Disclaimer: To keep this short and sweet I don't own anything you recognize, mmmkay? Special thanks to Yellofur for R/Ring my story beforehand (read her FOB fanfics, they're AWESOME!)

IMPORTANT! Before you go, "ZOMG, WTF, this isn't a musical, I'm reporting yooouuuu!!!!" think about it. A musical is a storyline interspersed with, or developed by, songs, dances, et. al. That's essentially what a music video is as well. Besides, I'm not making anything from this story, other than entertainment. I get no money, no fame, no nothing from this story. And would reporting me REALLY make you happy? Lighten up people; it's just fiction.

Watcher in the Dark

Pete leaned his head against the car window, feeling hopeless and small for the first time in a long time. He had no idea what the Baron – the leader of the Dandies – had in store for him and the others, but he knew it couldn't be anything good. Sighing, he looked up at the sky…and saw a human figure standing on one of the rooftops. Lit by the lamplights, Pete could see that it was a girl around his age dressed all in black with well-toned bare arms, long brown hair, and what appeared to be a gun in her hand. Pete tried to get a better look, but she was out of his sight quickly. He didn't recognize her, but he felt that she had something significant to do soon enough.

About twenty minutes later, Pete and his friends had been locked up in one of the smaller, vampire-controlled jails in the city. His manacles hadn't been removed, restricting the use of his hands and legs. Pete couldn't stand this, being chained up like a murderer or a mental patient. Time and time again he tried to break free, but whatever the chains were made of was holding up pretty damn well. The guard started laughing at him, and Pete scowled.

"It's just as well for you," he snapped. "I'd rip your head off if I had my hands free."

"Hah! You may be able to take the lesser bloodsuckers of this city, but you're no match for me," the guard scoffed.

"Care to put that to the test?" growled Pete.

Before the guard could answer, there was a sharp rap at the door. "Who is it?" demanded the guard in annoyance.

"Who do you think, you imbecile?" came the Baron's clipped and currently irritated voice. "Open this door on the instant."

"Oh! I'm so sorry, sir!" stammered the guard, scrambling for the door as he fumbled with his keys. Pete couldn't see him anymore, but after the door opened he heard, in rapid succession, a click, a whoosh, a heavy thud, and a low laugh. The sound of heavy boots thudding on the tiles echoed in the suddenly-silent room. As Dandies did not wear such shoes, Pete realized that this couldn't be the Baron. But then who was it?

He got his answer when the girl from the roof walked into the light. She wore a bulletproof vest, tight black PVC jeans tucked into paratrooper boots with steel toe caps, and sported two silver rose-shaped stud earrings in each ear, as well as a silver hoop in the cartilage of her left ear. Her hair was on the borderline between dark gold and light brown, and her eyes were steel grey. She smiled at Pete's dumbfounded expression.

"Looks like you could use a hand," she commented in a casual Jersey accent, pulling what appeared to be a pen out of her belt.

"I saw you on the roof," Pete said.

"Yes you did," replied the girl, fiddling with the pen. "You're more observant than most. Ah!" She grinned triumphantly as a red laser beam came out of the tip of the pen. She started to cut away the hinges of the cell door while Pete watched.

"How did you change your voice like that?" he asked.

The girl looked up, turned off the laser-pen, pulled out what looked like a small round speaker with buttons, held it to her mouth, and said, "How did you change your voice like that?" in Pete's exact voice. Holding up the speaker, she explained, "It's a high-tech voice changer. If I record someone's voice, I can imitate it well enough to fool even a computer." She resumed cutting the hinges and lifted the door away, walking in toward Pete. Pulling out a professional lock pick she reached out for Pete's hands and started gently working the locks. They clicked open quickly enough, and she repeated the process on his ankle cuffs.

"Thanks a lot," said Pete, standing up and following her out of the cell.

"My pleasure. Now let's get your friends, shall we?" she suggested.

The others had fallen asleep, but the sound of Pete yanking the cell doors off their hinges woke them.

"Holy hell!" yelped Andy, jumping up. "Warn a guy before you do that!"

"I'll try to remember that for the next time we're in jail," Pete said, rolling his eyes. "Let's get out of here."

"Who's this?" asked Patrick, indicating the girl as he, Joe, and Andy emerged from their cells.

"Tanith," the girl answered. "Nice to meet you."

"Cool. Did you take out the guard?"

"Uh-huh."

"How?"

"Chloroform in an Epi Pen. Very useful, but it won't last long on a vampire. We need to go."

The group left quickly, stepping over and on the guard to get out into the dark streets. They didn't have much time before sunrise, and Pete was already starting to feel it coming.

"Don't suppose you guys know of anywhere in town a girl can hide for a couple nights?" asked Tanith. "I'm just here to kill someone and go home."

"Kill who?" asked Patrick in surprise.

"Guy named William," Tanith replied. "Know him? Tall, dark, black derby, dresses like someone out of Guys and Dolls?"

"You want to kill him?!" yelped Pete in surprise. Then, surprised again, "The Baron's name is William?!"

Tanith cocked an eyebrow. "Why, do you want to kill him?"

"Well, yeah!" Pete stared at Tanith with a new respect. This pale slip of a girl aimed to kill the most powerful vampire in the city? She was either very brave, or out of her mind.

"How about you come to our hideout," Andy interjected. "You'll be safe there, and we can…talk about…things. We obviously have an enemy in common; maybe we can help each other."

"I don't want to impose," Tanith said.

"No, it's fine," said Patrick. "And I think it's a good idea."

Tanith shrugged her agreement, and they were off. They reached the warehouse soon enough and were safely locked inside within minutes.

"This is it – home sweet home," said Patrick. "Not much, but it's ours and it's safe."

"Cozy," commented Tanith, looking around appreciatively. "Much nicer than most of the places I've had to hide in these last few weeks. I like it." Indicating one of the faded couches, she asked, "Mind if I sit?"

"Make yourself at home," replied Patrick. "By the way, I'm Patrick. That's Pete, Andy, and Joe." The group exchanged greetings. "I'm going to make some of that blend for you, Pete."

"Thanks," replied Pete wearily, sitting next to Tanith. Joe and Andy took seats as well as Patrick walked toward the kitchen. All of them were trying to study Tanith without her noticing, until she smiled.

"If you want to look, go ahead," she said. "Tell me what you think of me." A little embarrassed, the boys studied her. She was very pretty, but with the cold, hard edge of someone who's suffered too much. Her belt was loaded with numerous gadgets, a few knives, and a 500 S&W magnum. There were two more knives in the straps of her boots. A long sword hung in a black leather scabbard across her back. Her pale arms were dotted with scars, and she wore the most beautiful and unique necklace: a faceted crystal bottle filled with grey dust with a white-gold band like a wedding ring studded with diamonds around the top hanging on a white-gold chain. She gave a small laugh at their scrutiny, and Pete saw something startling.

"You're a vampire!" he exclaimed.

"So are you, but you don't hear me shouting it from the rooftops," Tanith replied casually.

"Is that why you want to kill the Baron?" asked Joe.

Tanith frowned in confusion. "No, why? Is that why you want to?" This last part was aimed at Pete.

"Yeah," said Pete, bewildered. "He forced me into this. I never wanted to be like this."

"Ah, then that makes sense," said Tanith, nodding thoughtfully. "You see, I did."

"You wanted to be a vampire?" asked Joe incredulously.

"Why is everyone always surprised by that?" Tanith asked the air. "Yes, I wanted to be a vampire. Think about it: eternal youth, eternal life, never get sick, supernatural powers…is there a downside that I'm missing? Yeah, I've got some new restrictions, but I was never one for sunlight anyway, and I was never particularly fond of garlic. That's why I came to this particular city in the first place: I either wanted to be turned or killed."

There was silence for a time, before Pete ventured to ask, "So what's your story, then?"

Tanith looked up at him and then down at her hands. "It's kind of a long one."

"We've got time," said Andy encouragingly. Tanith looked up at the group, which included Patrick since he had since returned, and began to speak.