Disclaimer: I don't own V:tMB and I kinda own my main character, the part I don't own is the fact that she's Tremere. Her clan, plus all the identifiable V:tMB characters are owned by White Wolf Inc. The rest of my main character I do, in fact, own. Please be kind, this is my first V:tMB fic.

6. Chapter Six

LaCroix was royally pissed when I entered his penthouse office. He was tapping his fingers with agitation against the smooth surface of his desk, looking much like a teenager having trouble figuring out a geometry question. He had his hand in his hair, glaring at the desk as if he were going to announce a blood hunt on it if it didn't give in to his demands. Honestly, I wouldn't put past him.

"Hey there," I said as I approached his desk; I hoped that maybe telling him that every Sabbat in the warehouse had gone up in flames would make him a little less agitated. He looked up at me, although he didn't seem particularly happy to see me; "You know that warehouse? Well, it's gone."

"It's about time," Sebastian growled at me. I was taken back: he should have been proud of me! Or at least happy with me! "I had a number of important things for you to do this evening but you decide to take your precious time, and now there isn't any for those jobs." He was pissed off alright, but I figured it wasn't aimed at me - probably left over from something more important. When he was angry with me, he had a sort of—controlled anger that usually came out sounding more like sarcasm.

"Who took a piss in your coffee?" I asked. Sebastian gave me a dirty look and clenched his right fist on his desk; subtlely, so as not to be seen, but I noticed it anyway.

"I don't think that's any of your business." He snapped; I tried not to shrink back like a child, but it was difficult. He quickly shooed me from his office and I obeyed without a word. Mostly because it was going to be morning soon, and I needed to seek the safety of my haven before the hellish sun peaked over the skyscrapers to paint the city with venomous light.

I got back to the apartment and saw that Heather was asleep on the couch. Smiling to myself, I went up to my bedroom quietly so that I wouldn't wake her, and got ready for my day sleep. I took my trench coat and my boots off. Slowly, I laid my trench coat down on the bed and dug out the bracelet in the pocket. I held it in my hands, feeling the cold metal turtle charms against my flesh.

With the bracelet in my hand, I went to my nightstand and pulled out a little wooden jewelry box with only one trinket inside. The bracelet I'd found at my family's burned mansion all those years ago. I lifted it up and stared at it, as if I were hypnotized.

Sliding the jagged edges of the charms together, I completed the heart. The engraved halves spelt out 'Best Friends', two words that reminded me of Lynette and I when we were younger, and when she was alive.

Huffing to myself, I put both bracelets in the box and put it back in the nightstand. I went back to my jacket, hung it up in my closet, and set the boots down beside the door. I pulled the gloves off my hands and tossed them on top of the computer desk. Running my fingers through my hair, I went into the bathroom to grab a quick shower before bed. I always slept better when I wasn't soaked in Sabbat blood.

Getting out the shower, I wrapped a towel around my body and tried to dry off as best I could before getting ready for bed. I pulled an oversized black t-shirt over my head, with the words 'Hell Raiser' emblazoned on the front, and some baggy black pajama pants, as sponsored by Pepsi Cola. Despite popular belief, not all vampires sleep in coffins and wear sexy lingerie, and don't let Velvet tell you different.

I crawled under my blankets and the minute my head hit my pillows, I was half-way asleep. I was dead tired, and the few short minutes I spent in the dark wrapped in my blankets with my face buried in the pillows were enough to push me over the edge into unconsciousness. It felt like decades since my bed and I had made time to be together, but once we reconciled, we were friends once more. It lulled me to sleep; and kept me there with only mild nightmares that night.

When I woke again, it was past sunset and I could hear the TV on downstairs. It was a faint murmur of the news, telling of the work I'd done only a few hours before. I was amazed at how quickly the flies of the media were able to settle onto the rotting carcass of a story—good or bad or uninteresting, it didn't matter.

I sat up groggily, mechanically forcing myself up out of bed. I could feel my hair standing in a bed head sort of way and settling into my face; it probably looked ridiculous. I went downstairs and saw Heather unsually dressed-up. A cute blue skirt and purple blouse, faux diamond hairclip - she even had some make-up on.

"Why are you so dressed up?" I asked. She obviously didn't know I was down there, because she nearly jumped out of her skin when I spoke. Her head jolted towards me with a shocked expression on her face.

"Oh-! Um…did you sleep well?" She asked. She was fidgeting with the hemline of her skirt, looking as though she was very uncomfortable. I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…but what's with the outfit? Special occasion?" I asked again; the feeble attempt to change the subject had me suspicious. Her pale face had turned a soft pink color, and she looked uncomfortable about something.

"Well…I…um….I have a date tonight," She finally said. I starred at her in total surprise, I felt my jaw drop and my eyes grow wide. She looked ashamed at my shock.

"With who?" I asked. It was a demanding tone, after I thought about it, I must have sounded like LaCroix when he told me to do something and he was mildly agitated. The pink blush on Heather's face deepened as she muttered the name of who she was going on a date with:

"You know that guy who works at the blood bank? Vandal?" She asked in a soft, timid voice. The shock was even greater when I heard who her date was. I would have been happy for her if it was anyone but Vandal; he was creepy and he didn't like me in the slightest. But I put a forced smile on my face regardless.

"I'm happy for you, Heather," I said. She looked relieved to have my approval, even though I didn't know why. I couldn't tell her who she could and couldn't date; if I could, she sure as hell wouldn't have been going out with Vandal that night. But instead I smiled and pretended to be happy about it, "How did this all come about?"

"Well…today I saw that some of the blood packs had gone bad…so I went to get more…and we got to talking and then he asked me out for tonight. We're going to have dinner at the Diner outside the Asylum tonight…is that ok?"

The words 'hell no! you go get your ass to the phone and tell that creepy son of a bitch that you won't go out with him! There are plenty of other cute, sweet, and less creepy guys in L.A! Hell, the Prince is a better date than Vandal! And he'd most likely stand you up for an unfilled out form!' came into my head...but I held my tongue and nodded.

"Of course it is, have fun tonight," I said. She smiled happily and gave me a hug.

"I'm so glad you approve! I really like this guy. I know he comes off as a bit creepy and all, but he's really nice," She told me enthusiastically. I just smiled and nodded, choking back my desire to tell her that I didn't approve and that she should cancel her date with Vandal. The important thing to me was that she was happy, despite how bad of an idea I thought it was.

When she left for her date, I was immediately worried. Vandal was really weird; I was scared that he'd try something on her. Something sexual, that would be one thing, but I wouldn't put it past him to try something dangerous on her. Something that made me think of a bloody bear trap.

Shaking the thought out of my head, I went upstairs and got dressed in my uniform. The Prince would, most likely, have something for me to do that night, considering the fact that he told me he had a number of things lined up. A part of me wanted to say that he only said that because he was agitated, but the other part wouldn't put it past him to have something in mind for me. It would be easier on my nervous mind if I went to ask what it was.

The walk from my apartment to the tower seemed to last forever. I didn't remember Ventrue Tower being so far away, but apparently it was. My worry for Heather was weighing down my heels, even more so when I tried to convince myself that she would be fine. I didn't trust Vandal, and I knew how fragile Heather was. Heaving a sigh, I decided to try and not think about it. An exploit that was better said than done.

In the end, I decided to pull out my cell phone and give a good friend a call.

Mercurio answered his phone almost immediately, and by the tone of his voice I could tell that he was feeling better. I stopped by a bus stop bench and sat down, not wanting to walk into the LaCroix building talking to one ghoul about another.

"Yo?" He answered.

"Hey Mercurio, it's Violet. How are you feeling?" I asked. He started laughing after I asked my question, another fact that made me realize that he was feeling loads better.

"I feel great! You know, that blood you guys got is a great thing!" He cheered in a happy tone. A tone that made me smile a little.

"That's good. Listen, um, I know this might sound a bit…odd…but you know Heather Poe, right?" I rushed into what I originally called for. I didn't have time to sit idly by and talk to him about his recovered health. Not when my best friend was on a date with a psychopathic weirdo.

"Yeah I know her, that redhead you were with last night?" He asked. I was glad he remembered; that made me feel a lot less worried. I couldn't figure out why, but for some reason it just did. "Why?"

"She's out on a date in Santa Monica tonight with Vandal - runs the blood bank, you know him? I need you to do some detective work, just to make sure he doesn't hurt her or anything like that. Ok? Just…keep her safe." I hated admitting that I was bothered, but I was. I trusted Vandal as far as I could throw him and—considering the fact that he wouldn't let me near him with a ten-foot pole covered in vampire poison—that wasn't very far.

"You want me to spy on her?" He astonished questioned. He sounded as if he couldn't believe that's what I was asking of him, but he agreed to do it; "That sounds ok, I mean, you were cool enough not to tell LaCroix that I didn't have the Astrolite, I could do this for you." I exhaled a breath I'd been holding while he was thinking. The anxiety seemed to flow out on that breath, and I felt loads better. Not great, but better.

"Thanks Mercurio, I owe you,"

"Hey, I take care of those who do me favors, and you did me a huge one! I owe you." I didn't believe him; I still felt I owed him. But in the end, we decided to leave it as being square. "Where are they?"

"The diner outside the Asylum, remember; if he does anything at all to hurt her you let me know A.S.A.P, capiche?"

"I got it, I got it."

"Thank you again, Mercurio," I said. After he said that it was no problem, we both hung up and I continued my anxious walk to Ventrue Tower. Hopefully I'd have work to do in Santa Monica so I could keep an eye on Heather and Vandal along with Mercurio. Not to mention my two friends, Brokk 17c and his similarly pissed off twin brother.

Everything in Ventrue Tower was just as I'd left it. Chunk had buzzed me up to the pent house with very little of a fight, Sheriff was standing at his usual spot beside the desk and LaCroix was sitting at his desk doing paperwork. He seemed to have an unending wave of forms and such to fill out; but I figured it was because he owns his own giant company and that requires a lot of paperwork. Seemed like a logical reason to me.

"Yes? What do you want?" Sebastian asked. He didn't even look up to see if it was me, he just sort of…knew. Weird.

"You said yesterday that you had some jobs for me. What were they?" I inquired. If there was anything, anything in this world that could keep my mind off of my concern for Heather, it would be my job. Unfortunately, Sebastian was shaking his head.

"I had my other agents take care of them. You have no work tonight." He answered briskly. Normally, I'd have been giddy at the idea of no work. I would have gone home, took off my uniform, replaced it with my nightclothes and spent the rest of the night lying around the house like a lazy mortal. But home was the last place I wanted to be.

"Well…do you mind if I hang out here for a while then? I'm kinda lonely." I knew that he would probably say no. I was surprised when he said,

"If you must," and went on ignoring me as if I'd left. I walked away from his desk and sat down on one of his red leather sofas. They were old-styled, but really neat. I liked them.

No one said anything, but that wasn't surprising in Sheriff's case considering he never said anything anyway. LaCroix ignored me while he did some paperwork, and I tried to amuse myself by trying to explain to my worrisome half that Heather was fine. Mercurio was watching her, and he would make sure I knew if something bad was going to happen. But even that didn't stop my fingers from tapping against my leather bodysuit nervously.

"Hey, LaCroix," I said out of the blue. I may have been thinking aloud again, but I didn't realize it. "Have you ever been out on a date?"

"A few times when I was a mortal," He sounded as though he barely cared. I wasn't looking in his direction, so I couldn't tell what his expression was. My eyes were fixed on one of the old portraits beside the door. "Why?"

"Just curious, I mean, you don't seem like the type to leave the office for a date." That may have been a horrible thing to say but, again, thinking aloud. "I'm sorry, I'm thinking out loud."

"That was rather bold of you to ask," He agreed. I lowered my eyelids slowly, trying to take my mind off the goings on. "What brought the subject up?"

"Thinking out loud," I repeated, sounding rather tired to my own ears. I turned my head to look at Sheriff. "What about my giant best friend there? How many women do you think he's…felt…?"

"That's a rather crude question," He said flatly, "And even cruder when you say it. I don't know, nor do I care." The image alone of Sheriff cupping a breast made me start to howl in laughter. He wasn't the type one would imagine getting some action; but when you try it, it's a hoot! "What, dare I ask, do you find so amusing?"

"T-T-The image," I managed to say between my hard laughs, "Of h-h-h-him getting—getting—getting—lucky!" I howled, "Fucking hilarious!" I could tell either LaCroix or Sheriff was angry with me for being so open about my laughter. I wasn't able to hold back all my emotions and put on a façade like LaCroix or the rest of my clan. If I found something funny, I laughed. And I found the image of Sheriff putting his…mortal manhood…to work was funny as hell!

Slowly, I calmed myself down. I sat up and turned my head to look at Sheriff and LaCroix, realizing that I was being an asshole; "Sorry, I'm being kind of a jerk. I didn't mean it Sheriff, you forgive me, right?" as if he could answer me. He just gave an irritated huff and ignored me. "I knew that you wouldn't be able to hold it against me, buddy."

Just then, my cell phone began to ring. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked the caller ID.

Mercurio.


This was going to be longer, but I decided it would be cooler if I split it up.

Once again, edited by the awesome Lady Rain!