Chapter Three

When James said 'the Morgue', he wasn't talking about a place where dead bodies are stored until further notice. I didn't realize it right away, but he was talking about a fairly popular night club downtown with the same name. I had only been down that way frequently during the course of my career, since this was a place where creatures of the night liked to congregate— human Goths and vampires alike.

It was like a safari for vampire hunters. If you were a bloodsucker and looking for a good time, the Morgue was the place to be. But with as many vampire hunters that hunt there, you had to be smart to survive. If you were, you got to come back to enjoy one more night of loud music and dancing. If not… well, let's just say you'll get your membership revoked.

Because of how often I'd been there, James let me lead the way. We each got into our cars and he followed behind me as close as he could— practically riding my ass the whole way. We got there around eight or so and parked a few blocks away from the club. We needed to keep out of sight of whatever vampires might already be at the club, and make ourselves seem less conspicuous. I would like to say I was completely comfortable leaving my car on the side of the street alone, but truthfully, it made me nervous. People were eyeing it.

The Morgue was a building that modeled itself with neo-gothic architecture and a big sign with THE MORGUE glowing in bright yellow, green, and hot pink neon. James and I stood together across the street from the club, watching people go in and out for a moment.

"Before we go in," I said, "I want you to know that, odds are, we're going to get in a fight. I won't baby-sit you. You're going to have to be able to hold your own against anyone who might want to kill you. I'll watch you're back as well as I can if you watch mine, but I won't do all the fighting."

"You really don't think that much of me, do you?" That was one of those questions that, once asked, are usually followed by 'Wait, don't answer that' because he knew the answer. Apparently, his question was serious. I didn't need to be mean to him, so I stayed quiet. If I couldn't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all.

I had to hide my holy-water filled cross, but it was still comforting to feel the cold, transparent metal against my skin. We went into the club with a group of pale humans dressed in black— I can't say how I knew they were humans, there was just something about them that said 'human'— blending in almost seamlessly. That's why I liked my work clothes. It's surprising how well a long black trench coat, black hip-hugger jeans, a black t-shirt, and black combat boots make you blend in with a vampire's surroundings. They thought nothing of me. I was just another face in the crowd.

The lights from the dance floor bathed the whole lower half of the club in dark green, purple, and yellow lights. Behind the bar was a steady green light that kept everything from looking gaudy or tacky. If there was anything I liked about the Morgue, it was that.

We approached the bartender as he served a glass of wine— or at least it looked like wine. It was hard to tell in this lighting— to a young couple in black with unusually colored highlights in their hair. The bartender was twice my size, with a big Chinese dragon tattooed down his meaty arm.

"What can I get for you, beautiful?" He asked, his voice rough like gravel. My gut told me he was human.

"Information, do you know this girl?" I asked as I produced the photo Megan Wright's mother had given us to use in the investigation. He leaned over a little to see it, but then shook his head.

"Her? I've seen her around here before. We get a lot of weirdoes in this joint that it's hard to forget a sweet young thing like that. No tattoos, no piercings, no black make-up— I think she had two screwdrivers, one white Russian, and half a moonshine."

"Is it safe to drink that much?"

He shrugged. "Probably not, but the poor girl looked so depressed that I gave her what she wanted. She talked to me while she drank the white Russian— that's what we bartenders are for. We're like priests in that way. She told me that her husband was going to take her kid away. I felt bad for her. After that, I think some guy came up to her. He was real sweet on her, and I think she liked the attention, because when he asked her to go into the back room with him, she went with a big ol' smile on her face."

"What'd this guy look like?"

"Um…I don't know. Kinda tall, kinda pale. Dark hair I think..." Yeah, that narrowed it down. "Sorry, I can't remember much about him. Why're you askin' about that girl anyway?"

"She's dead."

"Dead…?" He echoed, his eyes growing to the size of saucers for a moment. I could've sworn I saw a hint of sadness in them. "That's a damn shame. She was such a sweet little thing, loved her kid too."

"This guy, was he a regular?" James asked from behind me all-of-a-sudden. The bartender raised one of his thick black eyebrows.

"Do you know many people we get a night that follow that description? Too many for me to remember if he was a regular or not."

"Yeah." I said over my shoulder to him, adding "brainchild" under my breath. I didn't know if he heard me or not, but if he did, he gave no indication of it. "You mentioned a back room before, where is it?"

"Right behind you, actually. It's where customers can go to just drink and lounge around, management's idea. Doesn't seem like a bad one to me, we make money off the drinks, not the dancing."

"Do you mind if we take a look?"

He shook his head. "Go ahead. No skin off my back."

I thanked the bartender, and then went to the back room with James following behind me like a puppy. The back room was almost completely dark, the only light being a steadily glowing blacklight. There was a whole group of people sitting on the long corner couch, sipping at glasses of various sizes. Some of the men had women in short dresses leaning against them, laughing and kissing.

This whole room just screamed Vampire

I took Megan's picture from James and held it up so everyone could see it. "Does anyone know this girl?"

They looked among each other as if they didn't know how to answer, and then one of the men spoke up. He was pale with dark spiked hair and bold black eyeliner. When he smiled, I saw two tiny, pointed teeth.

"I'm sorry miss, but it doesn't look like any of us have seen her." I didn't believe him, I never believed bloodsuckers, but I made sure he didn't know that.

Another vampire got up and whispered something in his ear. His eyebrows raised and his eyes got wide.

"Really?" He asked, sounding impressed. "So this is the legendary White Bandit?" White Bandit was the name I had among vampires, like Bruce Wayne had Batman. Mine was in reference to my stark white hair. "Somehow, I imagined you'd be bigger."

I hated to admit it, but it was true. Being only five-four and one-ten, I didn't come off as intimidating. Shorter than most of the men at BGS, people just automatically assume I'm a weak little girl. But what I lack in size I make up for in skill.

"Shut up! Did you hurt her or not?" I snapped, brushing my hand subtly against my gun to comfort myself.

"Are you hard of hearing? I told you, nobody has seen her."

"That's not what we heard; we heard she was brought back here on the night she was killed, so someone must've seen her."

"Maybe we didn't come in that night."

"Then where were you?"

His smile, which had fallen at some point during the conversation, grew once again across his face, bigger this time.

"Having dinner…"

"Where?" I asked.

"I'm not just going to tell you, Little Bandit, I know better." He wasn't a fledgling, but he also wasn't as old as most of the vampires in the city. He was maybe…ten, twenty years out of life. But that was just an estimate. "But maybe you can…convince me to tell you."

He had me backed up against the wall with his arms on both sides of me, so I would have to duck under them to escape. James started to come to my rescue, but I stopped him.

"Don't," I warned, "We need the information." He stepped back; and I saw concern growing in his face. The vampire gave him a toothy grin before pushing my hair behind my ear; exposing my neck. He slowly lowered his mouth to my neck, ready to drink my blood; I could feel his hunger rising within him.

In one swift movement, I grabbed my gun and fired it into his heart. He staggered back, clutching the bloody bullet wound that had flowered on his chest. Everyone that had been sitting on the sofa jumped up instantly, some of the girls beginning to scream, as the man that I shot writhed in pain on the floor. He may not have been killed, but the bullet in his heart left him paralyzed and helpless.

That seemed to be the catalyst for what happened next.

I tumbled out of the way as one of the vampires produced a small revolver from the pockets of his leather jeans and fired at me. That single shot had the same effect as opening up the gates of hell; because before the ringing had even subsided, the demons were already breaking loose their inhibitions, lunging at James and I like wolves— teeth barred and a thirst for blood.

I shot one in the head while she was still in mid air, and another as he stepped over her paralyzed corpse. I tried to keep an eye on James. I had hoped that we wouldn't get into a fight together until I had a chance to see how well he could handle a gun, but even though I wasn't that lucky, I was lucky enough that, when I found time to notice, he was doing a fairly good job.

"Look out!" He shouted, pointing his gun and blowing away the face of a vampire that had come up behind me.

"Thanks," I breathed, kicking one in the stomach and shooting his heart.

"No problem."

Suddenly, a horrible pain erupted in my arm. After I screamed and looked, I saw a bloody wound blossom on my sleeve—the warm, thick liquid running down my arm. James shot the vampire that shot me, and I shot two more through the pain, not bothering to try and keep a lid on my sailor mouth.

The fight didn't last long not only because we weren't really fighting that many vampires, but also because someone had called the police and we could hear the loud sirens screaming from outside. Not right outside, but pretty damn close.

"Let's split up," I said, trying to keep my voice down so nobody would hear me. "I'll go one way and you go the other. We'll meet back at the car when we can."

"Sounds good to me. Just…be careful."

I could've told him I would. I could've said that this sort of thing happens all the time and that I'd be fine, but I didn't. I just led the way through the metal back door that led to the alley. He went down a path straight ahead that went behind the two buildings next door, and I ran along the path that led behind the Morgue. Once I knew I was safe, I threw myself against the wall and tried to breathe.

Damn it my arm hurt… and I was losing a lot of blood. It was hard to catch my breath with my heart hammering away against my chest like it was.

"Well look whose here," said a voice from somewhere in the darkness, "that was quite an entertaining performance."

"Whose there?" I asked, something inside telling me this was a vampire. From out of the shadows stepped a man with pallid skin and copper hair, dressed in black from head to toe. "Who the hell are you?"

"I could ask you the same question— if I didn't already know. You're the White Bandit, but that's not your only alias, is it?" He asked, so smug that I wanted to punch him right in the jaw. I kept my distance, bringing my hand up to my cross and pulling it out from under my shirt. He stayed back, seeming as though the cross didn't bother him at all.

"Tell me who you are right now or I swear to god—"

"You'll kill me?" he finished for me, smiling big enough for me to see his fangs poking out. "Do you really think that's wise? I know you're investigating the supposed vampire-related death of that girl— so would you really kill someone who might have some information for you?"

I paused, but kept my guns out in front of me. "…I'm listening."

"First, I have some questions of my own, if you don't mind."

"Make it quick."

"Have you found one of these pretty things?" He asked, producing a copper coin from the pocket of his black velvet coat. It looked like a twin of the one Megan Wright's daughter had given me.

"Where did you find that?"

"Doesn't matter, but what does matter is what it does."

"And what is that?"

"You don't know?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "If I did, would I be asking?" He shrugged his shoulders. I could feel the blood sliding down my arm… and I was starting to get dizzy. I could see the hunger in his eyes— rising, pulsating… how long would it be before he tried to take a bite out of me?

"You seem nervous. Worried that I'll bite?" He asked, smug as hell. "Don't worry little Bandit, hunters never quench my thirst."

I didn't know if I should've been happy about that or not. Regardless, I let it go and said, "Now tell me your information before I decide to blow your head off anyway."

Another vampire emerged from out of the shadows like a ghost. He looked older than the copper haired vampire— he had many more creases at the corners of his eyes and near his mouth, looking almost like he was in his early to mid fifties before he was turned. I pointed one of my guns at him, just in case.

"Hello Barnabas," the copper haired vampire greeted cordially.

"What did you find out?" the older vampire asked right off the bat. No wasting time with hellos for him.

"She doesn't know anything," copper hair told him. "She seems to recognize it, but outside of that, nothing."

Barnabas frowned very deeply. "Then there's no use in wasting our time with her. Come on Fang, we should go before she decides to try and kill us."

I was tempted to shoot them before they could leave, and even though every fiber in my body told me to do it, I didn't. But as they walked away, I heard Barnabas telling Fang that "Nikole won't be happy about this."

That name clicked. I knew Nikole.

She'd been dead for five years.

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long for me to update this xD lost interest there for a little bit, but I'm back with Chapter Three! I hope everyone enjoyed it :3 Please Review!