Darkness had once again fallen over Los Angeles. Andreas slowly opened his eyes to see where he was. It was the safe house room, lying upon the bed, his body felt like an old bean bag. He rubbed his eyes. It was a strange feeling, having awakened even though he was dead. A yawn escaped from his lips and his eyes gained some more information about his surroundings. He had fallen asleep as he was dressed yesterday. His shirt was still smeared with blood, most of it being his own. The jacket had a few spots from when his head was smashed into the ground, but it was not something that he could not wash out within breakfast.

Breakfast. The thing just struck him again that his coming breakfast would forever be more blood. He lowered his head a moment, thoughtful.

I cannot argue that it felt good… he thought to himself. The sensation of feeling the red plasma liquid glide down his throat was… Indescribable.

I have certainly become a monster… he sighed at himself and curled his legs up holding himself a moment. The moment was short however. He could not mellow in self-pity all the time.

The sound of small lungs snoozing caught his ear and he looked to his side to see the small kindred from yesterday. Ashley.

She was curled up in the beds only sheet and slept so peacefully. The boy could not help himself and gently stroked the little kindred by her hair, feeling the fair skin and her soft golden locks of hair.

Andreas rose up from the bed, stepping over the sleeping Ashley, doing his best not to wake her and walk out to the bathroom not bothering to close the door. He turned the tap and let the water flow. He cupped some with his hands and threw it into his face. Washing his face and waking him.

He took a moment to stare at the mirror. He could see himself, which was quite impressive. He guessed that either some of him was still human, or the basic physics of bouncing light still counted for something when it came to kindred. He traced his finger over his face, stopping a moment at a scar he had running from the side of his right eye to below of it, encircling a quarter of it. So being embraced does not heal old injuries either, he concluded, simply counting on the new facts he had to live with. His eyes then fell upon the spot between his eyes. He chuckled lightly remembering this scar. It often made people mistake him for a Hindu, but the reality was simply a mistake he had done as a toddler. A frown then appeared on his face as he looked himself in the mirror.

"I think it looks realy good on you…" a beautiful brown haired woman said smiling at him as they sat on the couch in the apartment.
"Come on, you jest… I look like some kind of schizophrenic Hindu… I'm not even religious…" he threw his head back slightly. She chuckled.
"The Great Comrade a religious man? Now that would be the day…"she said grinning widely, though covering her mouth with her hand. The boy looked over at her.
"Well would it be the day if I said I have come to care for a born bourgeois?" he smiled widely. The woman´s eyes lit up.
"You…. Mean that?"
The boy leaned over lightly planting his lips upon hers, not feeling the coldness of her dead skin. "I mean it."
The woman looked down a moment. Her mind in a battle a moment as she panicked mentally, she then looked upon him. "I Want to show you something Andreas…." She said her fangs clearly showing, before she planted them strongly into his neck.

A tiny crack appeared in the wall as his fist collided with the already beaten down bathroom wall. The feeling of betrayal was still fresh in his gut from only two nights ago. Before the bourgeois had taken him.

He took off his shirt, making him stand bare chested in the bathroom and begun to wash the blood off his chest and his shirt. His senses were tingling, despite the fact that the blood was his own. After this, he would have to hunt. He lightly knocked his head against the wall, not liking the idea of him hunting his fellow, or now former, humans for sustenance.

"Mister Andreaaaaass….."

His train of thought was interrupted as he heard Ashley´s tired voice and felt her pulling at his pocket to get his attention. He looked down to see the small kindred still curled up in the sheet, but had just walked off the bed and now stood beside him, rubbing her eyes and yawning slightly.

"I'm hungry….. Can we go out and play today?"

He could not help but smile looking down on the little kindred as he gently placed a hand upon her head. She made him forget of his worries. "Of course we can, I promised didn't I?"

The little kindred smiled and hugged him around his legs, almost crushing the bones with the strength of her bloodline. "Fank yoo Mister Andreas! You're So much nicer than mean mister LaCroix"

He bit his lower lip and did his best to keep in a squirm of pain from the crushing hug. "Why… thank you…" He then raised an eyebrow. "You know LaCroix?"

The small kindred let go and smiled at Andreas. "Yesh! Mean mister LaCroix asked me to Bwow summin up." She said without any shame or change of compulsion. Andreas was quite taken aback. He had asked a child to do terrorist work? He kneeled down a bit and placed a hand on her head. "So are you going to leave to do that?" he asked, surprising himself of how sad he ended up sounding. He had only just met this child. Ashley shook her head. "Nooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…" She said, exaggerating and stretching the word. "Mister Merqurio says I can't do it yet…. He say it be bwecause… bwecause…" she seemed to think rather hard. "Something about… Stuff…"

Andreas dropped his head. Well that solves the mystery doesn't it? He thought to himself then shaking his head. But then it struck him. "Merqurio? LaCroix asked me to find an agent named Merqurio…"

Ashley smiled greatly. "Yes! Mister Merquwio also told me someone would come… And I'm so appy you did Mister Andreas!" she said before jumping at Andreas, throwing her arms around his neck and ending up hanging like some piece of jewelry. A light chuckle escaped from his lips as he lifted up his arms in support so Ashley would not be dangling from him. "Get yourself ready then, we will go and eat before Meeting mister Merqurio."

Ashley's smile grew larger again. "Ok!" she exclaimed before jumping off of Andreas and skipped out of the bathroom, putting the sheet back on the bed. He sighed slightly, Children was always so hyper. He gave himself one last look in the mirror, ignoring the fact that he had lost the band that kept his hair in a ponytail, so it was now wild and unkempt. Tonight he would have to learn to conform, and be strong for the little kindred. He washed off the last of the blood he could off his shirt and took it back on, ignoring the feeling of wet clothes against his dead skin. Now it just looked like he had spilled red wine all over it. He then put on the jacket, making him look as if nothing had happened and walked out to find Ashley. "Shall we leave?" he asked smiling at Ashley. She was jumping merrily on the spot. "Yay! Breakfast!" She exclaimed loudly and ran out the door.

The streets were more filled than yesterday. Andreas wondered why so many were out tonight. It looked like the usual lot in this part of town. Old, tired, Prostitutes, Emos and other dodgy types in general. There was one man who caught his eye though as soon as they had left the complex and stood in the street. A clearly wealthy man was standing in a suit, and looked genuinely frightened. Andreas scratched his chin a moment, Jacks words resounding in his mind. "When it comes to feeding its quality blood you want, not the quantity. ". And like it or not, the upper class would be the ones most likely to have quality. He looked down to Ashley and whispered to her. "Go down the alley and wait there." She looked a bit confused at first but did as was asked of her, maybe thinking this was a new game. Andreas then quickly made his hair a bit more kempt, and strolled over to the man. "Excuse me."
The man looked upon Andreas, his eyes was still frightened. Andreas´s appearance did not help much. He could easily be mistaken for a drunk or a violent junkie, considering his facial scar. The man raised an eyebrow though. "Yes, is there something I can…. Help you with?"
Andreas eyed him up a bit. Oh this man was clearly wealthy. That suit was a designer one and he wore real leather shoes. Easily recognizable for one who used to go for people like this. He smiled warmly at the man. "I was just wondering what a gentleman such as yourself is doing here? And especially at this time of night…" He said, glad that the darkness hid his new vampire looks. It made him also realize that he would have to stop grinning with his teeth. People might notice his fangs.
The man replied "I am waiting for that blasted Tow truck I called an hour ago… I certainly don't want to wait another moment in this part of town, at this time of night as you said…" he sighed and rubbed one of his temples in frustration. "I should have listened to my mechanic, Buy German! He said…"
Andreas nodded lightly. "Well your mechanic was right… German design is the best… In general we Europeans seem to make more high quality products…" The man looked at him seeming surprised. "You are European?" Andreas nodded. "Aye, I am Scandinavian to be precise… Go LEGO…" he said slightly sarcastic.
The man seemed to warm up to him a bit. "Well it's too bad you created that European Union… It's a nightmare of expenses to have anything imported from your countries." He said seeming to have calmed down. Andreas nodded and slowly began to take a few steps towards the alleyway but kept talking.
"It's an idea of protectionism from the European smart heads, that we trade from the inside and make sure that anyone who wish to sell to us or buy from us get through some troublesome Tariffs so we can keep our wealth in the north…" he said, his voice seeming soothing to the man, and he slowly followed after Andreas, seeming to like where the conversation is going.
"It's quite a good business model for developed countries… maybe all should adopt that… Then at least china could not bug in…" he said then noticed that they had walked slightly down an alleyway, he stopped and began to be nervous again. Andreas turned and looked upon him. He looked with concern upon his face and concentrated his words, his clan power automatically running through his veins to his lips.
"Are you ok? You look so tired… You seem like you could fall over… any… second… now… " he slowly emphasized the last words as he could see them taking effect upon the human. The man's eyes slowly closed and he fell to the ground, instantly asleep. Jack had told him of this power, but it seemed to be bigger than Andreas had expected. He was always influential but this was just amazing.

Andreas smiled a bit at his accomplishment, glad that things went without any trouble. Then turned his head and whistled. Ashley was already skipping rather quickly in the direction of them and looked upon the downed man. "oooooo… A queen's breakfast!" she said with Glee as she almost jumped on top of the downed man. Andreas looked a bit concerned at Ashley. "Now now, don't get too excited-" he was interrupted by Ashley happily exclaiming. "Don't wowy Mister Andreas! I know what to do!" She smiled loudly before almost beast like rammed her fangs into the man´s neck. The man took no notice of it. He didn't even flicker in his sleep. He was at peace, while being in theory "eaten" for sustenance. Andreas´s throat wanted to turn inside out at the image a moment. This was not his ideals…

Ashley let go of the man's neck. She smilingly whipped her lips and licked her fingers as if it was leftover ice cream on a warm day. She then ran up and hugged Andreas, with the same crushing force like earlier. "Fank yoo Mister Andreas! That was Delicious!" she said grinning broadly.

The boy just returned with a light smile. He gently released himself from Ashley´s hug and began to take a few steps towards the exit of the Alleyway, but he was stopped by Ashley. "Isn't Mister Andreas hungry?" she looked up at him seeming worried all of a sudden. He smiled and tried to shrug it off. "Naw, I'm not… I'll be fine for the evening." He said then kneeling down by the man, leaning in to his ear. "You collapsed from exhaustion… Maybe you should head to your car, the tow truck could be here any minute now…" he said, again concentrating on his words. It worked once again and the Man sprung to life and rose up from the ground. He didn't even entertain the thought that something had happened to him and he seemed to be thinking his and the boy's conversation had continued. "Well it was interesting talking to you Sir, but I better get to my car… thanks for watching over me as a fell." He said before leaving the scene as soon as the last syllable had left his lips. The boy smiled lightly at the result. "Well then… Let's go Ashley… I'm sure Merqurio is waiting…" he said before he started walking. He could not see the little kindred look upon him with both worry and concern in her eyes. Her lower lip was quivering slightly. Why were mister Andreas not eating? She asked herself. She had been doing this for long and she knew it tasted good… Why didn't he do it?

They both came to a halt as they arrived at the apartment building of which should be Merqurio´s residence. There were clear signs of someone having literally dragged themselves through the door. A clear bloody handprint was upon the door and it was standing wide open. They both followed the trail of blood until they came to the end of the hall, where another door was open and a discouraging sight met them both. Ashley knew it was Merqurio, but he was lying on the couch, repainting it in his own blood as he tried to control his own breathing. He noticed the two and turned his head and clenched his teeth, biting the pain into him before speaking. "Those fuckers…. Ripped me off…. I'm dying here…." Ashley ran over to him exclaiming. "Mister Merquwio!"

Andreas followed right behind, examining the bleeding man. "This looks quite bad… We better call the hospital-" he said but was interrupted. "What! No, I got a record back east… I'm Heat bait…. Don't touch that phone… No god damn cops!" The boy looked upon the bleeding man. He knew that it was not smart contacting a hospital if one was not on good terms with the cops, but sometimes it was necessary. "Are you Sure?" he asked again. "No Cops!" the man said in confirmation. The little kindred looked at all the blood around and licked her lips a bit, getting distracted rather quickly despite the dire situation. The boy also felt his senses tingle for the blood but had enough will to focus. "What happened to you?"

Merqurio clenched his sides in a feeble attempt to keep his body from giving up. "Goddamn chemists… you can't trust any operators in LA…" he complained lowly. The boy nodded in agreement. "The gangs here are rather underhanded…" Merqurio looked back at the boy, a moment wondering how a Ventrue could know so much of the gangs. They usually stick to an office and stick out orders. He then continued. "I set up a drop on the beach, the organization seemed reliable… I was supposed to get some Astrolight for the demolition of a sabbat Interest…" He took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself. "I show up with the money right, and suddenly out of nowhere, four of those sons of bitches with bats jump out and beat me to a pulp. Now they got the money… they got the astrolight."

The boy nodded. "An easy target for them and easy gain… I'm surprised you did not see that coming…" he boy said raising an eyebrow. Merqurio snapped at him. "I know I made a mistake ok!... I was cocky and got what I deserved… but now you have to get it back..."

Andreas crossed his arms a moment, but then moved his hands up to help with some of the bleedings on Merqurio. He exclaimed loudly in pain but could see he was trying to help. "But what do I get out of it?" the boy asked, mentally slapping himself for the question. But he could not fight for his ideas in this condition. He would need some help. Merqurio breathed through his teeth to soften his pain. "You might get to get away from the top dogs watchful eye… And not get the same fate as your Sire…"

The boy clenched his fists a moment. The mention of her made his blood boil, and even more when she was called his ´Sire´. Ashley then pulled at his shirt. "And then maybe mean Mister LaCroix will let Ashley pway!" She said smiling. The boy could not help but return the smile at her. Was all that she did just a big game of tag? He asked himself, then he remembered being a child himself and nodded at the little kindred. "Well that sounds like a good enough reason to do it." He said then looks back at Merqurio. "Where are they hanging out?"

"Those junkie pricks live in a small dump on the beach… Should be easy to find…" the boy nodded then.

"Allright." He said before rising to his feet. He was about to leave when he stopped up and looked back at Merqurio a moment. "May I ask how at all you're alive? I have seen people die from half the manhandling it seems you have suffered. "

Merqurio gave the boy a questioning look a moment, then realized why he asked. "Right… you're straight off the bus… I forgot that… Once a Month I get fed Vampire blood… It makes me heal better, stronger than a normal human, and I don't age… You wouldn't think it but I'm almost sixty."

Andreas was impressed. "Vampire blood can heal? " He looked down on his wrist and then looked at Merqurio. But he was interrupted. "It Can, But I won't take more than once a month… There are Vices about this… And I won't take it even if it means I Die…" Merqurio said glaring at Andreas. The boy kind of felt bad for asking and let his hand glide down to his side again.

"So… Does a human turn into something by one drink?"

Merqurio shook his head again. "No.. It will take more than thaaaaaa—" he suddenly cringed in pain. "Urrrrrrgh… something started leaking…" he said with a voice filled with pain. Ashley looked down tilting her head slightly at Merqurio. "Can we help Mister Merquwio?" She actually looked quite concerned for the poor ghoulish human on the couch. He swallowed his spit and forced out the words. "Yea… I need something for the pain… Painkillers, anything…"

Andreas nodded his head and looked over at Ashley. "Ok then, You keep an eye on him so he doesn't die, I'll get him something." He said, gesturing for her to stay put. Ashley smiled and placed her hand up in a Salute. "Ok!" she exclaimed and it brought a light smile to the boy's face. "Good…" He said before turning on his heels and ran out the door. He may work for those who just put him on trial, but it would not be human, No, It would not be Sentient of him to not help an almost dying man.

A few blocks away he found a small hospital. Not much of a hospital as he knew it from Europe, but this seemed to take care of the lower rungs of Society. He made his way through the door to the waiting room, seeing quite many people waiting, some actually bleeding and the receptionist seemed like she did not care. Amazed a moment, he walked up to the counter. The receptionist was a woman in her twenties with eyes sharp like nails, as she glared up at him. "Please, Wait your turn and you will be seen!" She said sternly. Andreas took on his best carefree smile. "Please, I'm just here to bring some things to a friend, I won't be a bother to the doctors or anything, I can see you are all too busy this evening."

The receptionist did not seem to buy it but just huffed. "Fine, whatever, just stay out of the personnel's way and be out of there as soon as you have delivered your things." The boy just smiled and moved up to tip his hat, but realizing he didn't have any; he just made the gesture and walked back behind the reception and into the hospital.

He knew his way around hospitals, so it didn't take long to find where the pain killing drugs and anesthetics were kept. A slightly smug smile grew across his face as he dug into his pocket and found a small red Swiss army knife with more than a few functions, one of them including a potent lock pick. This knife wasn't really sold in stores, but more of a custom made one. The lock was already quite worn down, so it only took a minute or so before the clicking made the announcement that it was open. The boy opened the cupboard and looked around the different kinds of drugs. With the damages Merqurio had, there would be need of something strong. All he found that was potent enough was a bottle of Morphine. It would certainly do, but wasn't what he would have preferred, it was quite an addictive drug and was often stolen by junkies. He then shrugged his shoulders as there was nothing else there that was as potent as he needed. He grabbed a small plastic bag with a one-time use Syringe, thinking that would have to Do. He opened his jacket and hid the drugs in the inside pocket, along with the evidence of his fight yesterday. He turned on heels and walked towards the reception, but stopped as he saw a door half open and there was a woman bleeding all over the place in there. She had tipped off her hospital bed and was now crawling slowly for the door. He just reacted and rushed in to see what was wrong. She was a young woman, 20 at most like himself and she seemed to be coughing up blood along with some cuts to the exterior of her body. She had Bright red hair and blue eyes with which she looked pleadingly into his soul with.

"P-p-pplease…. G-get a doctor…" Andreas immediately lifted her up, placing her back upon the bed again. "Stay Alive… I'll bring one right along" he said reassuring and ran out the door and down the hall. He found a room with a single doctor working on a patient, whose damage he could not see. He pulled the doctors shoulder. "Sir I think a Woman is dying In one of the other rooms… she is bleeding out rapidly and-" he was interrupted by the doctor snapping at him. "I have a man here with a bullet in his head! And I'm the only physician at the moment! My nurse paged Doctor Goldberg half an hour ago; he should be here any minute now."
"But-"
"Go back to your friend, Try and talk to her, keep her awake" he simply snapped at him and went back to the patient he had been working on. Andreas glared at the doctor. "Land of the Free… yea, free to be Pricks…" he said spitefully before running back to the room with the woman before. She was in a way worse condition than before. She seemed to be couching uncontrollably and had trouble getting the necessary oxygen a human needed. She looked upon the boy with tears in her eyes. "Can someone call my grandma… please…" she seemed to get paler by the second. She was dying. This made Andreas panic… He never let anyone die on him, never in his life.

"Stay with me here! You are going to be ok!" he called at her as he tried to help her stabilize, putting pressure against her outside wounds, taking whatever medicinal supplies that were at hand, but his efforts were to no avail. He could hear her heartbeat slowly beginning to fail. Small moans of pain became weaker and weaker. Blood pressure rapidly dropping and would soon only act upon the laws of gravity. Andreas looked upon the woman, and then remembered Merquiro´s words. He gave his wrist a quick look then back at the woman. What would happen if he did? Would he be any better than the sire he now despised if he fed her his blood?

He ran his fingers through his hair and griped it by its roots in panic.

What was he supposed to do!