walked through the opened door. Normally it was left unlocked, but with one parent working late hours and the other starting early, it was secured.

"God morgen, nabo!" Ron declared cheerfully.

"What?"

"What what?"

"What did you just say?"

"What? 'Good morning, neighbor'?"

"Not exactly what you said," she supplied while heading into the kitchen. "You're doing that Norwegian thing again."

He frowned momentarily, "Am I? Huh." One morning almost two years prior out of thin air the blond suddenly proclaimed a hatred for meatcakes and ever since would occasionally, apparently unaware, drop small phrases in a language which Wade identified as Norwegian. "Y'sure it's not French? Speaking of which, what's f'r breakfast? Suddenly I'm in the mood for French toast. Or French fries."

Scooping up the phone, dialing. "Sorry, Ron, but something important's come up."

"Oh? Wassup, KP?" he asked, sticking his head in the refrigerator.

"Just a mo… hello, yes. Dr Ann Possible, please. It's her daughter. I suppose, but I don't have a 'the' in front of my name… sure thing, please and thank you. 'Call home, urgent'… have a good day!" Hanging up, "They have to page her, she's making her rounds."

Ron was pouring himself a drink of orange juice in one of the tallest cups they owned, which in fact he had left there himself. "Again I ask, wassup?"

Holding up a finger, she held him off once again, lifting Kimmunicator-mounted right wrist, "Wade."

"Morning, Kim!" immediately answered her tech support guru, voice chipper.

"Wade, Ron and I need absences filled out for school today."

"As good as done. Anything in particular you want I should say?"

"Nothing special. Oh, but since this is Thursday, make it something which will put us out for the weekend."

"Really?"

"Really?" echoed Ron, face reflecting Wade's surprised voice.

The phone rang. Kim nodded while answering, "Really. Call it a gut feeling, but I think we're gong to have our hands full the next few days and nights… Mom?"

"Honey, what's wrong? Everything alright?"

"First, the tweebs and I are fine, but I need you home right away."

"Sweetie, you know I can't leave except for a medical emergency."

"It sort of is a medical emergency, but not something I want to discuss over the phone."

"Someone hurt?"

Barely registering Ron draining his cup in one continuous gulp, Kim rolled her eyes while trying to select just the right phrasing. "Let's say an old friend has dropped in unannounced and is dead tired," subtly stressing the one word. "Dead to the world."

Momentary silence. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Oh, and Mom, best swing by the comics shop and pick up Cousin Larry. We're going to need his expertise on the supernatural as well."

"Super-…? Make it twenty minutes then."

"Thanks, Mom."

"KP, what's going on?" Ron pressed. "Who's here?"

"I woke up in bed this morning with your fantasy woman. The one before me…"

"Amelia's here? And in your bed!" he dashed off toward her room. "Booyah‼"

"Wade," following, firmly setting aside wondering why she was not more upset with her boyfriend's inappropriate enthusiasm, the redhead turned attention back to the wrist device. "See what you can dig up on Amelia Lovechild's movements since she graduated two years ago. Here's a hint, check the obits. Also, everything you can find on vampires in America since their Coming Out. Especially their legal status before and as citizens after. In particular, how citizenship affects prior… activities."

"Vampires!" the black boy's surprise was barely contained by the tiny screen. "Obituaries? Kim, what have you gotten involved in?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but it's unfamiliar territory. Actually, considering they revealed themselves, what, four years ago…"

"Five."

"…five years ago it's amazing I've not crossed paths with any before now."

"Well, you've certainly had some run-ins with monsters and the supernatural."

"Think so?"

"Well, DNAmy's ani-men and chimeras are almost straight out of The Island of Doctor Moreau and Gill could have been The Monster from the Black Lagoon. You've faced the power of the Egyptian god Anubis with his avatar the Jackal, Blackeye's ghost…"

"Huh."

The boy was on a roll, "…snowmen coming to life, aliens on at least two separate occasions, and monkey magic galore, including a horde of spirit monkeys released from a grimoire. In fact, now that we're talking about it, the Tri-City Metro Area has seen some rather bizarre phenomenon over the years. Remember the rain of jellyfish?"

"Wow. When did I become so jaded I missed being amazed by all that?" Kim started up the stairs to her attic loft.

"Dunno Kim, but I would say it's about time for dealing with the undead."

"I guess so. Get on that info for me? Prioritize on Amelia."

"Right away," he promised. "I'll upload stuff as I find it."

"Please and thank you," closing the connection as she made the top step to find Ron with his back plastered to a wall.

Unmoving, face ashen, with pocket pet Rufus gesturing frantically enough for the both of them. "KP! You didn't say she was dead‼"

My hero.

Grinning devilishly, the teen hero took mild comfort in the familiarity of his excessive reactions. That she need step up to protect him. It made the world normal despite the unnatural which Amelia represented. "Is she? I didn't notice. She was moving about just fine ten minutes ago."

"Don't play me, Kim! I've bashed enough Zombie Mayhem and watched enough movies to know that a body doesn't get room temp in just ten minutes!"

Unable to resist, the redhead said, "Relax Ron. I was kidding. She's not a zombie."

"Well good! Don't scare me like that girlfr… wait! Then what is a dead girl doing in your bed?"

"Sleeping. She's a vampire."

"Aaahhhh‼‼‼" he bolted from the room.

Forcing her to yell after him, "Ron! I need you to run a few errands for me‼"


Forty-five minutes later Ann was sitting on the edge of Kim's bed—fortunately, she had no surgeries scheduled—finishing up a careful examination of Amelia's corpse, the gypsy girl still appearing to be dead. Which technically—and still by all definitions of the word—vampires are.

Or at least un-are, being undead.

The modelesque young Romani woman lay in peaceful-looking repose just as Kim had left her barely an hour ago. However, while then she had looked no older than the eighteen she had been when she graduated, the older girl's skin now seemed dryer and tighter with cheeks taunt and eyes a bit sunken. Clinically Ann checked the girl's vitals, looking for all the confirming markers she could recall from an old medical journal. Since their 'coming out of the casket' years ago in the more metropolitan centers of the country, this was her first direct exposure to a member of the undead.

"Well, Mom?"

"Don't rush me, Kimmie," she replied distantly, focusing on her 'patient'. "As an entire previously underground—no pun intended—subculture expanded virtually overnight, including some highly radical body modification mimicry, I need to be certain I'm not examining the corpse of an otherwise regular run-of-the-mill dead." However, ambient-level body temp, the presence of elongated canine teeth, and at least one heartbeat in the ten minutes she bothered to wait confirmed her daughter's prognosis.

Amelia Lovechild was well and truly undead.

"No doubt about it Kimmie, she's a bona fide vampire and not simply a deceased wannabe freak or fanger."

From Kim's desktop computer, Wade nodded, "My scans and remote analyses concur."

Standing, the taller redhead started removing gloves, doubled for checking the fangs, "You say she was still 'awake' after dawn? I'm no expert, having only read a few medical journals on the impact of the Undead on brain functions and tissue formerly living, and never actually encountering any, but that doesn't sound quite right."

"That's why I had you pick up Cousin Larry, Mom," Kim nodded towards the end of the room where her relative and his female friend, whose presence was unexpected, sat watching the proceedings with barely contained excitement. "He's the closest thing to an expert we have on the subject."

Adjusting his glasses, the portly boy corrected, "Au contraire mon cousin, while I am very well versed in lore Fantastic to Science Fiction, it is Charlotte that knows this particular genre."

His bespectacled companion sniffed, "First Lawrence, the proper French is 'À l'effet contraire mon cousin'. Second, 'it is Charlotte who knows'. And third, while I am the area's leading authority on the gaming aspects of the supernatural genres, I am far from anything like an expert." She stared long enough for him to glower and establish her win, "However I believe I'm conversant enough with the differences between what's real and what's fictional to say that if she was still 'up and about' after sunrise it suggests she's quite powerful indeed. Master level. Especially if the weakened condition you mentioned is accurate."

Larry snorted, "Even if she was turned two years ago immediately after leaving Middleton as Cousin Kim says, she is a 'newborn' far too young to approach a master's powers."

"I thought you had your Aunt pick me up for a reason, Lawrence," the girl countered, "Please don't further embarrass yourself by making baldly erroneous statements."

"Now loo… ."

"Guys, guys!" Kim stepped in to head off what was sounding like a familiar argument, which she had a nauseous feeling was the nerd version of flirting. "Can we focus on the dead gir…"

"Undead, actually," Charlotte interjected.

"…undead girl in my bed?"

"On your bed…," geeky girl muttering.

Which the redhead ignored by pressing on, "Now correct me if I'm wrong…"

"Which she will," Larry added sotto voce.

"…but don't vampires need to be invited into a home? Just how did Amelia get around that?" Kim turned as Ron struggled up through the opened trapdoor set in the floor, loaded down with a ten-gallon jug and arms filled with a jumble of brightly colored plastic. She moved to help him.

Charlotte cleared her throat, "Again, no expert, but I think I can hazard a hypothesis. Have you ever had her over your house?"

"A couple times," Kim answered, taking the heavy container from the blond to set in the middle of the bedroom. Leaping atop, Rufus started unscrewing the cap. "We never really hung out as she was School Queen and ran in circles even cheerleaders covet. Still she'd occasionally stop by whenever I'd do something particularly newsworthy. The week before she left town she stopped over to express her observation of reports about how well Bonnie and I worked together Spirit Week at Gottagrin and hoped we could work past our animosities."

Adjusting her glasses, "I suspected as much. There was a prior standing invitation. While normally that would have expired when she, ah, did… if she has any innate master-level powers she might have been able to 'squeeze' her way through some sort of supernatural crack in the rules. Something we mere mortals have little knowledge of."

"What, like a loophole?" Ron asked while sorting the plastic items by size and type. "What's the world coming to when even the dead can pull sneaky stuff like that?"

"As opposed to things like not staying dead?" smirked Kim. "Thanks, Charlotte, Larry. So Ron, get everything I asked for?"

The boy nodded effusively, "And then some! Nearly cleared out the Summer Fun Clearance Aisle. I got more in the car, including as many real silver items I could manage with my Smarty Mart Silver Super Savers Card." He started passing water guns, ranging in size from small to larger super-soakers, to the mole rat who began filling them. "The Tru-Blood was harder to come by, but I managed to order a case from the Go City superstore. It should arrive drop-shipped before three pm."

"From your account and her appearance," interjected the girl geek, "she'll be needing it."

To which Larry needed to add, "Yes, if she has been abstaining from feeding for a while…," glancing for Wade's confirmation.

"No reports of mysterious deaths or anomalous activities indicative of active vampires within two hundred miles for the past four days. And nights."

"So if she's been fasting for that length of time or longer, it would explain her assertions of not molesting you, her extreme hunger, as well as nearly biting. She is bound to be famished upon waking."

"For the sake of all our necks, have either real or Tru-Blood immediately on hand."

"Right." Bringing the topic back on track, the teen hero tapped the jug with a toe, "And did you find out the rules regarding this?"

"Sure did, KP! According to Father Brotherson, all we have to do is add regular tap and as long as it's less than half of the current amount, we'll have an endless supply of holy water."

"So refill at the three-quarters mark?"

The boy nodded, "That should do it!"

"Larry, Charlotte, there's a hose on the backyard faucet. Could you get that and hook it to the drop sink in the utility room down the hall?" Kim indicated her room's second door and the hallway beyond which led past the brief laundry area to a raised deck.

"Sure thing, Cuz. Come, Charlotte," turning, he led the way.

Sitting at her daughter's desk, holding up a handful of assorted loose silverware from a modest-sized box, Ann interjected, "Kimmie, I thought you said Amelia asked for your help. Is it really necessary to stock up on so many weapons?"

"It's not Amelia I'm concerned about Mom," Kim answered, passing out holy-waterguns as Rufus handed them to her. "While we'll have to wait until sundown to find out more, right now I'm more concerned about who… or what… she expects my help against… ."

"I might be able to help with that some," her desktop computer flickered to life, Wade's dark-toned cherubic features concerned, watching another monitor off screen. "A small news bite twenty months ago," his face blanking out as he streamed a video of a young male reporter, "'…body of yet another young model hopeful, which flock to New York by the busload, was discovered late last night in Central Park mauled to death with throat savaged. The victim, identified as Amelia Lovechild, was found near the Met, only a couple hundred feet from Cleopatra's Needle. Police Detective Nikki Heat has been quoted as having yet to determine if foul-play was involved without ruling out the possibility of attack by a pack of wild dogs reported loose in recent weeks.'"

"Wow, little more than a month after her graduation," observed Ron. "I can't believe I spent nearly a year still fantasizing about a dead girl… oww! What was that for?" shooting Ann a small glare in the wake of a small pillow projectile tossed at his head.

Kim was nonplussed, "That's okay, Mom. Ron will be Ron. I'm learning to accept 'Mr Sensitive' he's not and that he'll never change. But thanks anyway. Wade… ."

"There's more, a week later," his voice interrupted. A new video, the same reporter wearing a different outfit, "'…due to the bloody and grisly nature of the recent string of deaths of night-time park patrons, and especially in light of the body of last week's young model going missing exactly three nights later, Humans Against Vampires are calling for an in-depth investigation into the local Clubs of both vampires and werewolves. As you may recall, the existence of the preternatural was confirmed with vampire representatives revealing themselves to authorities simultaneously in major metropolitan areas across the country such as San Angeles, Los Diego, Houston, Denver, Chicago, Go City, St Lois, St Louis, Atlanta, Washington DC, as well as right here in Manhattan. Citing America as the Land of the Free with a reputation as a Melting Pot, the representatives delivered identical speeches invoking one of the most famous quotes on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." With the recent development of a synthetic fluid one hundred percent identical to natural biological blood, they stated a desire on the part of the vampire community to seek a chance for peaceful co-existence and intentions to lobby for citizenship. Apparently an experimental pilot program with the eyes of vampires around the world still in secretive seclusion upon them, and us, the world of anthropology, mundane and cryptid, has been turned on its ears… .'"

"Wade, has there been any mention of her since?" interrupted Kim.

"I'll have to dig a little further, but considering that one of the concessions of American vampire citizenship is that with non-consensual Turnings, and all Turnings prior were deemed as legally non-consensual, carrying a federally warranted death sentence at the hands of a legally licensed executioner, I highly doubt to find anything to verify one hundred percent her existence as a vampire."

"You mean other than her sleeping undead in my girlfriend's bed."

"Other than that, yes," the boy conceded. "However after her death so far I've got nothing solid about her or her activities. If we didn't have her there to prove otherwise, even her rebirth would be circumstantial at best."

"So given all that and her request for help, it's safe to conclude she was held against her will."

"Or simply sequestered away learning the vampire ropes, as it were."

"Well, legally speaking," Larry added, he and Charlotte guiding a standard green plastic sheathed garden hose through the hallway door. The girl carrying a large basin to catch as water dripped a couple drops every few seconds from a trigger-styled nozzle. "That wrinkle about pre-citizen Turnings remaining non-consensual surely was not anticipated by the vamps. Until it can be overturned, the penalties rescinded, or enough time passes that no one will be likely to trace her past and the timing of her Turning, she is walking evidence for a writ of execution. So keeping her un-life a secret would make sense."

"Or," contested Charlotte, "upon discovery of her having some nascent powers rivaling that of a Master of a City she was considered a threat and kept as a prisoner outrigh…"

"Charlotte! A vampire takes several hundred years to begin approaching a master's power and status. Two years is far too young for any newborn to have such things or be any kind of thre…"

"Lawrence, if it is true for some vamps to never gain master-level powers or status, then the inverse corollary says it would be true for some vamps to gain them early. It might be rare, or it might be far more common than anyone knows. After all it would lay in the best interest of masters worldwide to not allow the concept of newborn mastership to foment among their lessors. Even if only one ever existed, that knowledge alone would be far too dangerous to their fiefdoms or Kisses."

Rufus echoed from atop the holy water jug, "k'ss's?"

"Good question L'il Buddy. 'Kisses'?" repeated Ron.

"A group/grouping of vampires/vamps is/are called a 'kiss'," answering at the same time, the two nerds were not quite in unison, although the colliding statements were nonetheless understandable.

Kim, pausing in refilling the ten-gallon jug, reflecting on the memory of the brief mesmerizing moment as Amelia leaned in closer, could understand how the term originated. Still unable to decide if the fanged mouth had been pursing for bite or something more intimate, a shiver of denied anticipation played along her spine. "Okay then. We have holy water and a way of easily topping off the supply, a modest arsenal of water guns, super-soakers…"

"And balloons to make grenades, KP." Suiting actions to words, the blond grabbed up a box on his way to the utility room, "Come on, Rufus. Let's get to work on that."

"…and silver implements. Anything else we need?"

The bespectacled girl offered, "Wooden stakes. Larry and I can see to getting a supply of those."

"We can?"

"Sure thing. My father has a small mill with a couple of lathes. We can convert a bunch of broomsticks into at least three or four stakes each in a couple hours."

"Alright."

From the computer, "I have some ideas for converting the house's main water supply and fire sprinkler systems to holy water."

"Any way to have two separate supplies?" Kim's mused out loud, nose wrinkling in thought.

"Why would you want to?" Wade countered.

"For cooking and drinking purposes. Showers too. If Amelia is going to be here for a while, we'll need to see to her comfort as well as protective purposes."

"I'll have to give that some thought. Do you still have your own well?"

Ann nodded, "Yes, although once we converted to the city's supply we haven't used it for anything except the lawn sprinklers."

"I'll double check your ground water permits and see what they cover and if they're up-to-date. I have some ideas already but it'll be tomorrow before I can get anything up and running."

"Hopefully we're set for the night."

Frowning, Ann inquired, "What all are we setting up for, Kimmie?"

"Hard to say. Mom," the younger redhead explained to all assembled. Gesturing at the bed, "I don't know if she's running from humans, vampires, or something else. Until she wakes up and can tell us the nature of the trouble she mentioned, I'm just trying to cover all the basics."

"Dr Possible, can you give Larry and me a lift to my father's mill?" Charlotte asked. "I want to spend the afternoon preparing. We can get rides back before nightfall."

"Sure thing," standing, Ann responded, heading for the trap door. "I'll grab my keys and meet you downstairs. On the way back I'll swing by the hospital and see if I can grab a couple pints of blood. Just in case there is a problem with the delivery of the other stuff."

"One final thing everyone," Kim momentarily locked gazes with each. "Try and get a nap this afternoon. Chances are whatever the problem is will come after sundown, so we're facing a long night. If you're planning to be here tonight, best you arrive while it's still light and sleep here. Don't even try to get here once night falls. Oh yeah, and don't mention what's happening to anyone. Whomsoever," she finished.

Everyone nodding their understanding, the room emptied, leaving the teen hero to plop into her beanbag chair. It was not exactly comfortable for long naps, but she was unprepared to lay on the bed next to her former schoolmate. Snatching up her older PDA Kimmunicator from its recharging cradle for its larger easier-to-read-text screen, she immersed herself into research and contemplation.

Let's see now, what exactly am I getting us into?


Amelia's eyes opened the second the sun went down behind the mountains, sitting upright in the bed as if spine were spring-triggered, with a prolonged indrawn gasping breath. Pallor even more pasty than earlier, drawn and sunken cheeks and eyes filled out slightly as her reanimating force returned. Looking about wildly, a nearly feral, fear-filled gaze rested on the redheaded teen sitting on the far side of the mattress.

Wordlessly, Kim flipped at her one of the brown bottles she held. Mostly glass, it had a long neck made of plastic.

Snagging it weakly yet still with incredible speed, the former school queen lifted it horizontally to her mouth in a smooth swift motion. With a snarl, wickedly sharp canines sank into the softer material between cap and body. Head thrown back for gravity's assistance, slurping sucking sounds filled the loft as she made short rift of the contents, thin rivulets of red dribbling from the corners of her lips. Which was repeated with the second container Kim likewise tossed from her slight safe distance.

"Feeling better?" she asked once the other drained the second bottle, offering a couple paper napkins.

Panting, setting the two containers on the nightstand before accepting the towels, the girl nodded shakily with a bit of a grimace. Wiping her mouth, "Yes, thank you, Kim."

"If the Tru-Blood is not enough," the hero nodded at the bottles, "we have a couple pints of the real thing. Chilled though, and not room temp like one of the serving suggestions on the labels recommended. I wasn't sure if you wanted them chilled, room, or warmed to body temp, so I erred in between options."

"I do prefer body, but this is fine. Not quite the same as, err, 'going organic', but I've been trying to wean myself from real."

"I, uhm, imagine it's an acquired taste."

A soft chuckle, skin already regaining its healthier flush and tone as when still alive, "You might say that. The difference is like that of real milk versus two percent or soy. Still… delicious after abstaining for the past couple days while making my way here."

Kim smiled slightly, shifting, bringing a knee up on the bed to better face her, "Look, Lia, I'm all for small talk and all, but there are a couple things we should get out of the way first."

Also in need of a more comfortable position, the swanky girl shifted as well, scooting to place her back against the backboard, drawing knees to chest. "You have questions. Shoot."

"You spoke of some trouble."

A nod, "In short, people want me dead."

"And by 'people' you mean…"

"Humans and vampires, both."

"Aren't you immortal? Already dead, yet not?"

"Not exactly. What I meant is True Death. 'Destroyed' is the term we use."

"Sounds serious."

"You have no idea."

"Speaking of me, why…"

Propping chin on her knees, looking small and helpless, "You're the only one I could think of to help. The only one I know who fights evil on a regular basis."

Relaxing a bit more, Kim grinned weakly. "There's evil, and then there's capital-E Evil. Vampires and the supernatural are worlds above my pay grade. I'm not used to dealing with them."

"Well, they're used to dealing with you."

"What?" starting at the bombshell just dropped, the teen sat straighter.

"Apparently you've crossed paths with a low-level yet prominent master and fouled his plans."

"Really? Who?"

Amelia dropped her eyes, "Sorry, Kim, no idea. I was simply a vassal. A passing fancy sexual plaything for my Sire and Dame's curiosities. I was never really 'one of them' enough to be in on things. To them, I was just a child and treated as such. I just know I heard your name in conjunction with ridiculing the other."

Contemplatively looking up as if the answer was on the loft's ceiling, "I wonder who it is…"

"I'm fairly certain he's not in America from discussions about how citizenship would have allowed him to reveal his true nature enough to deal with you openly. As it is he has to maintain his cover and operate within his guise of humanity."

"Okay. Setting that aside for now, I can understand why living people might want to kill you, but…"

"Why would vampires?" Amelia finished the question. "What could possibly cause the Nosferatu to turn on their own? Aside from petty territorial squabbles and posturing?"

Kim simply nodded.

"First, I've done the unspeakable. Something a Turned as young as me shouldn't even have been able to think about, much less accomplish."

Raised eyebrows.

A deep breath in, long release, "I killed my makers. Dame and Sire both."

"The whole killing thing aside, I take it that's a serious infraction."

"Highly serious. The Vampire Council takes a dim and strict view about killing one's maker. It carries the ultimate penalty because apparently from there it's not too much to start thinking about doing in the Head of one's Bloodline."

"And that's bad."

"Kim, it is done, but only through some of the most carefully devious political maneuvering and ass-kissing imaginable, and running the risk of starting civil wars and feuds between bloodlines. And let me tell you, with their longevity, none remember and carry grudges longer than Nosferatu."

"Really."

Dropping her voice as if fearful of being overheard, "The Crusades?"

"Yeah?" younger teen matching the volume.

"The splitting of a Bloodline."

"You're shitting me," Kim blurted in an astounded yet flat tone.

"Kim, I shit you not," the undead girl's voice returning to normal. "Believe me, I'm too scared shitless to shit you."

Changing the topic by way of slapping the bed covers soundly, the redhead declared, "Have enough to drink? Did you want more?"

Blinking at the abruptness, "Uhm, no thank you. Maybe in a bit, I'm fine for the moment."

Standing, arm outstretched, "Then, unless you've got something else you wish to say in private, what say in order to avoid repeating too much, we join everyone waiting downstairs, and you can explain everything one time."

Nodding, taking the proffered hand, Amelia did something slight which resulted in her literally springing up from sitting position to landing on feet almost feather light. Slow yet almost faster than the blink of an eye, hem of the diaphanous gown fluttering open, underlining the absence of underwear. It took longer for the sheer material to settle back in place than the entire maneuver.

Wow, startled, Kim silently mused, leading the way down the trapdoor, Reactions like that, could I keep up if I needed to? Certainly not up close…, "Watch your head."

Kim's attic loft took up most of the third level of the Possible's retro-deco house. They were on the flight of stairs to the first floor, the family, including Larry, plus Ron and Charlotte talking with subdued animation in the living area, when the front door chimed.

Popping to his feet, "I'll get it!" Ron announced.

Amelia hissed.

A sharp intake of air, not the vampiric variety, but enough to alert Kim. She turned, halfway down the steps, "What's wrong?"

Eyes wide with fear, the brunette whispered, "Can't you see them?"

"See who?" the redhead turned, looking all about but only seeing themselves and the family.

"Hey there, Bon Bon! Wassup?"

"I need to come in," the rich girl intoned flatly, hands on Ron's chest, pushing her way inside.

From behind, the formerly living woman clasped both hands on the hero's head, palms over ears, splaying fingers gripping firmly. Uttering one word as a barely audible whisper, she said, "…see…"

However Kim, wincing in pain at what felt like arcs of electricity flowing back and forth between her ears, heard it as a shout reverberating inside her skull, "…SssEeeEeeEee…"

Eyes snapping open, Kim saw…


Notes: I decided two years as an outline sitting on my back burner, especially taking into account my health and medication issues recently being set back a year (really, don't ask, the sitch annoys me to no end), and with another Halloween looming was far too long.

So here is the debut of one of two of my supernatural-themed stories. Don't worry, updates for all the rest of my library are nearly done. It's just that my Muse has trouble these days staying focused on one fic, basically shifting attention to another each time I wake from sleep. I'm also working to polish off Bonnie the Vampire Slayer as well. These two stories, while closely related in concept and both ignoring Graduation, do not share the same universe.

Amelia is one of my favorite background characters. Just in case you don't know who Amelia is, I refer you to the episodes The New Ron, Animal Attraction, Ron Millionaire, and a brief appearance in Triple S. Although introduced as a senior in Season 1, her appearances in Season 2 indicates she apparently was held back. While not explicitly stated in canon, it is accepted fanon she is the Queen of MHS, to which in most of my stories I have also made her the MHS marching band majorette. As School Queen, I see her as having been grooming Bonnie as her heir apparent replacement, which goes a long way to explaining why Bonnie tended to seek her company and hold spots at lunch.

I also have other things planned for her relationship with Bonnie, but I'm not ready to spill it here just yet.

The inspiration of this comes from a challenge on the KP Slash : Kim the Executioner. Which itself is inspired by a series of works by an author who has an arrangement with to not allow fan derived works, and while this is not a fan fic of that author's material, argument can be made it is a derivative, so I will not be naming names. If you know, or can guess, fine. Let's not discuss it in open company…

Other than ignoring Graduation, I plan to work this with canon complete and as is, with the off-screen addition of prior to canon Vampires revealed themselves to the world, seeking citizenship. With their 'coming out of the casket' they also outed other related preternatural things which go bump in the night. This partially explains how things like animal men and ghostly possessions are not seen with more wonder. I'll be exploring some of these things in BonVS as well. It just so happens Kim never crossed paths with vampires and werewolves and more. Leastwise she doesn't think she has.

BTW, a standing Go Prize to anyone who can name in a review before the chapter I reveal them—with reasoning and not just wild guesses—the identity of the vamp Kim ran afoul of mentioned above.

Let me take the time here to point you to an EXCELLENT Mim/Miss Go story, Steam-Mim Under Pressure ( s/5473611/1/SteaMim_Under_Pressure) by Mad Possum ( u/844687/Mad_Possum). Tell him I said "hi" and pass the word.

Also, thanks to Ken-Zero ( u/427205/Ken_Zero) for his helpful feedback. Read his stuff too.