I woke up the next morning, alone, in Dagger's empty bar, a little confused. The last thing I remembered was being on the dance floor for hours. Then there was a man, the last one I danced with. Was it him who brought me to this bar seat? I couldn't remember anything about him, except for those eyes. Those piercing blue eyes. I had seen them somewhere else. They weren't easy to forget. It was at that point that I noticed the jacket still wrapped tightly around my shoulders. I lifted it up to get a good look at it. Black leather, it still smelt like him, whoever he was. I sat there for a few moments longer, trying to wipe the sleep from my eyes, when I heard voices coming from the kitchen. Why, you ask, was there a kitchen in Dagger's nightclub? Because, he lives in the connected suite upstairs. Dagger told me once how he inherited this building from parents when they passed, and decided to turn the bottom half into a nightclub. His parents were... good fortuned, I guess you'd say, and they left him quite a good sized place to go with their bank account.

I stood up, and walked over to the spiraling staircase that led upstairs, to Dagger's flat. As I neared the kitchen, the voices grew louder, and I heard laughter. I recognized Dagger's voice immediately; it was a voice I knew almost as well as my own, and then a second, vaguely familiar voice, that I couldn't quite place. I peaked through the crack in the doorway, and saw Dagger sitting on the counter, talking animatedly to a figure before him. The figure was faced towards Dagger, so I couldn't see his face, but I could see his shaggy black hair that hung in disarray around his head, and his plain maroon t-shirt that fit him so snuggly, the muscles on his back rippled when he moved. He had on regular black trousers with worn black converse on his feet. I didn't notice that I had leaned over to far, until I smacked my head into the door. "Shit!" I whispered, and looked up to see if they had heard the calamity. Dagger looked up briefly, glanced around the room, and then his gaze met mine at the door. His face lit up, as he smiled and welcomed me in. "Hey, sleepy head! Have a little too much fun last night?" He kicked off the counter and wrapped me in a lung-crushing bear hug. "Dagger. Breathing. Issue." I panted. He let go of me, and instead took my hand, dragging me over to the other figure I had seen from the doorway. "I want you to meet someone, Dell," he said. I now noticed that the figure had turned in our direction. I looked up into the strangers face, for he was a good deal taller than my 5'5 stature. I glanced over the beautifully chiseled features, and met his eyes. His pearly blue orbs stared back at me, and I realized where I'd seen him before. He had been the man at the diner, and the one who followed me. He smiled as he saw the recognition come over my face.

"Dell, meet Jayden. Jayden, meet Dell." Dagger pointed from me, to the man, and back. "Jayden had to practically carry you off the dance floor last night." I finally looked away from his intoxicating gaze, as I registered what Dagger had said. "Wait, what?" I questioned. "The dance floor," he repeated. "You were dancing with him when you started drifting off. He carried you to the empty bar seat you woke up in. That's also his jacket that you have." I looked down and realized that I still had the jacket on. Man, it smelt amazing. "Oh! I'm sorry." I took it off and handed it over to the man, Jayden, I guess it was. He smiled as he took it and said, "It's alright. I'd gladly give up my jacket to a lady in need. If you need it again, just ask." I smiled back. At this, he turned back to face Dagger, and sighed. "I'm afraid I must be going now. I'll see you around." He winked at me as he walked out the kitchen door, and down the spiral staircase. Dagger and I waited silently in the kitchen. Finally, we heard the front door to the nigh club creak to a shut, and Dagger turned me toward him. "So," he said knowingly. "What did this figure of the night do to get you so entranced? He smiled his crooked smile at me, and winked. I knew better than to lie to Dagger about my feelings, he knew them almost before I did. "I don't know. I've seen him around before. He's completely different than anyone I've ever met. I can't figure him out, Dag," I sighed exasperatedly. Dagger crinkled his brow. "I wondered. I saw you two on the dance floor. Your bodies fit together perfectly, like they knew each other well." I felt my face blush as he said this. I didn't exactly like to discuss my sex-life with my basically older brother. He, on the other hand, had no problem with it. "Dell, babe. You know I know how it works. I've certainly had my fill. I'm practically a professional." I kiddingly punched his arm. "You're a bit too cocky for your own good, Dag," I laughed. "Too cocky? No such thing." He added, and we both burst into a fit of laughter.

Later that day, I found myself working my shift at Ronny's dinner. As the clock signaled 11:00pm, a trio of drunk, middle-aged men slumped into booth number five. I defeatedly sighed, as booth five happened to be in my section. I glanced over at Ronny, and she met my gaze with an expecting look. I took a breath and plastered a fake smile to my face, as I headed to their table. The men ordered and made some impolite comments, while passing a few glances off to places unwelcome to their eyes. I was used to it, so I went on with my job like normal. As they were finishing up their meal, the one in the middle, who I believed was the most-intoxicated, called me over. "Here you go sugar," he said as he placed halfpence into my hand. "Sir, we don't accept tips here," I replied. "I know," he laughed. "Well, then what is this for, sir?" I countered. "So you can phone your mum and tell her you're not coming home tonight!" The trio burst into a fit of wheezy, drunkard laughter. I bit my tongue, and told myself not to do anything. I knew that one upset customer, and I was out of here. Instead, I dropped the money back on the table and smiled. "I'm sorry to disappoint sir, but my mother's dead." The laughter stopped as I swiveled around on my feet and headed back to the counter. I heard the men pull themselves out of their seats, and exit the dinner, as Ronny looked up at me accusingly as I passed. She put a hand out to stop me and blustered," What was that about?!" I gave her my worn fake smile, and spoke calmly. "Nothing to worry about, Ronny. The men were just finished with their meals, and decided to head out." She glared at me with her beady little eyes, and gave me the look of I-know-that-isn't-what-really-happened-but-there's-no-way-for-me-to-proove-it-look, and stalked off. I leaned on the counter and took a breath of relief, before I heard her screech from the back, "And get back to work!" I jumped, and quickly walked back out onto the dinner floor.

Jayden laughed as he saw the girl from the night before fluster the men in the booth to silence, without ever insulting them. He had watched her walk from Dagger's nightclub to the dinner that she worked at, and proceeded to watch her through the dinner's window as she worked. He knew he was bordering on stalker-territory, but he needed to find out why she was different. He had watched with hope of anything that would help his investigation, but aside from a slightly-too-fast way of moving and a fire of passion that shown in her eyes when she felt some emotion, he hadn't noticed anything that gave away what she was. He watched as she moved from customer to customer, politely greeting each one and every now and then glancing back nervously at whom he guessed was the boss. She's a pretty little thing he thought, as he watched her tuck a lock of her beautiful auburn hair behind her ear. He smiled as he saw that she crinkled her brow when she wrote down a table's orders. He memorized little quirks she did at certain moments, and other little things about her.

At around three o'clock in the morning, she took her apron off to reveal a tight-fitting white shirt and low, hip-hugging jeans, and put on her jacket as she walked out the door. Although he took pride in his gentlmenship, he was still a man, and he noticed that she was quite well-endowed, for such a skinny little one. He picked himself off the trashcan he had been sitting on, and followed her silently as she wove her way through the streets of London. He recognized the alley way that she had passed through when he had first chased her through the streets, but tensed as he heard a scream echo around the walls. He attuned his vampiric hearing, and found out that the scream had come from a young girl (he guessed was about ten or eleven years of age) while she was being grabbed by two drunken men. He heard a third man chime in comments from the corner he was slouched up against. He saw a mirror of tension in her, as she had heard it too. He silently begged her to keep walking, though from what he had learned of her character in the dinner, he knew that she would not. As he had guessed, she turned and began walking in the direction the scream had issued from. He quickened pace behind her, as the men finally noticed her arrival. One glance at the men's faces, and he realized that they were the same drunkards she had waitressed for earlier that evening. Seeing how drunk they were, he figured that they wouldn't notice. "Woooo-wee!" one exclaimed, as the others whistled their approval of the new arrival. "Look at the tight-arse on this little lady!" The men sized her up hungrily, as their attention on the young girl that had previously been messing with faltered. Adelle smiled at them, and still facing the men, she looked over at the young girl and mouthed "run." With no hesitation, the girl stood up and started walking away, as Adelle walked towards the men. Not good.

I continued to smile at the men, whom I recognized from the dinner, and looked at the girl's slowly retreating form. I finally had the chance to look at her fully, and realized why she was retreating so slowly. She had one bare foot covered in dirt, and where the other foot should have been, there was a stump. Damn it! I thought. If I leave now she's not going to get far enough away that they won't find her again. I considered what to do and finally made up my mind. I had to keep them busy long enough for her to get away. I walked forward, so that I was standing right in front of the man closest to me. I looked at the three of them, and smiled my most-seductive smile. Apparently it worked, because their eyes sparkled with the idea.

Jayden watched apprehensively as she approached the men and straightened up as he realized what her seductive posture and look were for. Although the voice in the back of his mind was telling him to get his ass in gear and go save her, his more powerful side told him to wait and see what she did. He cursed the more powerful side, but eventually gave in and watched. She smiled and giggled for them as they kept inching forward. She reached down to pick up a piece of paper, and the man in front snapped. He ran forward and pushed her up against the wall, panting all the while. Jayden saw her face change from one of fake-pleasure, to that of a person whose plan had gone a bit off course. The other two descended on her, one holding her arms over her head, the other starting to unbutton her pants. The man in front grinned while he started unbuttoning his own pants. Jayden figured that she had gone long enough on her own, and he jumped up and began walking toward her. Never taking his eyes off her face, he neared the end of the shadows. He cataloged into his mind that even when her plans had turned, he never saw an ounce of fear on her face. At that moment, he saw a trance of concentration come over her face. Looking up, he saw dark clouds in the sky, forming right over where they stood. The three men took a moment away from their advances, as they glanced up at the now cloud-filled sky. I watched as the three men then looked back at Adelle. She looked up at them, and Jayden saw the unmistakable fire in her clouded eyes. She slowly lifted her hands into the air, as a wave of power cascaded off of her, knocking the men down. They looked around, dazed, and then at each other. Finally, they began to stand up. Jayden could see that the look of lust that had been smeared on their faces had now turned to confusion and anger at being knocked down and refused by this girl. He assumed that their drunken state had made it unclear to them that the force that had knocked them down had actually come from her. They all stopped in their tracks as they faced her again. Jayden watched, just as transfixed. They all saw her closed eyes slowly open and her gaze land on the man in front. In the next instant, her body tremored and she screamed. Lighting flashed all around them, as another wave of power escaped from her. Jayden saw the first man fall lifelessly to the floor, followed closely by the two others. His attention snapped back to Adelle, and he saw her arms fall as her body collapsed. He was by her side within the moment and he knelt down beside her. She lay, as beautiful and still as a stone angel, but she was still breathing. He knew she wasn't safe in the street, so he gently picked her up bridal style and began running back to his home.