I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up but here goes...

CHAPER 3 – THE DAY AFTER

"Morning." Beth said as she got up from the couch rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, I'm going to have to buy a bed." Mick said as he headed towards the kitchen with a bag in hand.

"Hmm that's not a bad idea; you should consider that guests are sometimes unannounced." Beth said as she stretched her arms above her head in an attempt to rid the lingering sleepy feelings from her limbs. "And by the looks of it judging by the fact that I woke up here I'm guessing that what happened was no nightmare." Beth stated as she looked out the window.

"Why not come and have something to eat." Mick called to her from the kitchen, he knew that before long her work would require her to do a lot more research and reporting and he just wanted to make sure that he kept her distracted until then.

"You have human food?" Beth questioned, teasingly with a half smile, as she walked into the kitchen.

"I went out before you woke." Mick said looking at the things that were laid out on the kitchen counter.

"Oh thanks Mick that was so nice of you." Beth said as she looked at the items spread out before her. "Eggs, bread, umm coffee, tea oh are these croissants?" She said picking up the box of baked goods.

"Yeah all the things I thought you might want." Mick said.

"And... you also got a box of twelve assorted donuts." Beth observed as her eyes strayed towards the far end of the counter.

"I didn't know what you would want so..."

"So you got me what most mortals have for breakfast." Beth concluded with a little smile.

"I was just trying to be a nice host." Mick replied with a smirk.

"Well thanks a lot Mick, you've made the last few days bearable, not to say anything about putting me up in your apartment today..." Beth said taking a sip of the Starbucks coffee Mick had bought. "...Then going out to get me breakfast."

"The least I could do for the mortal who saved my life."

"Hey this coffee's great! And, that was nothing compared to what you've been doing for me since we've met." Beth smiled at him as she took another sip of the warm beverage she held between her hands.

"Well I tried to get the best for my guest." Mick said opting to ignore the latter statement.

"Seems like you did." Beth said as she reached for one of the croissants.

"Well enjoy your breakfast." Mick said as he moved to leave the kitchen.

"What time is it?" Beth asked in between taking a bit of the croissant.

"It's almost eight thirty." Mick replied slipping into his home office.

"What?! Oh my gosh! I'm gonna be late for work."

Fifteen minutes later Beth had finished breakfast, tidied up herself and was ready to leave.

"Hey Mick I'm leaving now." She called as she picked up her purse.

"Okay Beth, i'll see you later and don't worry so much." Mick said as he came out his office.

"I'll try but it's hard not to when so many innocent people were killed for no reason." Beth smiled weakly as she opened the door.

"You'll do fine. I'll be by there later for us to go over the details of this case." Mick said knowing that he couldn't put off mentioning the fact that, although he was going to be working on bringing the criminals to justice Beth would want to be included.

"I see you haven't even bothered to talk me out of becoming involved in this case." Beth smiled.

"It's just to reconfirm the information, and you are one of the best reporters Buzzwire has." Mick replied as he watched her step out of the apartment. "And you will be writing a report on the incident."

"See you later Mick."

Walking into her workplace Beth knew that from then on till she left she would hear nothing more than facts about the tragedy which had taken place. And taking a deep breath she stepped into the room where she knew co-workers were busy making phone calls, comparing notes and piecing together facts that would tell the whole story about the horrifying events that had occurred only hours before.

When he saw her, Beth's cameraman, Steve hurried over to her and before she could say anything he asked "Beth, where've you been? Every television station's running reports on the murders, one newspaper's even doing a special edition just for today to cover the story."

"Good morning Steve." Beth smiled as she put her purse on her desk," I see a good morning greeting is no longer on our etiquette list."

"Oh, good morning, Beth, sorry." Steve said with a sheepish grin.

"Okay Steve what's this about special television reports and newspapers?" Beth asked.

"The LA Times is compiling a special report on the murders that will be available on newsstands by twelve O'clock today and every news station plus other local channels are covering the incident." Steve said without hesitation. "And that piece we did last night has been running online since."

"Okay, well you know what we're gonna be doing today." Beth said.

"Yeah I figured you'd want to do that." Steve said knowing what was going through his co-worker's mind. It wasn't going to be easy but it was all part of the work they did.

"Okay I'll just check the latest Police press releases and we'll be on our way." Beth said as she sat at her computer.

"Okay you need anything, coffee?" Steve asked before going to get himself a cup of coffee.

"No thanks I'm fine."

"Okay I'll see you when you're ready."

I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up and i'm sorry that it's short but University is back in full swing for the second semester so getting the story together isn't as easy.

And I don't know if there is anything like 'The LA Times' but I just needed to mention one of the things that did happen, a local newspaper did do a special edition.

I'm also sorry to say that the relevant authorities have gotten some leads but it's all moving slowly.

And a few weeks ago another community was attacked leaving 12 people dead.