Chapter 7: Crisis of Conscience

The ride back to Catherine's tower had been quiet, not tense exactly, but it wasn't comfortable either. It didn't help that I had a lot on my mind, mainly the fake hit we had put out on Charles which had ended with more than a few people dead, except the king dick himself. Then there was the piece of paper I had gotten from Juliet, Catherine's warning about seeking out Charles' sheriff. Really it was just everything that had happened in the last few days which was weighing heavily on my mind. So lost in my own thoughts, that when we stopped and Catherine gently nudged my arm to get my attention, I flinched in response before I noticed we had arrived. She didn't respond save to pat me on the arm before getting out of the car with me not far behind.

I was tired, exhausted really, my feet were killing me, and I was in no mood to talk. Likely sensing my mood, Catherine let me go once we reached her penthouse and bid me a good night, or the vampiric equivalent at any rate. I muttered something to that effect as I walked off, and soon had the door shut behind me. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I was about to kick off my high heels when I remembered the piece of paper tucked away under my dress. Finishing what I'd been doing, I pulled it out from underneath my bra, yes I put it underneath a cup, I had to improvise since there's no pockets on your average dress, and looked over the messy, hurriedly scrawled note. It was an address, although to where I didn't know since there was nothing to tell me where Juliet was wanting me to go beyond the address itself. For all I knew her directions would lead me to a burned out office building with nothing in it. Her antics at the museum hadn't exactly left a good impression regarding her mental state, but I was determined to find out one way or the other if this would wind up being a giant waste of time.

Deciding to leave it for tomorrow, I sighed and threw myself back into the bed, flopping my arms out above my head as I did. "Ugh….what am I even doing?" I asked aloud, and got no answer for my trouble. Not that I expected one, but it would have been nice all the same. On the other hand, I was in no hurry to start hearing voices in my head, much like Juliet probably did if I were to take a guess, so the silence wasn't so unwelcome in that regard. Throwing myself on my right side, I let an aggravated groan escape me since all this thinking and pondering wasn't helping anything. And since there was still a couple hours left before the sun came up, as tired as I felt, I couldn't get to sleep. It seemed insomnia took on a whole new meaning when you were a vampire.

Deciding to do something useful, I pulled out my cellphone and punched in Samuel's number, hoping he was still up and about. I needed someone to talk to, and forgetting the fact I needed to apologize to him, he was the only person I trusted these days.

"Samuel." He said as a way of greeting. He sounded focused, like he had other concerns on his mind then my call. Not all that surprising really, but I let a relieved sigh escape me at hearing his familiar voice. "Alex?" He asked, a note of pleasant surprise in his voice.

"Yeah it's me." I replied, before remembering why I had called him in the first place.

Except I didn't get a chance to explain. "Uh sorry to do this to ya, but could we talk tomorrow by any chance? I'm kinda in the middle of something at the moment."

"Oh, um… sure I guess." I said and tried my best not to sound too disappointed. I couldn't help but wonder if he was really busy or if he was just avoiding me, not that I could blame him if it were the latter.

Before I could hang up though, Samuel put my mind at ease with what he said next. "It's good to hear from you. I'll be back as soon as the sun sets, then we can talk. In person. Alright?"

I immediately perked up at that, cheering in my mind that he had forgiven me, thankfully. "Yes, of course. I'll look forward to it."

"Great. In the meantime, try not to do anything too crazy without me. My life was so boring before I met you." He chuckled, earning a light giggle from me in the process.

"Flirt. See you tonight." I stated before hanging up just as he did. That short bit of conversation between me and him had done a lot to improve my mood at least. Although now that I had already hung up I remembered the other reason I had wanted to talk with him. I wanted to ask him about his friend Azazel. The mysterious tall, dark and handsome man that had apparently kept an eye out for me, was it because he asked him to? Or simply because he wanted to do his friend a favour? Not that I was about to complain about it though, Azazel and Lucifer's timely arrival had probably saved me a lot of trouble with Clara, whoever she was to Charles and the Camarilla in general. Although, her presence at the party just made me more suspicious of Charles, not that I trusted him to begin with. Something about her didn't sit well with me at all, and even with my limited understanding of vampire politics, her presence didn't seem to fit with what I knew about how things worked. The Setite was one thing, she had been protected, more or less, simply because we had been in Elysium, yet Clara had made it known she worked for Charles within the bounds of the Camarilla. Yet it was the latter that concerned me for some reason.

Another groan escaped me because I was just running around in circles in my own head at this point. I had nothing concrete, nothing to really grasp onto in an effort to make my suspicions and feelings make any kind of sense. And again, I had time to kill, which only made it worse since I was stuck between being tired and being unable to sleep. Deciding laying in bed was pointless, I dragged myself out of its comforting embrace and slipped into a loose nightgown for the rest of the evening before shuffling my way barefoot through Catherine's penthouse. Maybe I'd borrow one of her books for a couple hours? It was something to do if nothing else, although whether I was able to focus long enough to absorb anything I read was still up for debate.

And then I smelled it, and rational, coherent thought was soon abandoned.

Granted, I hadn't really been paying much attention to my sharper senses, more in an effort to keep them from overloading me, especially during the party and anytime I had gone out, but I had let my guard down and now I couldn't think of anything else except following the scent back to its source. I knew what had drawn my attention, like a siren calling a sailor to his doom, but I was powerless to resist since the last few days had worn down my ability to ignore it any longer despite having kept myself well fed. Yep, I could smell fresh blood, and it wasn't the bottled kind either. A part of my mind knew Catherine had something to do with it, but the rest of me wasn't listening as I continued to hone in on the intoxicating smell in the air.

Predictably, Catherine was sitting in the right hand chair in her sitting room, the fireplace dying down behind her, but I didn't see her exactly. I noticed her presence, but beyond that I completely ignored the elder Toreador, my blue eyes focused solely on who was with her. My nose, and thus the rest of me, were focused on the woman that was in front of the fireplace, on the thin cut on the right side of her neck, left by one of Catherine's fingernails. Later, I'd realize this was Catherine's way of saying I needed to get over my hesitation when it came to feeding from people, and she had chosen her time and place to spring her 'trap' all too well.

My more basic instincts told me to ignore what my morals and humanity expected me to do and simply feed from such a willing source. And make no mistake, this woman was indeed willing because she took one look at me and made a 'come hither' gesture, crooking her right finger towards herself in a none too subtle fashion. It would have been so easy, the knowledge that the blood would be fresh would only amplify its delicious taste. The knowledge of the pleasure I would feel while I indulged myself was just another plus. I was tempted, I truly was. And yet I couldn't bring myself to move, neither closer nor farther away. I was frozen in place by my indecision. So, Catherine decided for me by nodding for her friend to go to me.

Her friend smiled and sashayed her way towards me without a word, her every movement almost hypnotic. A needy whimper escaped my throat since it wasn't enough Catherine was playing to my need to feed, she had also made it so that my 'first' would be in the arms of a beautiful seductress at the same time. Word of advice, when dealing with someone like Catherine, don't make the mistake of telling them your sexual preferences. Not that I was thinking about any of that as I felt my fangs elongate and fully reveal themselves from my upper teeth as the woman in front of me leaned in and made to whisper in my ear. "Ssssshhhh, let it happen." She cooed, before pulling back just enough so that the cut on her neck was on full display while she pulled her long, blonde locks out of the way. "I want this….so do you." Well, with an invitation like that, who was I to refuse?

Even as something lead me to grasp the back of her neck, both to support her weight and to make sure she didn't go anywhere, that rational part of my mind balked at what was about to happen, but I was no longer in control. The lights were on, but no one was home any longer to give a damn. My other hand snaked its way to the small of her back, and the woman gave a soft, heated moan in anticipation, her gray eyes closing as she braced herself for what was coming. She didn't have to wait long as my tongue slowly ran along the trail of blood left from the cut before my fangs found a new home in her carotid artery seconds later.

Good. Fucking. God.

Bottled blood is good in a pinch, and I'd quickly develop the habit of having some on hand for emergencies, but when that first mouthful hit my tongue, filled my throat before it burned its way down to my stomach, I was pretty sure I had swallowed liquid fire. But this was the best kind of burn you could ever imagine. It made the bottled, bagged crap I'd been tossing back seem like lukewarm piss by comparison. And no, I haven't actually drank piss, but my imagination filled in the blanks well enough.

And then there was the woman's slowly fading heartbeat echoing in my ears which further drowned out any rational thought that remained by that point. Sharper senses or not, I doubt I could have not heard the almost thunderous roar of the blonde's pulse as I continued to feed from her, draining the life out of her a thump at a time. It would have been so easy to take every drop, and since she was far from fighting me, I had no incentive to stop. If anything, the blonde was pulling me closer, hands entangling themselves both in my nightgown and my long brunette hair, in an effort to encourage me to bury my fangs deeper into her pretty neck. Not that I needed the encouragement because I was more than happy to do as she asked, all the while little whimpers and moans of pleasure escaped her with every suck. If my mouth hadn't been full, I likely would have been doing the same thing. As it were, my blue eyes were closed and close to rolling into the back of my skull. The Beast was more than happy with what was happening, and I couldn't help but agree with it in this case as my every nerve came alive as this woman poured herself into my waiting lips.

Stop! You need to stop! To this day, I don't know if it was my own voice or Eliza's, only that I heard someone shouting in the back of my head, begging me to stop before it was too late. But I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep going until i was sucking on a dried up artery. There was no reason to anyway, not with the blonde begging for more in hushed whispers even as her heart threatened to give out on her if I kept draining her for much longer. Yet somehow, I pulled away with a loud, exhalation, and about dropped the woman to the carpeted floor. I was dizzy, disoriented, but I felt better than I could ever recall feeling in life, yet it was undercut by the building horror at how close I'd come to killing the woman in my arms.

Lowering her to the chair, I was reassured by the rise and fall of her chest, not to mention the drugged out, fucked silly look on her face although I hadn't actually done anything of the sort. For all intents and purposes I might as well have though. "She'll sleep it off, and beyond some dizziness and lightheadedness brought on by the lack of blood to her brain, she'll be fine." Catherine reassured me, no doubt in an attempt to stave off any guilt associated with what I had done to her friend, and I use the term loosely. Before I could wonder what she was doing, Catherine stood to her feet, gracefully moved to the blonde's side, and flicked her tongue over the bite marks before leaving a gentle kiss where the pinpricks had already began to fade away before she stood and turned to me, a self satisfied smirk on her regal features. "So, how do you feel now?"

Wasn't that a loaded question and a half. I felt incredible, but at the same time I wanted to scream at Catherine for putting me in that situation in the first place. Instead I started for the door, half expecting her to stop me, but Catherine let me go. I still felt her eyes on my back however, felt her approving, satisfied stare even after I had climbed into bed and thrown the covers over my head where I remained until the sun had gone down hours later.

I will say this for her, Catherine knew what she was doing. While it had been underhanded, the elder Toreador had done me a favor in the long run because that first taste of blood right from the veins of a living person is always the strongest, the most potent. Like sex, it's never the same after the first time. That said, there are varying degrees of quality when it comes to blood. Someone with the drive and motivation to get themselves a PhD for example, always tastes better than someone who was living on the streets for the better part of their lives. Whether it's the fact the PhD earner was just born able to succeed or it's the simple fact that they succeeded at all, regardless of genetics or good 'breeding', I couldn't tell you regarding the potency of the person's blood, only that as a generally accepted rule, those that are in 'upper society' always have a more powerful kick to their blood when it hits a vampire's tongue than someone that isn't. But again, in the long run, Catherine had done me a favor by tricking me as she had, because I'm….fairly sure she would have pulled me away from her ghoul's neck before I could accidentally kill her.

If I had gotten desperate enough outside of a controlled setting, I might not have been so fortunate in that sense, and then chances would have been good vampire hunters might have started tracking me down a fair bit sooner, before moving onto others in the vampire community. And trust me when I say it, vampire hunters at the last people you want sniffing around your neighborhood. Whether or not Catherine had set up that situation for my benefit or not doesn't matter though, only that she had, and while I never thanked her for it directly, I am thankful she did it at all now that I look back on the early days.

Of course, I wasn't feeling very grateful when I got out of bed once the sun had started to set. The little voice that told me that now that I had drunken blood directly from a human I had lost my humanity was especially tormenting. Made worse by the fact that I couldn't think of anything to refute those claims. Ironically I hadn't lost anything, per say, other than self respect for acting on such a strong, irresistible impulse. If I had killed that blonde however, that would have been another story, but I still couldn't find it in myself to look in the mirror once I had gotten myself together for the night. As for Catherine, she was nowhere within easy reach and I didn't want to talk to her anyway, but I could hear her talking on a cellphone in another part of the penthouse. French filled the corridor, but I didn't understand a word of it, not that I cared enough to try, being as I was pissed at her for last night.

Instead I headed for the elevator, hoping Samuel was downstairs already. If not, I'd wait, but not in Catherine's home. I was done with her, as far as last night went, even if it had….no, I was done. I'd move back into my hovel if I had to, and then...what exactly? I blew out a breath and thunked my head against the back of the elevator since this was my life now. Didn't matter where I went, I'd still be a walking corpse with a need for human blood. At least I looked nice. Small comfort that was in the grand scheme of things, but it was something at least.

Still, I wondered what my future would look like. Always prowling the streets in the search for blood while hiding in the sewers or some abandoned house for the rest of eternity? Which begged the question, just how were the Kindred able to continue their rather extravagant life style? If some of these arrogant windbags managed it, then I should be able to do it too. Well, as soon as I was able to stomach just what I've become anyway. I mean sure, I had known it the whole time, but it hadn't hit home till I drank from that blonde. As if everything before that was just a waking dream, except now it was a horrible nightmare.

"It sucks don't it?" I jerked my head away from the wall of the elevator, having missed the ding when the doors began to open, and saw Samuel standing there, a knowing, sad look in his gray eyes. "You have a little more color to your cheeks than normal Alex. Kinda clues me into what her royal highness got you to do."

Deciding to stave off the conversation that would end up being on its own, I went another route altogether as I pulled myself away from the back of the elevator. "Hey… It's good to see you. I just wanted to apologize-" I began but he held up a hand with a soft smile.

"Don't worry about it, we all let our temper get the best of us from time to time. Lets us know our limits." He told me, smile leaving his face the only thing that remained was concern. "Walk with me, please."

He offered his hand to me, and I have to confess that I hesitated. Now that I had had a taste of blood fresh from the veins could I be this close to a human being? Or would the feel of his warmth and his pulse be too much for me to bear? I found out when Samuel gave me a funny look and smiled before making the decision for me by grasping my hand in his. "Alex, I trust you remember? And I doubt you'd be holding it together so well if you had killed whoever Catherine tricked you into feeding on. And yeah, it doesn't take a mind reader to know that's what happened."

It made me feel better, if only a little, to know how he felt about it. I still couldn't meet his gaze though as I lowered my head, my voice on the verge of cracking. "I almost sucked her dry… I wanted it so much. I- for a moment I didn't care whether she lived or died as long as I got more blood."

"But you did stop, that's all that matters Alex."

"This time maybe. What about next time?"

"That's a question you have yet to answer. But think about this… you care, you're afraid that you might kill someone without meaning to. What do you think, is someone who doesn't care more likely to suck them dry or not?" He shot back, voice confident as ever.

"Just because I don't want to, doesn't mean that I won't… I'm so afraid that I'll lose control. I already feel like I murdered the person I once was. Fitting, really, considering that, strictly speaking I'm a corpse wearing my face." I replied bitterly, but if I had hoped to drive Samuel back, even a little bit, I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised when all he did was pull me close and hugged me against his firm chest. It was unexpected, in the best way possible, and while a part of me screamed to get away before I did something I'd regret, the rest remained pleasantly numb as I simply breathed in his comforting presence, so firm and unyielding despite everything that had occurred in the last few days. He was the one constant that had remained unchanged.

I felt him sigh heavily before he began to speak, in an unusually quiet voice. Quiet for him at least, but I could hear him just fine. "Easy now, I can't claim to know what it's like since I have no idea what it's like to change your species over the course of a single night. But I know you, you're a good person. I know a lot of humans that can't claim the same."

I moved to protest but he hushed me by softly pressing a finger against my lips. Which I would only later realise show just how much he trusted me, I mean I could have bitten it of in theory. "I know you think of yourself as something unnatural, probably felt that way in some manner ever since your little trip with Jack, but the truth is… I've killed people." That took me back as I flicked my blue eyes up to Samuel's face in a flash.

He shrugged and continued onward, but the discomfort in his gray eyes said he didn't like this part of his past, not that I could blame him. "Not every one of them was as deserving of death as those guys were. When I infiltrated the Society of Leopold… I was part a clean up operation, to make some mess of another cell disappear. I was part of what they called the Paladin Initiative, since I didn't want to be discovered I was forced to keep quiet. Just stand by and let them do their thing… does that mean I'm an evil person? To be honest I don't think of myself as good, I believe- no, I hope, that I'm not inherently evil. I just do what I think is the best I can do in any situation… In the end that's all any of us can do."

And now I felt like a total asshole as Samuel's monologue hit home. I was bitching about taking a sip from a willing person, and he had been forced to go through something like that, to not be able to talk about the things he'd witnessed and done? Makes my issues seem pretty small time by comparison, and while that hadn't been the point of his speech, to make his own problems seem bigger than mine, even if that was the truth of it in my opinion. I was shaken from my thoughts when he slowly turned his gaze to me, focusing his eyes on mine. "Do you think I'm a bad person?"

"No you dork." I breathed out without hesitation, and while it wasn't the most eloquent way I could have put it, the ghost of a smile it got was reassuring as I gestured inanely between us as I tried to get my thoughts in order. "No, you're not bad, Samuel. God you've been dealing with me since day one, and you've been nothing but kind, understanding, a constant thorn in my side, but one I wouldn't trade for anything in this fucked up situation."

Samuel chuckled weakly and rubbed the back of his gray head of hair before letting his hand fall to his side once more. "While it's good to know that you have such a high opinion of me, I can't help but wonder about something. If you say that I'm not a bad person, then how can you claim that you are? Because of your nature? I'm pretty sure that humans are still better at killing each other than vampires are." He had a point, and given my life before meeting Eliza and being Embraced by her, I couldn't help but agree even as a part of me still wanted to argue with him. I had already gone through a great deal of crap long before joining the V club, and there had been no need for supernatural elements to be involved to make my life so difficult at the time. And Samuel, perceptive as ever, smiled knowingly, as if sensing where my mind had gone. "Vampires, humans, doesn't matter what you are Alex. What does matter is what you do."

"When did you get so eloquent?" I asked, unable to help but smile as Samuel turned on his heel and started for our customary ride for the evening. That van of his had since become another constant element in my new life, oddly enough.

"Elementary, my teacher said I was a natural." He shot back without missing a beat. "Now you're still carrying my little gift, right? Just in case?" He asked in what reminded me of the way my dad would watch out for me before he died.

Except in this case, I stopped and opened my mouth because in my haste to leave Catherine's penthouse, I had forgotten to grab my magnum or the submachine gun from underneath the bed. Samuel chortled and shook his head at my look, which quickly morphed into a frown as I jabbed a finger into his chest. "Laugh it up Sammy."

"I will." He replied before he playfully batted my hand away. "Good thing one of us is always prepared. Seriously though, next time, don't leave the house without at least one of the guns eh?"

"Yes, dad." I bit out without any heat and rolled my eyes playfully before I turned serious again since I remembered a little detail. "And speaking of always prepared… did you send Azazel to watch after me?"

"Azazel? Send him?" Samuel seemed to think that the mere thought was incredibly funny because he began to laugh loudly. The frown on my face did little to get him to stop any faster, but eventually he managed to regain his composure. "I highly doubt that I could order him around like you're implying, besides you were already mad at me, didn't want you to get even angrier. Nah, I think he just noticed that I was a little down and took it upon himself to help me in his… unique way. Good guy though."

"You know him well?" I asked, far more curious now that he had set my suspicions to rest for the most part.

"Actually yes. I believe we're what modern kids would call 'bros'." Samuel told me with a small shrug. "I've watched over his daughter a few times too. She's definitely her father's child concerning the sheer amount of sarcasm she throws around."

Remembering how Azazel had spoken to Lucifer and Clara, I could only imagine what a little mini version of the guy might be like to have around. "How old is she? I mean he looks a little young for kids."

"She's adopted." Samuel stated matter of factly as we once more got settled in the van at last. We didn't pull out of the parking garage just yet though. This was too interesting to stop now, that and I had that piece of paper from Juliet with the address anyway. "And she's already sixteen. Puberty is a nightmare to deal with, let me tell you. I refuse to believe that I ever acted even remotely similar like that."

Forgetting the address the Malkavian had given me, I snorted and giggled at how offended Samuel sounded. "Little Sammy, going through puberty. There's something I would have loved to have seen."

"No you really wouldn't have." He said quickly and shook his head. "And I would appreciate it if we could never speak of this again."

"Alright, alright." I relented, but I still couldn't help but smirk at him all the same as I pulled out the messily scrawled note from my pants pocket. Unlike last night, I had dressed in something far more mundane than that low cut dress, which meant I actually had pockets again. That aside, I explained where I had gotten the address before asking the obvious question. "Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah, it's gonna be a bit of a drive though." He replied before a thoughtful frown pulled at his face. "Why would Juliet want us to go to an old abandoned hospital though? Nevermind, Malkavian, she probably doesn't even know for sure. There is likely something useful for us there though, that much I can almost guarantee you." The emphasis he put on 'almost' didn't give me a lot of reassurance that we'd find answers there.

"That reliable?" I questioned with slight disbelief. I still had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of madness induced foresight or something of the like.

"Since it's from Juliet, yes. If it was another Malkavian, I would be more hesitant. Some of them are so mad that they know what you want, but what they want to tell you gets scrambled up before it reaches their mouth, so you get entirely different information in some cases, nonsense in others or you're just unable to understand them. Juliet though has a pretty good track record, she's given me a lot of useful intel in the past when all other avenues exhausted themselves. I still had to do the occasional favor for her in return, but her jobs are usually pretty straightforward. Just uh….don't ask about some of her stranger gigs." The almost squeamish look on Samuel's face was two parts amusing and one part fearful curiosity on my part since I couldn't help but wonder what the mad Malkavian had asked of him that could make him uncomfortable.

Then I thought I was probably better off not knowing. And so I did the best thing I could think of, I pulled a serious face and nodded at him as if I could completely understand what he was talking about. Which was a blatant lie because I had no idea, but that's enough of that. "So… abandoned hospital, how high are our chances that it will go smoothly without any difficulties?"

"You want the truth, or the sweet little lie?"

"Meh, give me the truth." I replied and shrugged my shoulders for further emphasis.

"Well, basically no chance at all. Probably a ghost that hasn't moved on will be there, not uncommon for hospitals, especially those that have been shut down. Perhaps some homeless people sleeping there for the night, as such, it wouldn't be surprising if a few of them have been drinking, thus making them a little less than friendly to strangers. Or maybe we'll stumble upon some vampire who can't mingle as easily with crowds as others, which would also make them possibly hostile."

"You mean Nosferatu?" I asked as we started on our way.

"No, there are others who have difficulties with fitting in. You already met one kind, the Samedi." Samuel gently reminded me, patient like he always was with me. "Let's just say that for some, drinking blood isn't enough." That less than ominous statement had me shivering for some reason since something in Samuel's voice told me I had been real lucky in some fundamental sense. I had no idea how true that was, but why spoil the surprise now? We had a possibly haunted hospital to explore. That's excitement enough, trust me.

Like Kullman's Diner, where the Nosferatu den was located underneath the crumbling establishment, Renwick Smallpox Hospital had also been long abandoned and left to decay over sixty years ago. As for the building itself, one of the bigger hospitals of its day at the time of its initial construction during the early 1850s, most of the interior had fallen apart, leaving nothing but a few floors and very little of the interior walls or stairwells, and the few that were left I wouldn't trust even as I am now to support my weight. The imposing, brick stone structure, gothic and dark at a glance, didn't seem all that inviting or resemble a place of healing in a time long past as when we finally found it within Manhattan's confines. Seeing the place up close did make me wonder about one thing though as I turned to Samuel. "How do you know about this place anyway?"

"Juliet was Embraced here according to her." Samuel stated matter of factly.

"When?" I asked seconds later.

"A long time ago." He replied quietly and looked around for any signs of danger once we had gotten out of the van. "She would have died otherwise, but she still relives the pain she was suffering from at that time. Never did find out what she'd been sick with, but from what I've been able to understand from her ramblings, it would have killed her if not for her Sire."

"Huh." What else could I say to that? Still, I had a bit more respect for the Malkavian madwoman as I followed Samuel to the crumbling pair of old, half rotted wooden doors that swung open with a horrendous screech. "Well that didn't sound ominous at all." I deadpanned, but my blue eyes darted about the crumbling interior laid out before us now.

"Well it nearly destroyed my sense of hearing, so I guess it was more agonizing than ominous." Samuel retorted right back as he produced his ever trusty flashlight and his sidearm, although I had no idea what his gun could do to a ghost, again provided there was one lurking around. I wasn't sure I believed if there was a ghost in this place, but a few days ago I hadn't known vampires existed, so...make of that what you will.

That didn't stop me from sticking my tongue out at him. Samuel chuckled but otherwise ignored me as we started across the dust covered floor. I could hear the fluttering of wings far above us, the rapid heartbeats of a nest of birds of some kind, maybe bats, and I could also hear the little clatter of feet. Mice, or rats, likely the latter, but either way, we weren't alone as far as the local pests were concerned.

Get out. The voice stated, a hushed, cold, dread filled whisper which reached our ears and sent waves of fear down my spine.

I froze just as Samuel did, and we shared a look as a icy breeze hit us in the face. I shook my head, not about to admit he was right. "Probably just a draft going through the pipes." I said, although I instinctively knew I was just in stupid denial again.

"Alex, you're a vampire, and you can't admit there's a ghost hanging around?" Samuel asked, making it clear he was fighting the urge to shoot me again.

"I've seen vampires, so far all I've heard is a cold draft going through this dump." I retorted, making it clear I wasn't about to change my mind about this. I know, I'm stubborn, sue me.

"Well, I thought you would know better by now, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised by your stubbornness." Samuel sighed endearingly, but shrugged off his disbelief all the same. "Let's just continue before the 'cold draft' comes back."

"Har har." I muttered sarcastically as I kept on Samuel's right side while we proceeded deeper into the crumbling hospital. There wasn't a lot to see since as I had stated before, most of the interior walls had disintegrated from neglect and decay, and beyond some scaffolding and reconstruction efforts, there wasn't a great deal to block our vision save for the shadows themselves where Sam's flashlight or my eyes couldn't penetrate. But as shouldn't be surprising at this point, nothing ever goes according to plan. In this case, the beginning of our night trekking through the hospital went sideways when the floor gave out and we were sent into the labyrinthine sub basement level.

"Dont worry, that was just a draft." Came Samuel's voice from behind me, sounding almost disturbingly dry given our situation. A groan escaped him as the dust and debris we had kicked up from our fall started to settle around us. "Ow….at least I landed on my ass….think I broke my ass, but I've had worse."

I had landed on my feet despite how quickly the floor had decided to buckle and fall apart on us, although if you were to ask me how I pulled that off, I couldn't tell you beyond simple instinct. Still, that didn't stop me from giving Samuel an annoyed glare for the 'cold draft' remark. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Human remember? Not so good at ignoring falls as you are." He told me with raised eyebrows, like he was telling me something I should already know. Which truth be told I really should have. Given my situation I however did anything but act rationally.

As such, my thoughts were basically centered around 'Samuel, human, hurt' and with that I went into worrying mode. "Oh god, are you hurt? Can you walk? No wait! Don't try, just lie down I'll get you out of here, I promise! Abandoned hospital here has to be something useful…" I trailed off as I frantically looked around for anything I could use.

"Alex I-" Samuel started, but I didn't let him finish.

"No, save your strength. You're probably in shock… I saw that in a movie once. The guy thought he was alright and then 'boom' he collapsed and was dead! Just keep calm. Deep calm breaths." Yeah….not one of my finer moments.

"Hey, everything alright down there?" Sarah's voice asked from above, sounding more than a little confused before she jumped down. She landed just as, if not easier, than I had, but I hardly noticed at the time as I whirled towards her.

"Great, you're here! We have to save Samuel!" I told her frantically.

The elder vampire spared a glance at Samuel, who was watching the proceedings with a bemused expression. "Uh… he seems to be fine."

"How can you tell? Do you have medical training?" I asked, having not put the dots together now that I was in full on freak out mode for one of the few people I cared about these days.

"No, but she looked at me for more than a split second." Samuel stated slowly, a smile pulling at his lips as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. "And as endearing as it is watching you worry over me, it isn't what we came here for."

I finally put two and two together before slapping a hand over my face in abject embarrassment. Sarah's laughter and Samuel's amused smile wasn't helping me in the slightest. "Shut up….you two are so not helping right now." I groaned and hung my head with a huff. Today was just not my day.

"Oh calm down Alex," Sarah chuckled once she had regained her composure, although her red eyes still gleamed with her merriment at my expense. Her hair was still dyed black, but the makeup she had worn to the party was gone. The long black trenchcoat and armor underlayer outfit she had worn at our first meeting had made a comeback however. I took all that in at a glance as Sarah patted me on the shoulder, still chuckling softly. "It's cute, you worrying for your friend like an overprotective mother hen."

"Bite me." I groaned in response before flicking my blue eyes to the new hole in the ceiling. "So, what do we do now?"

Sarah put her hands on her hips and shrugged. "Well, Juliet sent us here for the same thing, we might as well take a look around and see if we can't find whatever that is. And don't mind the ghost, they're more annoying than any real threat."

"There isn't any gh-" No sooner had the words left my mouth did I see a two by four fly off the wall and nearly hit me in the face. Only Samuel pulling me to the side at the last second saved me from having my head bashed in as the piece of wood flew by my right cheek. Samuel raised a gray eyebrow while Sarah crossed her arms, both of them wearing similar expressions. I blew out a relieved if annoyed breath as I looked towards the beam and back to Samuel. "Okay, I'll admit it. There's a ghost hanging around." I grumbled, hating the simple fact I had to admit the existence of what was here.

"Glad to see nearly getting beamed in the face has changed your mind." Samuel stated.

"Har hardy har har." I mock laughed as we started down a narrow corridor that went further into the crumbling basement level. The most I expected we'd find were old boilers and dozens of rusted pipes running through the ceiling and walls, maybe a few utility closets, things like that. But I think a part of me always knew we'd find something else, especially if a ghost was trying to scare us into running away.

"Thank you, I always try my best to make people laugh." He deadpanned in response, face straight and for a moment I wondered if he was serious. Then he shot me a smirk and I knew better, but that should have been obvious from the start. Sarah snorted softly in the back as she trailed behind us, but otherwise kept quiet.

"The first time I met a ghost was… not as pleasant. I got a lot of things thrown right into my face." Sarah told me a little sourly. "By the end of it, I was ready to blow the whole place to pieces. The truth of why there was a ghost at all just made it worse." When I asked, Sarah sighed tiredly. "There was a family, wife, two kids, and a husband. Husband went nuts, killed their kids, and the wife last, I found her diary which explained the whole thing plus a few newspaper clippings. It was the husband that was throwing shit at me at every corner."

To say that this story did nothing to lift my spirits would be a colossal understatement. Not that the other two seemed overly bothered by it. Guess that's what made me the new girl of our little group. "So what about this ghost?" I asked at last as we came to a darkened three way junction, a dead power box on the right hand wall. "What do you think is keeping this one around?"

"Who knows." Sarah mused, but jerked her head to the left, where a woman, floating a foot off the ground, could just be seen in the darkness by us. "But I think we're about to find out." She stated, just as the ghost beckoned us to follow her before floating down the hallway, out of sight.

"If I were to guess… well Juliet sent us here for a reason. So this ghost is probably tied to said reason." Samuel pointed out and cast a glance around. "Provided we are only dealing with one ghost here. Or perhaps the ghost has nothing to do with it."

"Only one way to find out." Sarah replied, and began to push her way to the front before going down the same hallway the ghost had disappeared down. We did our best to keep up, but if Sarah had wanted to leave us behind, I doubt we could have caught her no matter how hard we tried to keep up. Thankfully she only kept just out of reach, but something didn't seem right about this as we soon found ourselves in what I took to be an old fashioned incinerator of some kind. Given the simple fact this place had been created to combat the smallpox outbreak that had gripped the city way back when, it made sense not all of the patients that had been checked in had checked out, and that the staff would have needed a way to dispose of the bodies that were otherwise too riddled with sickness to safely handle otherwise.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Samuel muttered softly, and looked at me for a moment before sending a glance at Sarah.

"Ditto." Was the elder vampire's reply to that statement. Both of them agreeing on something being bad? Yeah, that's definitely enough for me to start to get really worried.

"Okay, so on a scale from one to fiery death, how bad are we talking about here?"

"Roughly a, 'we are dust in the wind' vibe I'd say." Samuel ever so helpfully replied.

"Just great." I muttered sarcastically, angry at myself for coming here and at Juliet for sending us here in the first place.

"Cheer up kid, it could be worse." Sarah pointed out calmly and looked around for a way out of the room. The way we had come was still open, the door having fallen off its hinges at some point, but the giant incinerator against the far wall loomed like a giant metallic beast, just waiting for someone to wander into its lair before spewing flames in every direction. It had seen better days perhaps, but if this ghost was able to throw beams and split floors apart, who knew what else it was capable of.

"Yeah, how so?" You'd think I would have learned not to ask something so blatantly obvious by now.

"Well we could have been burned by now. Or got a 'nuclear fire' vibe instead." The only male of our little group told me far too cheerfully for my taste.

"I hate it when you do that." I stated flatly, unamused by Samuel's cheer, feigned or otherwise.

And then I saw her.

It was hard not to since the ghost in charge of this rather morbid place had decided to appear right in front of me. Her eyes staring at me like I was a complicated x-ray image for a moment before her dead, cold expression hardened. You are sick. Her voice echoed softly in the room as she stared at me accusingly. This plague cannot spread any further. You must be purged, like all the others.

This is my life now, meet new mysterious people and beings, and get almost killed by them or in this case, most likely killed, because I had no idea how to get out of this one. "Can we talk about this?" I asked, but I wasn't all that surprised by the response the charge nurse gave me.

No. Was the simple reply, which sucked because I would have loved for her to go into some kind of monologue like the bad guys in the movies, which would have given us the time to escape. Instead, the charge nurse, in her dirty white scrubs and her surgical gloves, flung her right arm towards the incinerator. Let me explain what ghosts are capable of, beyond their little temper tantrums that allow them to throw around pieces of debris as they like. Given their connection to the afterlife, they can drag some of that to this plane of existence, so when she flung her arm to the rusty machine in question, her ties to it, and her role in life, allowed her to breathe new life into the hulking monstrosity as purple phantom fire erupted from it soon after. Naturally, myself and Sarah instinctively jumped away the moment the fire started while Samuel ran backward, his gun trained on the ghostly nurse. You cannot be allowed to leave.

"Sorry, we're checking out lady." Samuel replied, his gray eyes darting about the chamber, for what I didn't know until he shouted out. "We need to find something that ties her to this place! A hairpin, a necklace, something personal she might have kept!"

"On it!" Sarah replied, before she and I were forced to jump to the sides of the chamber when the homicidal ghost threw her hand towards us and a purple fireball sprung up where we'd been standing. Phantom fire might be born in the realm of the dead, but it's still a supernatural element of destruction. It hurts us vampires for that simple reason, and while I didn't know that, I wasn't about to take a chance my suspicions were proven correct.

"Learn to bind and banish a ghost they said, I won't need it I said." Samuel grumbled in annoyance as he shot at the ghost in an attempt to divert its attention.

It flickered its eyes towards him for a moment before addressing him. Please, sir. I know this must be hard but for the good of the whole your friends will have to burn! She said with a serene smile on her gaunt, hollow face, which sent shivers down my spine. You are not infected yet, though I would advise you to stay until we are sure you haven't been infected.

"Wait, we?" Samuel and I asked at the same time, and I groaned when two more ghosts appeared behind the nurse in question. "Oh hell no." I growled as her two burly bodyguards started for me first, no doubt thinking I'd be the easier to handle. They were right, but I wasn't about to tell them that.

"We're not infected! We're not even human!" Sarah screamed at her in anger from the other side of the chamber, having somehow gotten behind the three ghosts. There was an office space back there, but I was in no position to take advantage of it as Sarah rushed into the room. I could just make out a name plate beside the door, but I had no way to see more than that as I was forced to jump away from the two ghosts the nurse had summoned to aid her.

Then you're an even greater risk. We must cleanse this whole place immediately. The ghost replied and looked at us like we were nothing more than bacteria to be extinguished. And in a way, she wasn't wrong, but I wanted to keep living, or what passed for living for us anyway. She locked her eyes on me, her iris the same color as the flames glimmering in the incinerator. Detain the other one. I will purge this one. The two male ghosts nodded before turning to go after Sarah who had long since disappeared into the office, the sound of drawers being tossed around following in her wake.

"Sarah!" I called out, only to flinch away when the nurse raised a wall of purple flames in front of me, keeping me and Samuel from assisting the Brujah.

"I know! I'm hurrying!" She shouted back. A triumphant shout followed soon after, just as the two ghosts in their matching scrubs and face masks, walked through the office wall, but Sarah was prepared as she came bursting out of the office the only way she knew how. By punching her way through the wall itself just as the two ghosts had phased through it in an effort to grab her first. In the Brujah's hand was a small hand mirror. The head nurse took one look at the bronze mirror and took a step away, only confirming Sarah's suspicions. "I thought as much. This was yours pyro? Well now, I guess we have the upper hand here. Samuel, go long!" Samuel wasted no time in running the rest of the way of the chamber just as Sarah drew her hand back and threw the object to him, well past the three ghosts and me.

"Got it!" He shouted, before he had to duck when a torrent of flames was sent his way. "Uh, and now?"

"Shove it in her face? I don't know, the last one stopped once I had the necklace!" Sarah shouted back as she got beaten back through the hole she made by the chief psycho's assistants. "Therese Voerman had someone ready to do some ritual to banish the ghosts for good!" Then a light bulb went off for her as she slipped between the two and slid under a third torrent of purple flames when they were thrown her way. "They can't leave the place they died at! Shit, we need to leave!"

"Finally! Let's go!" Samuel shouted just as I got to his side.

No one leaves! The nurse shouted and sent purple flames everywhere she could see. Thankfully, we had long since fled the incinerator room. Getting to the hole and out of the basement wasn't so easy, especially with three mad ghosts on our tail, one of which was quite literally flaming mad, but we managed as Sarah and I jumped upward only to turn around to assist Samuel.

But as soon as we had knelt down and reached out to grab him and pull him up, he surprised me at least when Samuel launched himself upward and ran partially up part of the wall before coming to a stop behind us. "Society of Leopold remember?" He stated, oozing nonchalance as he straightened his suit before beckoning us to the exit. "Still got Nurse Ratchet and her sidekicks remember?"

Burn! Said ghost hissed at us and said another wave of flames our way through the hole we just climbed through. The torrent of flames was intense enough to melt, melt!, the concrete and plaster, only encouraging us to run faster out of the hospital doors and far into the parking lot. Thankfully Samuel had had the foresight to park on the other side of the street that faced the hospital, because I don't think I would have stopped at his van otherwise. As it was, when we finally did stop, the hospital and its cadre of psychotic ghosts far at our backs, I slid down the side of Samuel's van and panted and wheezed, exhausted but giddy by our escape just as Sarah and Samuel caught up with me at a far more relaxed pace. "You...two….so suck….you know that?"

Sarah chuckled but shrugged off my comment. "You get used to the excitement after a while."

"Why exactly are you breathing so hard? You don't need oxygen anymore, remember." Samuel pointed out calm as if we didn't just escape a pyromaniac ghost, barely. "So stop those huge gulps of air, they're making you look fat."

That made me stop at once. I was suddenly too focused on glaring at him for his remark and Sarah's barely controlled laughter. "Did you really just go there?"

"Yep." Samuel replied all too cheerfully to the ominous tone in my voice.

"Have I told you I hated you yet today?" I asked, not at all amused by Sarah's barely controlled giggles as I pushed myself off the ground.

"No, but the night's still young." He shot back with a shit eating grin. "So I'm certain that you'll be able to fit in said remark into your busy schedule."

"Ugh." I grumbled before turning my gaze on Sarah and the bronze hand mirror she had found, that had made Nurse Ratchet stop and pause for a split second. "I really hope all this was worth the headache."

"Something tells me it will be kid. You'd be surprised how one little item can lead to unexpected results." I had no idea she was referring to the little revelation that Therese and Jeanette Voerman had been one and the same person, and she had only found out after bringing back the necklace belonging to the murdered wife. That aside though, I couldn't help but wonder what Sarah was expecting to happen once we met up with Juliet again. As Samuel had said, the night was still young, so who knew what would happen next. I hoped that there wouldn't be any more unpleasant surprises though.

End Notes: Vergil1989: Lol well that happened. We made a brief mention of a ghost a few chapters back, but it seemed appropriate to finally get into the thick of it. Hope you enjoyed!

Nomad-117: Well I for one couldn't resist the chance to put our own little ghost mission into this one. However I will freely admit that it was Vergil's idea to begin with and that our little ghost should be a little pyromaniac. I think we did rather well to be honest. Never wrote a crazed ghost before.

Vergil1989: Well, it was either that or we went with a werewolf, I figured that'd be overkill though lol. Joking aside, I was pretty happy with our ghost, and don't worry, when they meet Juliet, she'll tell them more about Nurse Ratchet the Pyromaniac. As for the feeding bit at the beginning of this chapter, or near enough anyway, I'm still kinda feeling a bit bleh about it despite a couple of rewrites, but overall I'm happy with it. Catherine got to show off how much of a manipulative bitch she can be, but at the same time, she saved Alex a lot of heartache and trouble in the long run, so in some ways she did her a favor. What do you guys think though? Anyway, take care folks!