"Well thank you for all your assistance Mrs. Smith" Officer White said. David glanced at Eliana when she didn't respond. She was sitting there silently, as she had been the whole time Officer White interviewed her. She was looking at her hands, twisting and untwisting her fingers while her eyes stared straight at the opposite wall. She was chewing nervously on her lower lip. David reached gently out to tap her shoulder and was surprised how much Eliana jumped. She glanced quickly at him, blinking as though David had just interrupted her while deep in thought. He could hear her heart speed up slightly. But when she realized it was only David, he heard Eliana's heart beat begin to slow. He wondered if his presence was soothing. Officer White cleared his throat and David watched Eliana's attention shift to Officer White, who was still waiting for her response.

"Of course Officer White if I remember anything else I'll give you a call" she said robotically, without any real feeling behind it as her gaze shifted back out into space. David could not remember ever having been happier than when Officer White left. He knelt quickly in front of Eliana and rested his hands on either side of the chair she sat on. David had every intention of offering Eliana some kind of comfort, verbal, physical, emotional, anything. He was not one practiced in consolation but even as pointless his words would be, they could help couldn't they?

Who was he kidding; of course he wouldn't be able to comfort her. Because if she was upset about Lucy's disappearance, he doubted he would be able to form the words needed to comfort, they would feel fake, like he was lying. David expected to see some kind of sadness in Eliana's eyes but when she looked up he saw something different. It only lasted for a moment because Eliana seemed to realize he was watching she wiped all the emotions out of her eyes. For a moment though, there had been fear. Raw fear.

"Well I guess that is the kind of thing that can put a bit of a damper a person's day," Eliana said with a hollow smile, "do you still want to hang out?" David was confused, to put it simply. He couldn't understand Eliana. The fear in her eyes, it wasn't the kind that resulted from worrying about someone you cared about, that fear in her eyes was indicative of something else. It hadn't been fear of the unknown, of whether Lucy was dead or alive. No, David recognized the fear in Eliana's eyes. It was the fear he saw nearly every night in his prey's eyes. It was the fear of the known, fear of what you couldn't control. Eliana wasn't afraid Lucy was dead; it was more like she was afraid of who might have killed her.

"You sure that's a good idea Eli?" Paul asked. Eliana blinked and looked at them as though she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Am I supposed to sit in my room and waste away the day crying about Lucy when it's not going to do any good?" Eliana asked, "I want to go out" Her insistent tone was almost frantic and she seemed like any argument would tear her apart.

"Ok Eliana, we'll go out," David said. Something in her tone struck something deep inside him. Confusion mixed with doubt and worry welled up around him. This bipolar attitude wasn't something he was used to. In every situation David had ever been in with Eliana, she had never acted like this. Even when she got angry and then quickly forgave him, it was never anything like this. Even in those instants, she was always in control. Of all the people David new, Eliana was the only one he had never seen without control. But in a single hour, after a single conversation it was as if all her control had melted into nothingness. Now she looked about almost frantically and David could see she was trying to keep it together. Was she afraid? Of what? Some nameless killer she didn't even know existed? No she couldn't know. She couldn't possibly have any idea whether Lucy was alive or dead, let alone who killed her. But if she didn't know, what was that flash of fear David saw? He felt an overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms and shelter her, whisper sweet nothings into her ear until all traces of tear and worry were completely gone from her face. But how could he do that knowing what he knew. Instead he did the only thing he could do.

He stood and held his hand out to Eliana. She took it and he led her out the store. Glancing back he saw the looks his brothers gave him. He dared them with his gaze to say a word to Eliana. About half way through the night Marko had taken his place by her side, chatting with her enthusiastically about this or that as they drifted through the boardwalk. So David watched from afar, looking for any sign of distress from Eliana. So far she didn't seem like she was going to spontaneously break down as David had noticed humans tend to do when bottling up emotions, as he had previously suspected she might. He did notice something else though. Although Eliana did not seem outwardly upset, she did seem more alert. Normally her attention was completely focused on whoever she was talking to at the time but tonight she was distracted. She kept glancing around them, into darkened corners as though she was expected to see someone there. A group of children would rush past and Eliana would jump slightly. It got to the point where she said goodnight, despite the protests of David's brothers, and ventured back to her store. David followed.

In any other circumstance Eliana's behavior would single to David a job well done. After all, David only saw those kinds of nervous ticks in people he was hunting, just before the perfect moment arrived to kill them. Between contentedness and hysteria there was a state of paranoia when hunting was ideal. But his wasn't one of David's hunts. He wasn't trying to evoke this jumpiness from Eliana. No, someone else or something else was causing it. The possessive rage boiling beneath his skin could have been David's reaction to the possibility of someone stealing his kill. It could have easily been that. But it wasn't. Instead David wanted to tear the throat out of whatever was plaguing Eliana's mind that night, no matter what or who it was. He'd go through a thousand people to do it, anything to have her return to her ordinary carefree self.

He hung back, out of sight. It wasn't the first time he had followed Eliana. He normally followed her home just to make sure no one tried to touch his mark. But tonight he didn't stop at the door. Instead, David slipped into the alley behind the store. A couple was pressed up against the wall. David raised an eyebrow and the girl let out a small shriek when she saw him.

"H-Hey man, what's the deal?" the guy asked as she righted his clothing. David gave him a short glare and the guy took off, girl in tow. As soon as they were out of sight David set his sight on the upper most window, from past visits he knew it lead to the kitchen and thus was an opportune entry point. With a single push upward he floated up until he was level with the window pane. Glancing in, he caught the tail end of Eliana as she slipped into her bedroom and closed the door.

Reaching out, his fingers brushed the glass and the inside lock clicked open. Ever so gently he lifted the window and stepped inside. From the window David could hear the shower running in the bathroom. He carefully placed his footsteps across the ground and sat down in the living room, waiting. David had never been in her apartment alone, it was somewhat of a different experience. Normally his brothers were running around causing mischief, distracting him. But now he was alone to take in Eliana's apartment in its entirety. He was surprised by how bare it was, devoid of attachment and emotion. Dwayne had mentioned it the first time they had stepped foot in the apartment, Eliana had brushed it off, claiming she hadn't had a chance to unpack. But there weren't any boxes, not anywhere in the whole place. There were no pictures, mementos, or personal objects at all, not even a book. The only things that even breathed of Eliana's personality, her vitality, her liveliness, were the drawings strewn haphazardly across a small coffee table.

David chuckled softly as he reached out and picked a few up. Turning them over in his hands he marveled at Eliana's ability to capture personality, even in the everyday tourist. When he finally heard Eliana settle down into bed David moved ever so gently off the couch toward the bedroom. He had almost reached the door when he heard soft padded footsteps. A soft nipping at his calves made David turn, there sat Seer Eliana's gorgeous black wolf-like dog. He smiled and crouched down.

"Hey there pup," he said softly as he scratched the dog behind the ears. When he was human David distinctly remembered having had a dog like Seer, big and intimidating. But that had been years and years ago and memories from those times had begun to fade, replaced by the endless repetitive nights. David sometimes wondered when even his mother's face would disappear entirely. He had missed dogs, David could admit that, although they were one of the few if not only thing David missed about being human. But dogs were never really an option for vampires, for some reason they could sense the evil better than any other creature alive and thus steered clear of creatures of the night. Only the most powerful vampires knew how to create hell hounds and Max had yet to share that secret with David. Seer, however, was different. He tolerated the presence of his brothers, but also seemed to really like David. David had considered keeping the dog when he finally ended Eliana, if Seer didn't sense his betrayal of course. Now, however, that idea left a bitter taste in his throat. Seer nuzzled David's arm as he stroked his fur. "I'm going to go check on our girl, I'll play with you later" David promised as he stood and opened the bedroom door.

Eliana was curled up in a ball in her bed. The covers were pulled all around her, obscuring most of her face from view like some sort of shield. David sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his gloves off. His was quiet as death as he traced fingers along the outline of Eliana's body. The way she was sleeping reminded David of an almost defensive position as if she was subconsciously trying to fend off some danger.

"What has you so bent out of shape Eli, hm," David murmured softly. Eliana mumbled something about not calling her Eli in her sleep and stretched softly. David smiled and brushed a bit of hair out of her face. Even when she was asleep Eliana could hold a stubborn streak unlike any human David had ever met. Eliana reached her arm out from under the covers as she rolled onto her back. David's fingers traced up her bare arm and he smiled as goose bumps appeared across her skin. But then he reached her wrist. There the skin grew ragged. A scar rested there, reflecting in the soft light bleeding in through the curtains. David had never seen this scar. If he didn't know better he'd say it was a misshapen cross. One branch ran up her vein, it was short, only the size of his thumb. The second ran parallel to her wrist from one edge of her hand to the other. David glanced over and saw Eliana's watch sitting on the night stand. No wonder he had never seen this scar before, she hid it.

A darkness bubbled up inside David, he couldn't believe this wound had been self-inflicted. It was to abnormal of a shape to be an accident. That meant the only other option was that someone else had inflicted it on her. Neither made the David feel any better. In her sleep Eliana pulled her arm back toward her body and subconsciously began to rub her wrist. David frowned as he ran his fingers along her brow again.

There was a whine and Seer entered the room, brushing up against the nightstand. David hushed the dog quickly. "You're going to wake her up" he hissed. But Seer kept bumping the night stand, over and over. David grabbed Seer's collar and dragged him out of the room despite his protests. When he had shut him out David moved back toward the bed determine to discern the origin of that scar, but he was distracted by a small glint just outside his field of vision.

David frowned and reached into the nightstand drawer that Seer had knocked open. His hand closed around an awkward, heavy object and as he pulled it out his stomach dropped. He was holding a heavy revolver in his hand. David sat back on the floor turning the gun over in his hand. Something was beginning to feel more and more wrong about all of this. Early that night David had been confident in his understanding of how Eliana thought and acted. Sure, sometimes she did something David didn't expect but this was an entirely new level. Secret scars and hidden weapons? David didn't like not knowing what was going on. He glanced up when Eliana began mumbling in her sleep again. Carefully he stood and moved closer to the bed.

"Vnnct," she mumbled and David careful slid the revolver back in the drawer and moved closer till his ear was a hair away from her lips. "Vincent" David jerked back. Vincent, V, the person from the package. "Vincent don't go…" Eliana mumbled, "Please….I…" David repressed a growl and stood, his fists clenched at his sides. He swept quickly out of the room, ignoring Seer's whines on his way out. With an easy sweep of his leg he leapt out of the window. Anger was pulsing through his veins. Who the hell was Vincent.