A New Wish -

Chapter #11: How do you know?

*I do not own The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod or The Slayer Chronicles or any of their characters.*

Note: This chapter contains potential spoilers of the 2nd book of the Slayer Chronicles!

Sage walked with the Slayers to the scene of the crime. It was between Tenth and Eleventh on University Place. A part of town Sage would take walks. She saw six other people in an alley, slayers she guessed. Abraham looked like he was going to walk all the way over to the other six when he stopped and looked at Sage, "You're staying here." He said pointing to a corner of the building.

Sage sighed but complied as she leaned up against the building, she could barely hear what all of them were saying, but she could tell they were. As she looked across the street she saw a familiar face, Nick was walking down the sidewalk parallel to the one she was on. That was what they meant by keeping eyes on her. She had felt a few other vampires she knew passing them, across the street, in a cab, and so on. So the initial fear of this little assignment was beginning to melt.

It wasn't very long that the six original slayers came out of the alleyway, they all looked at her, but didn't say anything. It was very hard to not smirk at them, instead she smiled and tilted her head. Then they were gone. It was soon enough when the rest of her little group of Slayers came out from the alley. Abraham stopped the group and motioned for Sage to come with him. She pushed her back off the wall and followed him down the alley. Then she saw the body. "Gross…" She voiced.

Abraham seemed to be on his last nerve, but not with her. He looked at Sage, "Do you recognize him?" He asked.

Sage raised an eyebrow, "Why?" She asked plainly.

Abraham sighed, "If you know who this is, maybe you can pull a killer to the victim. And if you know the killer we can get hunting…" He said.

Sage nodded and looked down at the man. She was about to say something but Abraham paused her, and spoke for Joss to come to them.

Abraham explained, "Joss is the leader of this investigation, you need to explain it to him…" He said then he left.

Sage smiled at Joss then pulled some strands of her hair behind her ears and crouched down about a foot away from the body. Joss moved behind her, "Do you recognize him?" He asked.

Sage took another moment. She expected Dorian to give her a name, but he was silent. So Sage shook her head, "No...Unfortunately I've never seen him before. But the way he was killed is a little peculiar." She said moving around the body a little. She could tell something about him though, something different. Then something clicked, this man wasn't human. She could tell by the color of his skin, and his body type, but more importantly his mouth was slightly opened and she could tell just by a glint that there was a fang. But none of the Slayers had looked closer to see that. This man was a vampire, but she would keep that quiet for now.

Joss looked at her, a little puzzled, "What do you mean?" He asked.

Sage looked up at him then stood, standing next to him, "Usually when a vampire kills someone, they do it fast, easy, and without much of a mess...They don't like to get their clothes dirty…" She said, Joss held back a shiver. "This guy must have known his killer, or his killer had a motive….And I think you guys are right. This is most definitely a vampire… You can't see any fang marks since they disappear after a minute, but the way his throat is torn out… No human could do that so cleanly without any tear marks…" She said simply. It was almost like those words were fed to her. So she knew Dorian had been the one feeding her the information on how to analyze a body.

Joss looked at her, completely shocked. She looked so innocent. How did she know all this? He shivered thinking about what she has been exposed to being a drudge. Quickly Joss led her from the body and back out to the other slayers. He asked her to repeat what she had told him and she did, nearly word for word. The other slayers nodded.

Sage had chosen to go with Joss and Morgan to go to the morgue. The whole idea of looking at the bodies made her want to throw up, but she kept a calm exterior. Joss on the other hand seemed to be physically shaking. Morgan wasn't much help, but she decided to keep her mouth shut.

The so-called morgue wasn't a pretty sight to look at. She guessed it was for the Society to keep a low profile, but vampires were the same way and they still had decent buildings. After Morgan rang the bell a figure appeared on the other side of the musty glass and she saw Morgan lift his Slayer coin to the glass and then the door unlocked and opened. Right before the three of them walked in Morgan finally gave Joss a word of advice.

Then the three of them walked into the building, and it was worse on the inside. It was in fact an old diner type thing. Dusty and musty. As she and Joss walked past a table some dust bustled up and Sage coughed and sneezed once.

Joss looked at Sage, "You alright?" He asked.

Sage nodded and smiled slightly, "I'm fine...Jeez, this doesn't exactly scream professionalism Morgan…" She said looking up at the older man.

Morgan chuckled and looked back at her, "Sorry sweetheart, we need to keep a low profile around here…." He said then looked forward again.

Sage rolled her eyes and continued walking beside Joss. She could hear his heartbeat, thanks to her vampire hearing, and she could tell he was nervous. So she smiled at him encouragingly and gave him a playful bump. He smiled, but she could tell he was still very nervous. She was too, but Sage didn't plan on looking too closely.

The man who had opened the door brought them down a staircase and to a large metal door with giant hinges. He opened the door and came out with two large coats from hooks and handed them to Morgan and Joss. Then he looked at her like he had barely noticed her, she smiled and he went back and got a smaller, more her size, coat and handed it to her. After they all had the coats on he handed them all rubber gloves and took them into the giant freezer. There were several gurneys lining the room and on each of them sat a large black bag. Body bags. Sage shuddered and moved closer to Joss and Morgan as they walked along.

Soon enough the man left them with all the bodies and they were left to investigate. Sage swallowed hard as she watched Joss and Morgan from a distance. She was maybe two feet away. Then she felt something, a tinge in her mind, but it wasn't from anyone she knew, it wasn't a thought, it was almost like a memory. Then she realized that she was in a room full of bodies, and if thoughts stayed with the bodies it was reasonable to think she could probably feel or hear them. Sage tried to take a deep breath, but the smell of the morgue and the whole atmosphere was overwhelming. So she crouched down into a little ball and put her hands over the back of her head. She could feel someone coming up on her and then a hand came over her shoulder, she jerked up and looked at Morgan with wide eyes and let her hands drop from her head.

He looked at her with soft eyes, "You don't have to be in here, we can just tell you what they look like...What the wounds are like…" He said softly.

Sage hesitated and pushed Dorian with her mind. "The decision is up to you Sage. I'm not going to make you do this. Coming here was good enough…" He told her. Sage bit her bottom lip softly and shook her head. "No...I-...I can do this…" She said. Morgan nodded and stood straight, offering a hand to her. Sage took it and shakily walked over to where Joss was standing. She was really surprised how gentle all the Slayers were with her. Even Abraham. She had heard that Slayers usually took pity on drudges, since they were bound to a vampire, who in their minds were monsters. And with her being so young, that must have been why.

She stood beside Joss as he opened the first body bag. It was a woman. Sage turned around and gagged, not only at the sight, but at the smell. Rotting flesh, bloodless veins, it was sickening. She felt Dorian ease her mind with a little numbing which also helped a lot with her stomach. Sage wished she could have done the same for Joss, he ended up throwing up in a trash can across the room. Morgan examined the second body, a black male. Then they went back to the man they had found in the alley. When Morgan checked for other signs of injury he dropped the man's head back on the table. So he had found the fangs she had seen before.

Sage decided to show a little more of a respectful drudge. "Hey...be careful, Morgan…" She said walking in between them, shocking them both. Even though she was disgusted by what she was about to do she eased her mind and walked to the end of the table where the man's head was. With her gloved hands she carefully re-situated his head and looked at them. "It doesn't matter if he's…" She emphasized the word as she looked at Morgan who had called him an "it". " … a vampire or not… He's deceased and you should respect that no matter what…" She said looking down at his face. With her mind and body eased by Dorian, Sage moved the man's head around, checking for any other injuries. "I think he died from blood loss…" She said. Despite Joss' and Morgan's disgust for vampires they moved closer as she explained, "You see the only thing these three share in common are their injuries. Everywhere there would be a bite is torn away." She explained. "But that doesn't make too much sense to get rid of the mark. It goes away on its own after a few seconds." She said.

Joss shuddered internally. How did she know that? It was obvious Sage would have had to have been bitten before, if she was a drudge of course she would have. But how many times was the real question he wanted her to answer. It made him want to kill whatever vampire held her captive. But she didn't seem to think of it like that. The way she was so gentle towards the dead creature on the table.

Morgan scowled at the body, "It doesn't matter, it's a vampire, they should all die if you ask me…" He said not really thinking about what he was saying.

Sage glared at him, "You know vampires were all once humans right? And you're judging based on the bad vampires. There are a lot of good ones. Like there are bad humans, there are going to be bad vampires. Like whoever is doing this. You judge vampires because they drink blood from humans, but I don't judge you because you eat innocent cows now do I?" She said not waiting for him to answer, "Anyway. Now we know that the killer and or killers are vampires. No human could do this to a vampire. Not even you guys." She said looking at Joss.

Back at the brownstone, the slayers were discussing something in the front room. Of course she could hear everything they were saying, but they didn't need to know that. She was in the bathroom, pretending to freshen up from being at the morgue, but instead she just wanted to clear her mind and concentrate on what they were talking about. She already knew everything they were saying. Which meant the slayers were still a step behind the vampires. Which was good in most cases but now was not one of them. She needed to help them speed things up a bit. Or this would take forever.

She already knew who the killers were, and there wasn't just one. There were three, but she still hadn't figured out how to break that to the slayers. They most certainly would not be happy about that. Sage needed to figure out a way to have them learn about it themselves, she would give them a week, after a week if they didn't figure it out on their own she would either tell them or show them.

Sage walked back into the room when Morgan came back with several file folders. The first one they opened had a picture of Em. Then Morgan and Paty insisted that the best chance they had to get close to Em was in fact Joss. Sage couldn't help but scoff.

All of the slayers looked at her, Morgan motioned to the picture of Em, "Do you know her, Sage?"

Sage shrugged, "Of course, I know who she is at least…." She said. Then she realized they were waiting for her to explain more, sighing Sage continued, "Em isn't as flighty as you make her sound. She'll see right through Joss from a mile away...Whether she looks like a teenager or not." She said with another shrug. "I mean it wouldn't hurt to try…. They are the ones who sent me here…" Sage looked at Joss, "Just be careful around her, okay?" She said.

Joss nodded and gulped. A vampire Sage was warning him about must be one that was extremely dangerous.

Paty looked at Sage, "Will you come with us?" She asked.

Sage shook her head and grabbed her shoes, pulling them on she looked at them. "I'm going home. I might catch up with one of you though, see what you've found out and if it's accurate… Make sure none of you will get into any trouble…" She said with a shrug.

Abraham looked at her from the wall, "Do you have a way of contact with us?" He asked sternly.

Sage brushed the back of her shorts, expecting to feel the hard shape of her phone but Dorian had asked her to leave it at home. So she nodded, "I do. I didn't bring my phone but I do have one." She said. Sage grabbed a blank sheet of paper and wrote down her phone number and handed it to the "leader" of their group, Joss and smiled. "Call or text me if you need me…" She said. Then she was off.

Sage had to get going fast, she didn't want any of the slayers to follow her home. But she waited down the street from their brownstone as she watched Paty, Ash and Joss leave. "I want you to follow him. Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble with Em…" Dorian said in her mind. Sage nodded and waited until Joss was just about to turn a corner before following him. He was all the way up the street so he shouldn't notice her and even if he did, she was going home after all. Besides, she knew where he was going. One of Em's hotspots was the Toy's R Us in Times Square. Even she knew that.

As Sage followed Joss she soon realized that this was extremely boring. All he did was walk into the store, ask a few people if they had seen Em then walked out. That was pretty much a huge waste of my time… Sage thought as she followed him back around towards the brownstone. As she was walking down Fourteenth more than just a few paces behind Joss she saw him pass a woman, then stop. The woman walked a few paces forward then saw Sage, giving her a pleasant smile before turning and looking at Joss. He was now being hunted. And there was probably nothing she could do about it. Sage continued walking, getting closer to Joss, when he suddenly looked over his shoulder, but not at her, at the woman. That made it easy for her to pass him without him noticing. He was much too distracted. As soon as she was a few yards in front of him, Sage looked over her shoulder at him, he was still looking at the woman. Sage stopped walking and looked at the woman who could still see her no doubt and was looking at her, not Joss. Sage slowly shook her head, making the woman's lips curl in a grin. Sage shrugged and turned back around and continued walking. There wasn't really anything she could do now.

Just as Sage was going to look behind her to see if Joss was still there she felt a hand curl around her bicep and pull her into the alley. She was expecting to see one of her brothers, but instead she was faced with a vampire she wasn't familiar with. But she did know his name. "Boris…" She whispered. He chuckled at her and ran a hand down her face.

"So you are Dorian's little treasure…. Now I understand why he has kept you to himself all these years…" He hissed, leaning forward, breathing deeply. "I see…. You are special…." He said in a haunting whisper. Sage shivered and felt his arms wrap around her body, "No need to be afraid, my dear…. I'm not going to eat you…. yet…." He said, forcing her to look up at him. "But if you continue to carry these slayers along…unfortunately I'll have to hurry and kill you…and that wouldn't be fun now would it?" He said.

Sage struggled with her mind, trying to muster up to contacting Dorian, but she felt blocked off. Then she realized it was Boris who was blocking her mind. Sage glared at her, "What do you want from me?" She asked sternly, no longer shaking.

Boris grinning and placed a hand on her neck, it was gentle, but she could feel him resisting something. "Ultimately? I want your blood. You're special blood…. But right now my dear I simply want a promise…." He looked at her, "Do you think you can do that? It's nothing big I promise…"

Sage said nothing, but slowly nodded.

Boris' lips curled in a devious grin, "Good girl… I just want you to promise that you won't lead any of these pesky slayers to me or my brothers…. Okay?" He said.

Sage looked up at him, "I can't do that…"

Boris frowned, "I know you promised already to help… You of course will still have to be around them… Just don't give them any hints as to where we are…" He said.

Sage looked at him still, then nodded again, this time against her will. He was controlling her now, which was dangerous. She felt her heart beat faster and faster.

Boris slowly closed his eyes and leaned closer to her and breathed deeply, his grip on her small body tightening enough to give her bruises. Now she knew, he was keeping himself from killing her right now. Drinking every last drop of her blood. He opened his eyes and looked into Sage's, "Your heart…" He said, "Sounds delicious…" As he said that Sage heard someone run past the alley, but didn't look to see who. Goosebumps rose up on her skin and Boris ran his hands down her arms. "Do you promise?" He asked, more in control now.

Sage debated it in her mind. But ultimately she nodded, "I promise…"

Boris smiled, "Good girl…" He said. Then he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "We will meet again…" Then he was gone.

Then another person ran past the alley, but paused then came down the alley, "Sage!" It was Jeremy. Sage looked at him with a quivering expression. He ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Shhh…. It's okay...Come on little one…. Let's go home…" With a nod from Sage he wrapped an arm around her and moved down the streets quickly and ended at the V Bar, where he let her go to her bedroom and finally sleep. Although Sage would not do much sleeping.

In the morning Sage numbly got dressed in black skinny jeans, a black and light blue striped shirt that hung off of one shoulder, showing her black tank top strap on the other. She pulled on some black ballerina flats and then grabbed her phone and ran a brush through her hair. Then she cautiously walked down the stairs. She was greeted by a warm body as she left the final stair. It was Dorian and his arms wrapped around her. "You don't have to go today…" He said desperately.

Sage looked at him, "Do you know what happened?"

Dorian shook his head, "Jeremy told me where he found you…" He said simply.

Sage grabbed his hand and placed it on the side of her head. Basically her way of giving him permission to read her memories. It took only a moment before Dorian pulled her closer. "Don't go today, Sage…. They can ask you question through your phone...That is all…" He said.

Sage nodded before she looked at Dorian, "I'm alright… Just tired, Dorian…" She told him, hoping he would believe her.

Dorian simply nodded, "Go get something to eat. I believe Enrico has something in the kitchen for you…" He said with a small smile. Then he walked past her and up the stairs.

Sage trotted out into the main room of the V Bar and moved swiftly to the kitchen. She was greeted by five pairs of uneasy eyes. Her brothers and Enrico of course. They seemed to just be talking about something, but were silenced by her presence. Sage looked at them for a moment then chuckled, "I'm fine guys…." She said looking at them.

Jeremy and Enrico exchanged glances then Enrico looked to her, "Sage, we all don't think this is a good idea anymore…. Let the slayers figure this out on their own. Myself and Dorian can explain this to Em…" He said.

Sage sighed and leaned against the corner of the counter and looked at them, "No… I'm fine… Sure I was a bit freaked out by being threatened, but honestly it could have been worse…-"

Riley interrupted her, "Our worry is that it will get worse…." He said softly looking at her.

Sage ran a hand through her hair and exhaled again, "Look… I now know that I need to be more careful. Besides, without me the slayers will take months to find all three of them…"

Enrico shook his head, "Four…"

Sage looked at him confused, "What?"

"There are four brothers here in New York. The three we knew about, Boris, Curtis, and Sven, but we recently found out that Kaige is here as well…."

Sage nodded and looked down at her feet. After a moment she looked up, "I still want to do this…" She said.

The boys were silent and one by one left, Jeremy left rather in a huff. "What's wrong with him?" Sage asked looking at Enrico.

The man sighed and turned to her, "I don't think you understand how much those boys really do care about you. Myself and Dorian included. Little one, you changed every single one of our lives, just by being here. I can tell you that all four of them would have turned out much differently. They use to be like the four brothers you are helping the slayers find now. Killing without consequence, not giving a care in the world. Anyway, hearing you insist on putting yourself in danger is a hard thing to hear…" He explained.

Sage looked down again, "I know that you guys are worried, but I want to do this. I want to help do something right…" She said looking up at Enrico.

He looked at her and shook his head, "You're so stubborn…."

Sage smiled, "Where do you think I get it from?" She said with a small laugh.

Enrico shook his head again and pointed to a plate, "Eat something, before you get in a mood…" He said as he walked out of the kitchen.

Sage had gone back up to her room, awaiting any calls from the slayers. After hearing nothing from them she had decided to leave her room and head downstairs to busy herself. She kept her phone with her of course. Sage happily walked towards the bar not really paying attention to the patrons. Stephen was behind the bar so she went to help him. There was one older vampire who was a regular here and she already knew that he liked bloodwine mixed with 7-up. Kind of a weird combination but who was she to judge. Stephen looked at her and asked her to make a black unsweetened iced tea with extra ice. It didn't make a lot of sense for someone to not have bloodwine, considering the only human was extremely drunk.

Sage handed Stephen the drink and he smiled, "Thanks sweetheart…" He said handing the drink to someone on the other side of the bar. She turned and started to wash out a few glasses until she heard a familiar voice. One she was never expecting to hear in her home. Joss. Sage's hands quivered a little, was he here to kill one of her family members? Or just to get information. But who had told him about this place? Instead of turning around and looking at him she kept doing what she was doing and listened to what he and Stephen were talking about.

After a moment of them speaking softly she heard Otis come in with Enrico. That must have been where he went. Otis was suppose to be leaving after the meeting with her. But now he came back with Enrico. Sage had to turn around and say hello, to avoid suspicion for Joss. If she didn't Otis and Enrico would notice. So she did, "Hello Mr. Otis, it's nice to see you again so soon…" She said, leaning over the counter to give him a friendly hug. Enrico leaned over and kissed her cheek. Now she knew Joss would recognize her, but she pretended not to notice him, not even glancing his way.

Otis smiled at Sage, "And it is very nice to see you again my dear…" He said with a beaming smile. He was so different from when she had left him in Stokerton.

She watched Otis speak with Stephen and looked at Enrico curiously. "I'm sorry Little One… This has gotten too out of hand, let us handle this. I didn't want to tell you so soon…. Maybe next time you can help out…" He said softly through her mind. Sage looked at him and let the smile slip from her features. She dried her hands and looked between Otis and Stephen, "Excuse me…" She said walking quickly from them. Her blood boiling. One thing happened and now Enrico was bringing a special team to hunt the four brothers down? Now what would they do with the slayers? They all knew where they were. Sage walked around a corner and leaned her body back against the wall. Still able to hear the conversation she listened to Otis's conversation with Joss now. Sage was prepared to go out and get him out of it, but instead Otis did that for her. She felt Joss quickly leave, but Otis followed.

Sage quickly jogged around to a side door and out into the alley, waiting until she saw Joss quickly walk down the street away from the bar. She walked swiftly, watching whenever Joss would look behind him or to the sides. Sage walked faster than him on the other side of the street and went a block or so farther up than him then waited for him to pass. When he did Sage took the risky move of grabbing his arm and pulling him into the alley. "Joss…" She whispered. She could tell she startled him. Sage couldn't exactly blame him, he was just in a bar full of vampires, she was use to it, he wasn't.

Joss was about to whip out his stake, but when he saw the teenage girl in front of him his eyes widened. Sage? She had just been in the bar. But she hadn't said anything to him, obviously she hadn't expected to see him there. He didn't know if she was just helping out there or if she lived there. He supposed right now wasn't the time to ask. "Sage, what are you doing here?"

Sage let go of Joss but still stood in front of him, "I was going to ask you the same question…. Look my job isn't only to give you guys clues but it's to tell you where to stay away from…!" She exclaimed in a whisper. She didn't exactly know why she had gotten angry with Joss. Perhaps she was worried that he would've started trouble with her family, maybe killed one of them. Or was it the other way around. Was she really worried about Joss? Why should she? He was a slayer after all, that was all he was….

Joss looked at her, not expecting to be in trouble with her. "I found a lead and I followed it Sage, I didn't exactly have time to call you… I mean when you didn't show up at the brownstone today…-" The look on Sage's face made him be quiet. "Sage? Did something happen?" He asked.

Sage folded her arms across her chest, "I'm fine alright. Jeez I'm sick of everyone being so worried about me…" She said with a frustrated sigh.

Joss took a step closer to her and looked at her arms. It was faint but there were marks, finger marks perhaps. "Sage, what happened? Did one of the them do thi…-" Sage held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't even suggest that. Those guys in there wouldn't lay a finger on me…" She sighed again. "It was Boris…" She said, knowing that now Joss knew the name of a vampire he was sent to kill. "He threatened me, for helping you and the other slayers. Everyone got so worried after that. That's why Otis is here. They're going to go kill Boris...they were going to let you slayers do it, but after he threatened me…." Sage sighed again in frustration. "Look, you need to find and kill Boris before they can. If not… I'm not sure what they're going to do to you and your team…" She said in a light whisper. Joss was probably unaware of it, but she was making sure no one was prying on their conversation, or on Joss' thoughts.

Joss slowly nodded. He took the piece of paper and handed it to Sage, knowing she knew the city way better than he did. "I know where this is…It's not too far…" She said handing it back to him. "I'm going with you this time…" Joss opened his mouth to object but Sage held up a hand, "No...The last time I let you go off on your own you ended up in probably the most dangerous building in New York. I'm going with you and that's final…" She said. Joss couldn't help but smile. When had she gotten so stubborn?

Sage and Joss walked down the streets of Manhattan. After a moment Sage looked over at the young slayer, "So do you want to go straight to Boris or head back to the brownstone? I'm not really sure what Slayer procedures are…." She said curiously.

Joss didn't answer her for a while, but after a minute he shook his head, "No, let's just go…" He said.

Sage nodded, "Alright…" Not questioning his reasoning. "But...that means we have two hours to waist...I mean you need to clear your head before we go after him right?"

Now she had Joss' attention, "What do you mean?"

Sage smiled at him, and grabbed his hand in a friendly way, changing directions, "It's about time I showed you around my hometown…"

Hi everyone! Once again I feel horrible for not posting this when I promised… D: But it is up now, and I hope that you all loved it. I'm trying a new thing where I read the book then write, read then write, and so on. Basically I'm being very thorough and sticking to the book. I hope you guys like that. I'm also trying to make them longer which I succeeded in this time.

You can expect the next chapter to be up hopefully by the end of January, but probably later into the first week of February. Check my profile for updates to see if I've started writing the next chapters yet!

Tell me what you think in a review. If you liked the story please follow/favorite it. I also have another story that I'm working on, and a story that is postponed for the time being if you want to check those out.