The Alliance Chapters

by Gypsy Alastair

A Secret organisation is set on capturing the most dangerous vampire in town, so they send Harmony in to do it. but will her feelings and past get in the way?

1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Assignment

Splattered cold concrete walls and a pale fully-clothed (remember that bit) body, that's how I started out and before the thought crosses your minds I'm not a murderer or the body on the floor, and I am definitely not a cop… I can be any of these (except the body… I'd like to stay alive thanks) at anytime but what I really am, is much more covert. I work for the Alliance… no not the New Zealand political party… and not an alliance… The Alliance. We work in underground tunnels… right around the world… there's probably one of our own in your neighbourhood right now… but there's no need to be alarmed… we are the good guys. We fight the things that you read about in fiction novels… Vampires. Yes I did seriously say vampires, no I'm not insane. Well no more than the average person is. Ok back to the important stuff… so body on the floor and lots of blood.

"What the hell happened here?" I asked as my eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light of the tunnel. It was a dark tunnel even for this area, nearly no light. I looked at the body in front of me and I saw puncture marks, two on one side of the person's neck.

"I was hoping you could tell me that" a senior sounding officer said as I turned to see him, a round older man, walking toward me.

"Uh well I can't say for certain but I'll call in my team" I said professionally. One thing I love about my job is that I can call a number and have ten other alliance members there pretending to be policemen/women from the same fake police station. And if anyone questions about my identity I show them a badge and they can call the number which has another member on the other end to collaborate my story, we can make people disappear… like they never existed, no problems.

So I call the number and I say "I need my back up ASAP…" the lady on the other end gets three other members to come help me. I get some latex gloves out of my pocket and put them on, "They are on their way sir… oh and we'll need to preserve the scene so can I please ask you to remove your officers from my crime scene perimeter once my people get here?" I asked calmly as I inspected the body for any other interesting markings or bite marks.

"This is my crime scene" the older male protested.

"I think if you contact your sergeant you will find it has been referred to me" I said mater of fact like. I knew this because someone at our office would have gotten in contact and have spun the sergeant some line about jurisdictions and would have told him to refer it to me, an expert in my field.

The officer dialled his phone and talked to his boss for a few moments before removing himself from the tunnel. Good, I thought, now I can look at these marks on her neck. I turned her head and saw a tattoo on the back of the girls' neck, a familiar tattoo. I knew I'd seen it before, but before I had time to really think about it properly the other members had arrived to clear the scene… clean the blood away and remove any other sign of supernatural connections… like scrapings on the wall or things like that, and to take the body and all other evidence back to base.

I wondered what it was about that tattoo, on the bus all the way back to my apartment in the centre of town. Lame isn't it? I work for a powerful organisation yet I still have to catch the bus. It was just an ordinary day for me. Another body another tunnel another rampaging vampire on the loose… all in a days work.

I walked into the old, rickety and nearly always malfunctioning elevator. I usually use the stairs but I figured today I had my daily dose of exercise, I had been running around all day… before I got the DBC (Dead Body Call). I had to run some errands for my supervisor and pay some of my bills and had lunch at my favourite little café near the bus stop. The elevator doors creaked and closed with a horrible scraping crunch noise.

The elevator moved upwards, very slowly. As I stood there in the old elevator I thought about my old room mate Aaron, how good he was at this, the bodies, the blood, the investigations and most of all dealing with the creatures that we see on nearly a daily basis. I wished he was still here. He would not have let me go home early or leave without getting my paperwork in order. But all that would wait till tomorrow; tonight I had other things to worry about, starting with my keys, where did I put them? I searched my pockets for my long lost keys only to find my mobile and my badge. I check my other pocket, my fingers grasping the cold cut metal. The doors of the elevator open and I enter the empty hallway.

I walk onto the beige, stained carpet of the 8th floor apartment and look at the life I have created and the empty room Aaron left behind. It's sad to think, he was only twenty-three when he died. Only four years older then I am now, and he was dead. He had no children or a wife, not even a girlfriend. I moved in with Aaron just over two years ago. I was seventeen and he was twenty-one. Aaron had this apartment, it was his, he owned it and he left it to me, the only person that really knew him. I locked the door behind me, and put my black back pack on the floor in the lounge room.

"Hello Rhea… how was your day?" I said to the tabby cat, which also belonged to Aaron. She purred as I patted her head. I walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge. I fed Rhea, and then tried to decide what to eat myself. I decided I wasn't especially hungry so I sat on the lounge, turned on the TV and watched nothing in particular for hours till the sun rose at five-thirty.

I walked back over to the kitchen and once again opened the fridge, fed Rhea who had been sleeping on the lounge next to me, I decided to walk to work, and get a coffee on the way. I watched more bad TV, had a shower and got changed, into my favourite pair of black pants and shirt. I threw on my skate shoes and picked up my back pack and walked out the door at around seven.

I took the stairs; they were more reliable, I was lucky last night I told myself as I walked down stair well after stair well. I finally got to the ground floor and I stepped out of the building and onto the loud and dirty street full of people.

When you see this many people you start to see how insignificant you really are, there are billions of people in the world, and I am only one of those. I walked down the busy street, hoping to not get another dead body call, I have had three in two days, and I still needed to fill out paperwork for two of those. I continued down the street and almost walked past my favourite coffee shop. I entered its familiar door, and into its familiar smells of coffee and chocolate with a mix of cookies and cake blended in. I ordered a large cappuccino and a choc-chip cookie, the nice girl at the counter nods and smiles and types in the order. A few minutes later I was walking out of the establishment and walking flat into one of my old friends, well Aaron's old friend, Parker.

I looked up in shock and embarrassment. "I am so sorry, I didn't look where I was going, I'm always being told I need to be more aware, I'm so…" I started.

"Its fine… hey you're Aarons roomy… uh… Harley?" he asked, he was a young man, around twenty or twenty-one, smart and he was in law school as far as I knew, he was smart but a little forgetful.

"Harmony… Everett… Harmony Everett, but Aaron called me Evers… nice to see you again Parker" I said as I straightened myself up, pulling my shirt down and fiddling with my hair which was in a messy ponytail.

"Ahhh… that's right Evers… Harmony… I see why he called you Evers… you don't look like a Harmony… nice to see you too… tell Aaron hello for me will ya?" Parker said. I was shocked he didn't know that he was dead; it was all over the news the papers, TV, everything.

"Uh… he's dead…" I said. As I braced myself for the tears or words that were to follow. People usually have bad reactions to these things… I understand why in this case… I knew Aaron. He was the most generous person I have ever known.

Parker looked at me blankly, and said "oh… oh… I'm so sorry, how… how long ago…what happened?" Parker's eyes dropped to the floor and I felt his empathy and his condolences toward me.

"Uh he died a few months back… in a car accident… I thought you knew…"I said, I hated that story… the car accident was a cover up… he died doing his job, vampires. He saved me and he died, I should've been the one in the coffin six feet under not him. Parker and I talked for a few more moments and then we said our good byes and went in our different directions. I walked down the people ridden street, toward the office blocks where I work.

I finally reached the building. I entered the big glass doors and signed in with the door man. I waited for the elevator and just as I was about to enter the lift, Gregory Patel walked up behind me and said "going my way lass?"

Patel is Scottish… well that's what he'd like everyone to think… he's really English, unlike myself, I'm Australian. I'm the only Aussie in the bunch… well; I guess I am in England. "That depends babe… are we still on for a drink with your mates tonight?" I asked. This is normal conversation… Patel is a flirt.

"Sure thing love… Batley's bar at … what…7.00?" Patel says as we enter the elevator and he proceeds with hugging me.

"Sure 7.00 sounds good… unless I get another DBC" I said as Patel put his hand out offering to take my bag. I passed it too him and the doors of the elevator open. We are on our floor. We walk through the rows and rows of desks and computers. Towards the chief of interrogations' office, I had my hand on the door handle as my phone rang, I had a new message…it was from Elisa it said "hey babe, I miss you… meet me at Graeme's at 6.30 tonight yeah? Love Elle xx" Patel gave me a weird look and I showed him my phone.

"Go lass, your girlfriend is much more important then us bastards… trust me" he said. He had made a rather large assumption.

"Oh! No… she's not my Girlfriend… she's my best friend… we went to high school together in Australia" I explained. I looked at him and he gave me a look of both relief and confusion. "She was one of my best friends… like my sister… we aren't a couple" I said as I opened the door and entered, followed closely by Patel.

Now the head of office is a nice lady, if you get your paperwork in on time and you give her results. Otherwise, she can be an outright bitch. Today however, she called me and Gregory in to talk. I looked at the middle aged lady sitting in front of me, her desk packed high with neat piles of paperwork. She was pretty, with what seemed to be an extremely expensive outfit on. Her hair was light blonde tied up in a bun except for a fringe that sat neatly across her light skin and framed her blue eyes perfectly. I stood there and thought it must take forever for her to get ready in the morning.

"Gregory Patel, Harmony Everett, welcome… please be seated." The words glided from her mouth with eloquence and grace. I sat, wondering what she could possibly want. "Did you get your notifications this morning?" she asked.

"No ma'am" I said as I slid the mobile back in my pocket.

"Uh… No ma'am" Patel answered as he sat.

"Well then…" she pressed a button on an intercom system and said "I need notifications Patel and Everett NOW!"

A muffled "yes ma'am" came from the speaker box, the Chief started to fiddle with papers on her desk.

"May I ask what this meeting is about ma'am?" Patel asked.

"Patience is a virtue Gregory…" she said as she sat behind her oak desk. Her receptionist walked in and handed us our notices. "Thank you Ruby that will be all" Patel and I looked at our notice folders and opened them slowly, they each contained a personnel file, Patel had mine and I had his. I looked up puzzled, as did Patel.

"I don't understand ma'am" I said as I looked at the folder.

"Well, Harmony Everett, meet your new partner, Gregory Patel." She said as she gestured us out of her room.

I looked at Patel in disbelief, "can you believe this?" I said as I picked up my bag and got out my phone to reply to Elle.

"No… I thought she was firing us… I am not sure what for but I was sure it wasn't this…" Patel looked as shocked as I was.

"You aren't moving into Aaron's room though… you know that right?" I said.

"Yeah… I know that lass… why would I do that?" he asked

"I don't know but most partners seem to live together…" I said.

"Most partners are girl and girl or guy and guy, lass, not like you and Aaron or you and me… we keep work at work and private things, well, private." Patel said matter of factly.

"Hmmm… so drinks are off?" I asked. I was trying to get him to laugh.

"Of course not lass, we are friends on both fields, we can socialise on either side" he said. Patel was my age and a nice guy. "So what's our first assignment?" he asked as I opened our open cases file.

"FRITH"S CAVERN… I mean TAVERN" I said as I looked at mugshots and rap sheets.

"Let's go" Patel said as he grabbed the file shoved it in my back pack and headed for the elevator.

"Wait… how are we gonna get there? I walked to work…" I asked.

"Let's go lass, I have that sorted... Now off we go… trust me" he said as he pulled me toward the elevator. I sent a text back to Elle saying "can't tonight… maybe next time love Harmony xx Ps. I miss you too babe… hugs" I felt bad blowing her off but I had made these plans with Gregory last week.

Patel and I walked into the elevator. He again took my bag and the doors opened. We exited and walked toward the door. "So lass, what do you think? About having me as a partner I mean." Patel asked as he held the door open for me.

"I dunno, good I guess, you are a good friend so I guess it's a good thing" I said as I shot him a smile. He smiled back at me with his perfect and white teeth. He was a pretty handsome guy, dark hair, dark eyes, perfect teeth, a rugged look, he is handsome, and he doesn't know it, which of course makes him more handsome.

"Ok well… I like having you as my partner, ok lass?" he said as we walked up to a convertible, a red, shiny, new convertible.

"Ok…is this thing yours?" I asked as I looked it over.

"Yeah… my dad got it for me for my birthday last month" he said, he seemed bored of the idea, like he didn't want the car.

"Oh… wow" I said as I got into the gorgeous car. We drove for forty minutes in the back streets of town. Then we got onto the highway, it was packed bumper to bumper with cars. It should have been a twenty minute trip up the highway but it ended up being two hours. It wasn't that bad, I mean I got to listen to music and talk to Gregory for two hours. I have known Gregory for years; since I came to England… he's like a brother, that you could date…I guess…not that I think about him like that.

He is one of my best friends. He was the first friend I had here apart from Aaron and of course Elle… who went to high school with me. I have been here for three years and it's not like I have a lot of friends. To be honest I haven't had a boyfriend since I arrived here either, I left the one I had in Australia to come here.

"So what's the game plan?" he asked as we finally turned off the highway and into suburbia.

"Uh game plan? I'm not sure…what do you think? Undercover work for a few nights then take this un-dead prick down?" I said thinking as I spoke.

"Sounds like a plan… ok undercover…that means we'll need somewhere to stay and a cover story and names… I haven't done this in a while wanna help me out here?" he asked. He was being nice, trying to get me to participate. Patel was one of the most experienced undercover guys around. He took down half the underworld single handed a few years back, now of course the underworld has recuperated and surfacing more and more frequently.

"Uh ok… we call base say we are doing UC work and need a crash pad… and then we go there get some new clothes and come up with names and a story while we shop?" I asked.

"Excellent… I knew there was a reason Aaron liked you as a partner." He said as he pulled his phone out of pocket and called base. "Hey its Gregory… Me and Evers need a pad to stay for a bit… UC work ya know? We need ID's and crap too… like when we know names I'll call Neil ok? Ok bye" he said and closed the phone.

"They give you the address?" I asked as I fiddled with my clothes.

"Yes but they said go see a guy first about money for clothes" he said as he laughed.

"Ok… so we are gonna go shopping first? Crash later?" I asked as I too laughed I wasn't sure what I was laughing at but decided if Patel thought it was funny then it probably was.

"Yes that's right… you're not a fan of shopping I take it lass?" he asked as we turned a few more corners.

"Nope." I replied. He laughed as we turned once again. "You do know where we are headed don't you?" I teased.

"Yeah lass… we are going … here" he said as he turned into a parking spot and stopped the car. I looked around at our surroundings, it looked like I was gonna be shopping for a while. So many shops. But first we got out of the car and walked down the unfamiliar street toward some apartments.

"So are we seeing this guy… person" I said. We walked through a doorway and up some stairs.

"Yes" Patel answered as we continued to climb stairs.

"Do you know this guy?" I asked as we finally reached the appropriate level.

"No… but I think he'll be ok… just in case hold this…" he said as he pulled out a little hand gun and passed it to me. I looked at him and then took the gun out of his hand. Gregory was normally against me having a weapon unless we are in a very dangerous working environment, where our lives are in danger. I started to get concerned. Gregory Patel knocked on the door to the apartment. No answer, he knocked again saying "hey it's Patel and Evers… we are here from base we need to talk to you…" there was a shuffle of foot steps inside, then the doors locks squeaked unlocked one at a time. The door opened slowly. A geeky looking man stood there, shorter than me brown hair and glasses, he was holding two credit cards and two sets of ID.

"Here… I made you up names… I couldn't wait the extra day…" he said as he passed Gregory and me a set of ID and a credit card each and slammed the door.

"Thanks" I said at the door. I was used to this but it still was weird when someone gave you a new name and story. We were about to head back down the stairs when the door reopened.

"Uh… Harmony… I hope I'm not bothering you… but does your UC have a record… coz if she does I need to create the file." He said nervously.

I looked at Gregory, he nodded. It was easier to gain these peoples trust if you also have a minor record. "Uh sure… like minor robbery and possession… stuff like that… you know the drill… how long till you finish that?"

"Uh well… give me another 2 minutes… ok?" he asked as he typed on a laptop.

"Sure… Patel do you need a record?" I asked jokingly. All people would have to do is look at him in the right clothes and they would think he was the leader of some major crime organisation; well they wouldn't be surprised if he was.

"Uh no sweetie… I'm all good… shouldn't you have some tattoos or something?" he said.

"I have some… just not ones you can see… and not going to see, well not any of these jerks anyway" I said as I thought about the three tattoos I already have.

"You have tattoos?" he asked, he sounded surprised. I laughed a little and nodded. I pulled my shirt up a little and my pants down a little to reveal a tribal tattoo on my lower back. And then pulled at the shirt over my shoulder and revealed a tattoo on my shoulder blade. My newest one I wanted to keep to myself. It was a few stars on my wrist… long sleeves cover that… the stars represent people I have lost.

"I have some… as I told you last week… there are a lot of things you don't know about me" I smiled.

"Mmmm… I think we will get you some FAKE larger ones… maybe a name or something…" he looked at his ID and laughed. "Drake Peterson…that was the scariest name you could think of?" he asked the poor guy typing away.

"We can think up a scary nickname… Audrey Clay?" I sighed. "Ok… so what's our story?" I asked Gregory 'Drake' Patel. The geeky guy handed me a file and waved then shut the door again. We started walking down the sets of stairs again.

"I'm not sure… well you're a bit of a rebel… so let's go get you some ink and piercings huh?" he asked. I looked at him and he decided that just dressing my piercings and tats up more would do.

"Uh why don't we just shop ok DRAKE?" I said teasingly as we finally got back down to the street and were walking toward the car.

"Sounds fine AUDREY" he said in the same mocking tone. I got in the car and put my belt on. He got in the car, put his belt on and started the car. We drove around town looking for shops that didn't look too girly. We finally found a shop I didn't hate and we stopped. And exited the car.

"so we still need a cover story… how we know each other… where we are from…what we do for a living… all those things." He said to me as I was trying to get changed in a change room.

"Ok well let's start with an easy one… where are we from?" I asked as I put the finishing touches on the out fit I was putting on.

"Uh well why we don't keep our real locations… Australia for you and Scotland for me?" he said as he waited impatiently for me to be finished to show him the clothes he had helped me pick out.

"Ok then if we are from opposite ends of the world how do we know each other?" I said as I exited the dressing room. Patel just stared. "It's ok?" I asked as I looked in the mirror. Black pants and tank top with leather jacket and boots, with chains coming off a lot of the items. I will admit I did look pretty good.

A serving lady came over and said "wow… your girlfriend looks incredible… would she ever considered doing modelling for us?"

"Uh she's not my… uh yes she is gorgeous isn't she? I'm so lucky to have her… unfortunately she's working at the moment but I'm sure she'll consider it… wont you sweetheart?" he said as he walked over and put his arm around my waist. I wasn't following, I hadn't been listening. He kissed my cheek and I started to catch on.

"Uh yes well… my boyfriend needs new clothes too… I want this honey… and maybe a few other things ok?" I asked as I looked up at him. He was really handsome.

"sure babe… go ahead… take a look around… pay for that while you're in it and then look around ok?" he said as he kissed my forehead and then walked around the shop looking at all the different clothes. He liked them; he looked over this jacket in the corner. I looked over a lot of clothes and decided I liked a lot of stuff, I bought a lot of clothes too… but it wasn't like I wasn't gonna wear them again.

"Sweetie… can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked him. He looked over and walked toward me.

"Sure what is it?" he rapped his arms around my lower back and looked me in the eyes. He was good at this acting stuff.

"Well don't you think we should change our hair and eye colour too?" I asked quietly. He nodded and paid for his clothes. We bought a lot of clothes and put them in the boot of his car. We both were wearing new clothes and looked very different, but not different enough. We went to a costume shop and bought some contacts, my eyes are normally blue so we got me green contacts, and Patel normally has Brown so we got him Blue. We put them in and I looked so different.

"Hairdresser..." he said and pointed to one across the road.

"What for? Don't we look different enough?" I asked.

"Just in case… plus I wanna pick what they do to your precious hair" he said as he laughed.

"Ok fine let's go then…" I walked out of the shop after we paid for the contacts and walked into the hairdressers. The lady looked me and Patel up and down. She smiled.

"What would you like done today miss?" she asked me.

"Ask the boyfriend… he'll tell you… I have no idea" I said as I laughed. She looked at him.

"What do you think will suit her?" he asked.

"Well she has medium long hair… I think some hair extensions… make it longer" she said as she looked at my hair. "And I think we die it darker, she has lovely brown hair but let's make it about three shades darker"

"Sounds good to me" he said. I nodded.

"Why don't you leave and have your hair done sweetie and come back in a bit ok?" I asked as she started to put dye in my hair.

"Sure bub" he said as he winked and walked out.

"Cute couple… how long you two been together?" she asked. As she finished putting die in and was painting my nails black.

"Thanks… uh a while I guess probably about six months… I'm not sure you'd have to ask him, I don't keep track" I said as I laughed. We talked for a little while longer and then she washed the dye out and started to put hair extensions in. I sat there for another hour. My phone rang, it was Patel.

"Hey babe… what's up?" I asked into the phone.

"Hey uh you done yet?" he asked.

"Nope… nearly… about another ten minutes why?" I asked

"No reason… I'll come and get you in ten ok?" he said.

"Ok bye Hun…" I said as I closed the phone.

The lady looked at me and said "he wants to see the new you?" I laughed.

"Yeah probably… he's coming in about ten minutes" I said.

"Ok well that gives you time to do some make up I guess" she said as she passed me a makeup bag and I sat in front of the mirror and did my make up. 'Drake' showed up just as I finished. The lady turned my chair around so he couldn't see.

"Hey honey" he said.

I turned the chair around and once again all he could do was stare. I looked in the mirror properly and I realised I look like I had come out of some movie as the bad guys girlfriend.

"Hey what do you think?" I asked. I looked completely different to the shy seventeen year old I looked like this morning. I looked at least nineteen.

"Wow" was all he could get out of his mouth.

"You don't look to bad your self… new highlights… I like it" I said as I stood and walked over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. I passed the girl my card and paid for everything. She gave me the make up bag and Patel and I walked out of the shop. "So from now on we are Audrey and Drake… and we don't talk to anyone from Base unless we have to right? That's the drill yeah?" I asked as we crossed the road and got in his car again. It was getting a bit later in the day now and more people were around to stare at me and Gregory. I wasn't used to the staring.

"yeah… no contact to anyone not on the case… and I don't know how long we will be UC for so you might wanna call Elle and tell her you're going camping and will be out of cell range" he said as he drove down the street.

"You just wanna have me all to yourself" I said as I laughed.

"You wish lass" he said jokingly as he passed me a new phone. "No more using that other one after that phone call… ok?"

"Ok… got it… oh I'll have to ask her to feed Rhea… or get someone from base too" I said as I thought about how much stuff I have at that flat. "I'm gonna call base then Elle".

"Ok sure just be quick we gotta get to our new crash pad soon."

"Ok… Hey base… this is Evers… I need someone to feed my cat… I'm on vacation… her name is rhea and I didn't think it would be a good idea to have someone feed my cat and find all my base equipment" I said, gave them my address and then hung up. "Hey Elle… I'm going camping so I'll be out of range for a while ok? Ok well I'll talk to you later bye" I said to the answering machine.

"Done?" he asked.

"done." I replied as we went up a large driveway. "This is our crash pad?" I asked in shock.

"Yes and no… this is technically not allowed… it's my brother's place…we are visiting him… I wanna see his reaction ok?" he said as we pulled up near the front door.

"Reaction to what?" I asked as we walked up the front steps. Gregory took the contacts out and I realized he was in his normal clothes.

"To uh… well… you…" he said as the door opened. It was a butler. He showed us to the foyer where we would wait for 'Master Patel'. "this is good acting practise for you… just act the way you think Audrey would… with out the rap sheet of course… just a lil bit edgy… I wanna see how good you are… and also make my brother freak out" he said as he put his arm protectively around me. I looked over toward a door and saw; who I could only assume was Gregory's brother, Daniel. He looked Gregory up and down and didn't even notice me. I decided I wanted to see how far I could push Gregory.

No one noticed me so I decided to make myself noticed. "Hey babe… can I get a beer in this place?" I asked from behind him with my arms draped over his shoulders. I kissed his cheek and looked up like I hadn't noticed Daniel was there, I pretended to be flustered and tried to straighten up. "Hi… I'm Audrey… Gregory's girlfriend… you must be Daniel" I said as I walked around to the front of Gregory and turned to face Daniel, I held my hand out for him to shake and to my surprise he did.

"Uh honey I don't think you want beer right now" Gregory said as he put his arms over my shoulders from behind.

"No I guess not." I said.

"So how are you Gregory? I haven't seen my little brother in years" Daniel said. He made sure I heard him correctly.

"Yes well I have been busy, making my money and having Audrey at my house causes some distraction…" he said as he smiled and lent closer to me and kissed my cheek.

"Speaking of houses… we have to get back to feed my cat honey" I said as I turned to face Gregory. Gregory's hands released me then rapped around my lower back and I linked my fingers behind his neck.

"Yes… Rose won't like it if she doesn't get her dinner… sorry to disturb you Daniel…" Gregory said.

"Why don't you two stay… for lunch" he said, I looked at Gregory and he smiled.

"Is that ok with you baby?" he asked me.

"Yeah sure, Rose can wait. So Daniel… how much older are you then Gregory?" I asked.

"Three years" he replied like I was supposed to be impressed by this.

"Oh ok, it's just you look younger, probably a good thing." I said dismissingly. Gregory looked at me and tried to hold back laughter. Daniel linked arms with me and lead me in, what I could only assume, was the direction of lunch. Gregory followed closely behind. I had a quick glance over my shoulder to look at Gregory, our eyes met and I smiled then I quickly pretended to be listening to whatever Daniel was telling me about the architecture of the house, which frankly didn't interest me at all. We reached a dining room and sat down. It was outside on a patio, very informal, so I decided I'd sit on Gregory. Just to see Daniel's reaction of course. Gregory saw my move coming.

"Sweetie, do you want wine or beer?" he asked as I sat on him side on so I could still see his face and talk to both men. I looked at him and smiled.

"Uh… what are you having boys?" I asked. Figuring I'd just copy whatever they were having.

"I'm having a beer, and Daniel will most likely have a scotch, am I right?" Gregory said as I watched Daniel's reaction to me, he kept looking me up and down.

"Yes, you know me too well Gregory." Daniel said as he called a maid of maybe sixteen over and ordered his and Gregory's drink. I decided beer was a good plan, but wine is more sophisticated. I went with my gut.

"Uh whatever Gregory is having" I said as I went to stand to move to my own seat. Gregory had his hands around my waist while I was sitting and he held on just that little bit tighter that told me he wanted me to stay. Daniel stood.

"Excuse me for a moment will you?" he asked, directly to me. I pretended to be too caught up in Gregory's eyes to notice. I nodded not turning around. Once I knew Daniel was gone I looked at Gregory who was still not letting me stand.

"Well?" I asked keeping up the show for the maids and other staff that could say anything to Daniel.

"Very good… I almost believed you… you are doing very well. Daniel isn't easy to get onside but your weird charm seems to have won him over. I think he might even be a little bit jealous… and that's why you aren't allowed to drink scotch anymore remember?" his voice and conversation had changed rapidly which told me that Daniel had returned but because my back was to the table I didn't see. So I went along with what Gregory was saying.

"But it was only one window… and a lamp" I said in a deliberate flirty whine. Daniel sat down and I pretended to be startled. "Oh! You're back. Look drinks are here" I said as a maid came and put the tray on the table. I picked Gregory's beer up and passed it to him, then picked mine up and took a sip.

"So, Audrey… pretty name, does it come with a last name?" Daniel asked looking at Gregory and me. Gregory kissed my neck and I spun my legs around so that I was sitting side on to them again.

"Clay, Audrey Clay." I said as I took another sip of my beer. It was actually a pretty good beer.

"Oh nice. Where are you from? You definitely aren't from around here" Daniel said. He was fishing, looking in any flaw in my story anything not quite right; he wasn't going to find anything.

"I'm from Australia. So no I'm definitely not a local girl, but I have lived around here for three years, your family is Scottish and English yes?" I decided I should sound interested even if I had herd this story sixteen million times when I heard Gregory talk to the new kids.

"Yes, half Scottish, Half English, although we seem to take after our father who was Scottish." Daniel replied haughtily.

"Well…no offence but we really better be off. Cat's to feed, people to see, places to go." Gregory said as he released me, I stood and moved out of his way, Gregory stood shook his brothers hand and we all started walking back the way we came.

"Thank you so much for having us, sorry we couldn't stay, nice meeting you" I said to Daniel.

"Yes well, you are welcome anytime Audrey. See you 'round Gregory" he said as he shook my hand again and we left.

"Was that ok?" I said exhausted. It is easier to fake a life if it's to people you don't know.

"That was… FANTASTIC!" Gregory said excitedly. I looked at him in shock, he sounded so pleased. He picked me up in a hug and spun me around. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He placed me back on the ground and we started to walk toward the car.

"Think he believed it?" I asked as I got in the car and put a seat belt on; Greg was behind the car changing his shirt and jacket.

"Believed it? I think he fell for that hook, line and sinker lass. Next thing I'll know my mother will call me and ask who this girl is that I took to meet my brother" he said slightly muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head. I got in the car and fiddled with my pants.

"Ok… is that a good thing?" I asked as I fiddled to try and fix my jacket, which had slipped off my shoulder slightly.

"Yeah it is fantastic; I should bring you to our family get togethers… hmm... Now let's go get you some fake ink baby" he said as he got in the car, put on his seatbelt and drove away.

"Ok… what am I getting done?" I asked. I looked at Greg, he looked that part of an evil vampire, but he also looked nice enough for people to mistake him for a soft-touch.

"I'm not sure yet… but it's fake so… all we have to do is get something we can come get re-sprayed every two or three days" he said as he drove. He knew where he was going. He had connections, we were headed somewhere that he knew, someone that he knew could do this properly. "What about some stars somewhere? Classic." He said unaware I was pulling down my jacket sleeve over stars on my wrist that I'd had done only a few weeks before.

"Behind my ear? And something on the back of my neck?" I asked as the car pulled over. Greg looked at me and for a few moments I thought he was gonna kiss me. He lifted my hair and shook his head.

"Too covered… you'll have your hair down most of the time…what about something on your wrist?" he asked. He grabbed my wrist and pulled my jacket sleeve up. It was the wrist that had no tattoo. "Yeah I think we put some stars or something there… maybe a pentagram… the good one of course…" he said. I looked at him and smiled.

"Stars like these?" I said as I lifted my other wrist and pulled up the jacket sleeve to reveal the two stars. Greg looked at me surprised and nodded. "They are permanent… I could have something on the other wrist though" I said.

"Like what?" he asked. I looked at him, I had no idea, but I needed one quick. I looked around the car, no luck. Then it came to me.

"I'm a vampire yeah? Or whatever yeah?" I asked.

"Yeah" he replied a little confused.

"Well… what about the letters R.I.P? It suits yeah?" I asked as we got out of the car and I again followed Greg up a set of stairs, I seem to be following him a lot lately, not that I'm complaining.

"Yeah I agree… let's go tell Tommy that then." He said as we walked into a hallway and he knocked on a door. He didn't give me a weapon, he must know these people. I stood next to him.

"Am I pretending here too?" I asked.

"Not unless you want to… these guys know me… and what I do… sort of… they know I ask them to do this stuff a fair bit… on second thought yeah..." he said. I wasn't sure what his answer was. But we heard the door handle rattle and he pulled me closer to him and the door started to open and he kissed me, I knew it was just for show but it felt real, it felt right. He broke the kiss and looked at the guy who opened the door. "Oh, hey man." He said as they shook hands and we walked inside, but not before the guy at the door looked me up and down and smiled. I smiled back as I grabbed Greg's hand.

We walked into a lounge room. Greg smiled and nodded at most of the men and girls. They all greeted him back as he took a seat on the lounge. He patted his lap, gesturing for me to sit on him. I sat facing him, one leg either side of his lap, and my face inches from his. One of the guys offered to take my jacket I said "no thanks… I'll just let Greg hold it for me." I took my jacket off and put it in between our bodies over our laps. I looked into Greg's eyes and he smiled. "Hey does Tommy do real tatts too?" I whispered into his ear. He laughed pretending I told him a joke and he nodded. "Coz I was thinking I wanted a star above my tribal" I said quietly.

"Just the fake ones today ok? Proper ones another time…" he said as he looked into my eyes. Some guys brought us beers. I drank, Greg was driving, and we had a good time till Tommy came. Tommy walked in and I got off Greg and we both stood. Greg shook Tommy's hand and they said hello.

"Who is this?" he said referring to me. I smiled and put my arm around Greg's waist. Greg looked down on my face and smiled. He kissed my forehead.

"This is my gorgeous girlfriend Audrey, she is here to have some spray tatting done… for a job" he said that last bit quieter. Tommy looked me over and nodded approvingly.

"Not bad… what you having done girl?" he asked. I smiled.

"R.I.P on my wrist, here" I said pointing to my blank wrist.

"You have some ink already?" he asked noticing my other wrist. I nodded and showed him my other two. He looked me up and down and said "if you already have ink why you botherin' spray?" he asked. I didn't need to answer. Greg did that for me.

"it's for a job, it only needs to be temporary, but we will probably come back every two or three days to get it touched up… and maybe get some real ink… a star did you say Audrey?" Greg asked me.

"Yes… above my tribal on my back, but that can wait till this is over" I said. Tommy nodded knowingly and led us away from the crowd and into a work room.

"So you need to pick a script… uh font… for this writing" he said as he pulled out a folder. I looked through a lot of pages but decided I liked a gothic looking one.

"That… please" I said. He nodded and got every thing organised. I had to stay still for five minutes while he lined everything up on my wrist, then I had to not move my wrist at all for two minutes while he sprayed and treated it.

"When did you have your first tattoo done?" he asked as he neatened up.

"Uh about two years ago, then those stars were done not long ago" I said absent minded as I thought about that kiss earlier in the hallway. It felt so right, like an electric current had passed through my whole body.

"Why only two stars and not a band of them or something?" he asked as he patted it over.

"They represent the people I've lost, and I've only lost two people in my job so far" I said.

"Fair enough" he said. Greg looked at me and nodded. He knew who I meant. Tommy finished up and said "good bye nice meeting you Audrey see you soon, nice seeing you again Greg"

We walked out of the work room and into the lounge room, we waved goodbye and walked back out of the flat and down the stairs to the car again.

"When are we going back?" I asked as I sat in the passenger seat again. I looked at the spray on tattoo. It looked good. Greg looked at me and smiled.

"Uh… a few days… to get your real one done I guess." He said. I nodded and put my belt on.

"We are going to our crash pad now?" I asked as he sat and put on his belt. I thought back again to when we kissed. The scene replayed in my mind. I always liked Greg but I didn't think I liked him like that. Just thinking about the kiss made me light headed, like the electricity was still flowing through me.

"Yeah… if you want or we could go straight to the club" Greg looked at me and it was like being hit by a truck, I suddenly couldn't breathe. I looked away and took a breath.

"Uh but no one we want to talk to will be there… they are vampires… they can't go into sunlight." I said as I looked at the street we were now driving down

"True… ok crash pad it is… what are we gonna do when we get there?" he asked. He didn't mean it badly but I laughed.

"Uh read… shower… talk… I don't know" I replied laughing.

"Oh wow how unimaginative" he joked.

"I know…" I said as I looked at the floor. Trying to avoid his eyes, so that I didn't feel light headed again.

"Ha… there's hope for you yet lass" he said. He laughed as he parked the car. I laughed along but I wasn't sure what was so funny. I thought about how long we were gonna be undercover, last time I was UC it was with Aaron and we were 'siblings'. This time would be different. I wondered how we were going to convince people we were together, if people came over or something. Greg will come up with something.

We both got out of the car and Greg got our things out of the boot of as I lent up against the door of the car. He looked up as he shut the boot and laughed again.

"What?" I asked as I pulled a puzzled face.

"You look so not like you… it's funny, that's all… let's go tell the manager we are here" he said. I walked with him up the driveway toward what looked like reception. Greg held the door open for me and I walked in. The room was so clean. So tidy. I think if I tried I could see myself in the glass that lay over the wooden reception desk. The receptionist was quite pretty. She had auburn hair and blue eyes. She smiled at me and 'Drake' as we stood in front of her desk.

"Mr. Peterson and Miss Clay?" she asked as she looked in her book.

"That's us. We are renting an apartment for a while, I think. It was organised by my work so I'm not sure." Greg said. The lady looked up and smiled at him.

"Yes, Mr. Peterson. You and Miss Clay are renting an apartment, it has been prepaid for a month." She replied as she opened a drawer and pulled out a set of keys and handed them to Greg. He nodded and we walked out of the office and toward the big apartment block.

"Mr. Peterson, may I have the keys?" I asked mockingly. He gave me an angry face that was way too exaggerated to be real. He threw the keys at me and laughed.

"You may Miss Clay." He said.

"Oh Audrey please" I said jokingly as I looked at the room number. We were number 13. Ironic that is my old apartment number. He laughed as we walked up to an elevator. It opened and we walked inside. It was like this morning all over again. Only this time we were pretending to be together.

I pressed the button for our floor and the doors closed. We stood there in the elevator in silence. It was then I realized I would be with him twenty-four hours a day seven days a week until this was over, what were we going to talk about? I snapped out of this thought as the doors opened on a lower floor and some other people got in the elevator. Greg moved closer and put his arm around my waist forcing me to stand next to him. I looked up into his eyes and I felt like I would melt. If this was the first day, how was I going to cope with weeks, possibly months?

He noticed I was looking at him and he gave a light laugh before kissing me. I felt electricity pulse through me. This is not good. I have to snap out of it. But, I don't want to. I opened my eyes slightly to see these other people look at us and smile, like they thought it was sweet. I closed my eyes again. My head went all foggy, like nothing was quite clear, except this moment. No one else existed, just me and him.

I wondered if he felt the same way as the moment ended and the elevator stopped at our floor. Greg took my hand and linked his fingers through mine. He wasn't making this easy.

We exited the elevator and walked up to the door that led to our apartment. I slid the key into the lock and turned it. I turned the door handle and opened the door. The apartment was clean and neat. It was furnished and had food. The Alliance had obviously been here trying to make it more comfortable. Greg walked around and put our stuff down, in what I assumed was a bedroom.

"This place is big. Compared to what we normally get…" Greg said as he walked around the apartment again, like he was trying to imprint the layout in his head. Then I realized he probably was imprinting it in his head, he has to in case someone attacks us, so he knows where all the vulnerable places are.

"Yeah I know… it's bigger than my normal apartment" I said as I looked in the fridge. There were bags of blood, props of course, and some fruit. I looked around the kitchen and saw some takeaway menus on the bench.

"What you gonna do 'til its dark?" Greg asked as he entered the kitchen and looked at me.

"I don't know… order pizza?" I said. I sat at a stool and drummed my fingers on the bench. He nodded and grabbed the phone.

"Pepperoni?" he asked as he dialled the number for the pizza place.

"Yeah… is that ok?" I replied. He nodded again and I stood and went to look at the rest of the apartment. His voice, which was ordering pizza, faded as I wandered from room to room looking around. I wandered into the bedroom and noticed there was only one king-sized bed. Where were we going to sleep?

"Hey honey? What name do I put the order under?" I heard Greg yell toward the bedroom.

"Put it under your last name sweetie" I yelled back. I heard footsteps toward the room and I turned and saw him standing in the doorway. He pulled a face at me that meant he had forgotten his new last name.

"Peterson…" I said quietly so that the pizza place didn't hear me.

"Ah… sorry was trying to find my… cat… uh put the order under Peterson… Drake Peterson… thankyou" Greg said, he hung up the phone, walked into the room and sat on the bed. He patted the bed next to him gesturing me to sit next to him. I walked over from looking at a mirror to the bed and sat.

"What did you order?" I asked as I laid back on the bed.

"Pizza" he said being a smart arse. I rolled my eyes and then looked at him. The green contacts really made him look very handsome. I laughed and gave him a weird look. "Pepperoni pizza… I think… I'm not sure I was apparently looking for my 'cat' at the same time" he said laughing.

"How long, 'til the pizza gets here?" I asked as I looked out the window. It was only just starting to get dark.

"About twenty minutes apparently" he said.

"How are we going to explain not having a cat?" I said as I fiddled with the doona cover on the bed.

"Uh I don't know… ran away? I'm not sure…I'll think of something… she probably wont ask… do you wanna try to freak the pizza lady out?" he said in a very sudden moment of happiness, he usually sounded so mature, and this on the other hand was just the opposite.

"Uh… what did you have in mind?" I said a little unsure. Greg comes up with some very odd plans sometimes, that's probably what makes him so good at his job.

"Well… I have this work shirt… and I think it would be funny if you walked out with the shirt and underwear on and ill just wear pants and underwear… we'll make her feel like she interrupted something… it would be funny to see her face." He said as he suddenly got up and rifled through his bag and got out a business-type shirt.

"Uh ok… so I am putting your shirt on over my underwear?" I asked to clarify, I decided I might as well go along with his stupid plan… he'll probably save my arse enough times on this job…I figured I'd owe him.

"Yes… go to the bathroom if you like… if you're shy" he said as a joke throwing the shirt at me then taking his jacket and shirt off. I decided it was a good plan. So I walked to the bathroom and got changed.

I heard the door bell and Greg yell "no honey I'll get it… you stay in bed." I laughed slightly. He was such a goofball. I lightly walked out of the bathroom and out into the lounge room toward the front door. I caught a glimpse from the other side of the room that the pizza delivery lady was standing at the door looking at Greg. I laughed to myself. I walked up behind him and slid my arm around his waist.

"Hey baby…are you coming back to bed? Oh there's pizza…" I said. Greg paid the lady and took the pizza; I stood up on my tip toes and kissed his cheek then waved at the pizza delivery lady. The lady looked shocked and uncomfortable. We shut the door and started laughing. Greg looked at me still laughing and passed me a pizza box. We walked toward the lounge.

"That was fun yeah?" he asked as we sat on the lounge and opened the boxes. I pulled out a slice of pepperoni pizza.

"Yeah" I agreed taking a bite of the cheesy pizza. I was carefree until I realized that the head of office back at base would be very angry at me… I forgot to finish that paperwork, for the last two dead body calls (DBC) I got, before we left. I must have had a thoughtful look on my face because Greg gave me a strange, confused look.

"What's up? You don't look too happy for a girl that has pizza, looks amazing and is about to pull one of the biggest vampire gang take downs base has ever seen…so what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" he asked. He looked at me and I smiled.

"I forgot to do my DBC paperwork before we left… and you could do this job single-handed, with your eyes closed" I said smiling, I took another bite of pizza. It was good pizza.

"It'll be fine; she won't care about paperwork when this mission is over…" he said as he looked out a window and saw it was dark. "Finish pizza and then we gotta go… it's time for work" he said. We ate a bit more pizza then I stood and walked to the bedroom. I got changed again back into the black pants, shirt and jacket I reattached some of the chains and put on a pair of leather boots that we bought earlier today. I heard Greg in the lounge room find a shirt or something in a plastic bag and I grabbed his leather jacket from off the bed and walked out into the lounge room where Greg stood pulling a shirt over his muscle bound torso. He pulled the shirt over his head and looked up at me.

"We all set?" I asked as I threw the jacket at him. He smiled as he caught it.

"Yep… lets rock and roll…" he said as he grabbed another slice of pizza in one hand and the car keys in the other. I opened the door for us, he walked down the corridor and I closed the door, checking I had the keys in my pocket first. We got to the elevator and waited a few minutes before it arrived and the doors opened.