Boston 2011

It was a ghost that brought me back to Boston. I used to love this city until I realized what a cesspool of cruel spirits it was. It couldn't hold a light to New York, but was still an impossible place to live. I pulled up outside of the apartment building in the South End, armed with rock salt rounds and iron blades. A woman I had helped out a while back had given me this address, when she realized shit had been going on that was not natural. I hated ghosts even more than vampires. Ghosts you had to investigate, find out who they were, why they were angry, and where they were buried. Sometimes, they had never been buried and I had to find their fucking childhood doll to burn instead.

I noticed a vampire feeding in the alley, but kept my head down and pretended not to notice. One fight at a time was a good way not to get killed. He dropped the girl and moved toward me. I instinctively drew my knife and turned to meet him. He skidded to a stop right in front of me, like a ship coming out of warp-speed. Once I saw that it was Klaus, I lowered my defenses. I was not about to pick a fight with a creature I knew I couldn't kill. He was just as beautiful to look at as when I first met him; his long sleeve cotton shirt, hanging off his body in all the right places.

"Hello, luv," he grinned. "You know, I'm the only vampire here, so your services aren't required. Well, not the killing ones…"

"There's a ghost that needs to be re-killed in there," I pointed my thumb towards the old building.

He smiled, a false gesture of manners. "You deal with all kinds of supernatural scum? Like witches? You see-"

"I'm not going to be your hitman," I cut him off.

He shrugged and shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Can't blame a bloke for trying, can you?"

"What are you doing here? What do you want from me," I sighed. "I thought you had let me go."

He shook his head. "I let you live. There's a big difference. I would never let someone as beautiful as you go. Especially not without knowing your name."

"Anna Frog," I told him, hoping it would appease him and he would let me go. "Now, Niklaus, can I get back to work?" I let his full name slip out in an attempt to show him I was not a fool; I had done my homework.

His demeanor immediately changed and he snarled at me. His eyes flashed and his fangs protruded from under his lip, but I remained unintimidated.

"How do you know my full name?" He demanded grabbing me by my upper arms. "I let no one call me by it!"

"I just did," I pointed out even though his grip was hurting me. "It's amazing what you can find out with a little bit of research."

He growled and pushed me away with a shove. "You're lucky I have a soft spot for pretty girls."

My heart sank as I watched him walk away. I did mean to upset him, but just enough to show that I wasn't scared of him. I had no idea that he had would be so sensitive about it. "I'm sorry?" I called after him. I punched the side of the building, my knuckles colliding with the brick. I hissed in pain as the skin scraped from my hand. I needed to know what I was feeling. Pain; pain was the proper response to hitting the side of a building and that's exactly what I felt. Calmed down and more in control of myself, I entered the apartment complex, ready to seek out a ghost. "Niklaus," I couldn't help, but mutter. "Niklaus." It was a beautiful name.