WARNINGS: disturbing imagery (I guess?), very mild sexual content.
Liz woke before Nick and got out of bed.
'Good evening, Liz. Today is purple. Because Peggy is over. We want to match your shirt to her hair.'
She had a purple shirt in her duffel bag at Nick's she was happy to see. She would not have liked to see the backlash of what would have happened if she didn't have one. She wondered if the voices would have told her to get one from her apartment.
'We knew you had purple in there,' they answered her unspoken question.
"Okay guys. Thanks."
She got dressed and braided her hair down the side of her head.
She drank and then woke Nick before she left for the bloodbank. "Sweetie, I'm off now. I'll be back after my shift. I think Peggy's gonna visit me at the bloodbank relatively early before coming over."
He turned in bed, smiled and gave her a kiss. "All right. I'll see you later. Love you!"
"Love you too! See ya!"
She was off.
She had arrived and opened the bloodbank before Vandal. She sat down in font of the computer and opened the inbox.
Nothing. Thankfully. Just spam.
She heard Vandal's footsteps down the hall and turned when the door opened.
Something hit her in the chest.
"Princess, your reflexes are shit," Vandal grinned.
Liz looked down into her lap. He had thrown a none see-through bag at her. She tentatively poked at it. It was squishy.
She looked up at Vandal and her voice held a bit of suspicion as she spoke, "What is this? Did you rip someone's heart out and bring it to me?"
Vandal answered, "I might have, yes." His voice lowered as he challenged, "Why don't you have a look."
"It's way too light to be a heart..." she said.
"How would you know how much a heart weights?"
She wouldn't. Now she had serious doubts, but the contents of the bag didn't smell of blood.
She slowly unrolled the bag and looked inside.
"What the fuck?"
The voices in her head started crying, 'Oh my god! It's PINK! PINK! WHY?! WE HATE PINK!'
Liz pulled out the neon pink content of the bag.
It was a T-Shirt with a huge letter print on the front of it.
"FREE HUGS?! Are you shitting me?!"
Vandal burst into laughter. "Oh my god, that was SO worth it!"
Liz stood up and held the shirt in front of her chest. "Are you kidding?"
Vandal was still laughing as he said, "I'm going to make you wear this when we're donor hunting and I will count how many hugs you get, you addict! I did you a huge favor!"
The shirt was her size, Liz noted. She smiled.
"Of course, I'll wear it! Thanks for looking out for me!"
'PINK! Liz, no!'
She laughed and let Vandal know, "By the way, the voices hate pink. They're screaming at me."
"Well, that makes it even better," he smirked.
She rolled the shirt back up and put it back into the bag. "Thanks, Vandal. Seriously. That's nice of you," she smiled.
"Well, it was actually more for me, than for you. Because, I will have a great time watching," he told her. "But you're welcome, regardless." He looked around the room. "And I see nothing is out of place. Well done, princess."
"Thanks again," Liz paused for a moment before she spoke again. "I thought I was going to go nuts cooped up in here, with nobody to talk to. Like, holy shit. At the end of the shift I was ready to break stuff. How have you not gotten a radio in here at least?"
"I had, for some time. It started to piss me off as well," Vandal grumbled.
"Damn." She looked at Vandal and asked, quietly, "How long have you been doing this alone?"
"Almost ten years."
"I'm so sorry." She sighed. "Well, I know it probably won't make you feel better, but I spent one night here and I was ready to burn the whole world. Ten years of it, and I would have blown up the surrounding planets as well."
"It kind of does make me feel better," he smiled.
"The bitch gives you the prices for the bags, right?"
"Yes."
"I thought we should up them. Like considerably. That'll put all those lazy motherfuckers off buying so much and makes them go out and hunt for their own fucking blood," she huffed.
"Good luck getting the bitch to do that," Vandal sneered. "She'll never do it."
"We'll see. I need a few good enough arguments. I'll bring it up. I'm so pissed. They have no idea how much fucking work it is to get people in here, willing or not."
"Just be careful what you say around the queen bitch," Vandal warned.
"I will." She stood up and offered Vandal the chair. "I've got enough of this spot for the rest of the shift. Reminds me of yesterday's hell too much." She sat on the floor.
Vandal took her place. He checked inventory.
"This is bullshit," he growled.
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I was ready to scream yesterday. Seriously. The last ones who came in cleared out a box."
He turned back to her and said, "I hate this so much."
"Me too, Vandal."
He fixed his eyes on hers and asked, "Which one didn't change?"
"Which one do you think?" she asked back.
He thought for a moment then answered, "The blue one."
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"The other one is too bright." He rose from his seat and walked over to Liz, crouching down to her eye level. He took her chin in his hand and held her head in place. He slowly leaned in closer.
"Uh, Vandal. What are you doing?"
"Don't move, and don't look away. Don't even blink," he said.
As he leaned in, he was starting to block out the light from the lamp overhead. Liz's pupils started to widen and the golden eye he was focusing on was changing ever so slightly. As his shadow grew darker the eye became brighter. It was glowing from within. The nearer he came, the more light he blocked, the stronger the glow grew. He was close enough now to see that the ring around her pupil was lighter than the rest of it.
"It's glowing from inside," Vandal said, fascinated. "If you pay enough attention you can see it light up when it gets darker."
He moved his left hand to cast an even larger shadow over her eye. "It's like an ember in a dying fire, catching one last gust of wind."
Liz didn't dare to move. She stared into Vandal's eyes and the look in them was changing, and it was worrying. He was fascinated and his fascination was turning into something she had no words for.
"I wonder what it's like to watch that go out," he breathed. "I bet it's beautiful."
He placed the hand that was shading her eye on the side of her face. His voice turned softer with every word he spoke, "I really want to see that go out, princess. I want to watch as it fades."
Somehow Liz knew that Vandal wasn't trying to hurt or scare her here. His tone was genuine. He was doing the best he could to sound calming, even though his words were creepy.
"Will you let me watch it go out?" he asked.
"How?" It was all she could bring out.
"If I paralyze you, it will kill the light in your eyes. It will almost be like dying." His voice was so, so gentle.
She didn't speak. She couldn't.
"I promise you, I'll be careful," he whispered. "It won't hurt. It'll be uncomfortable, but it won't hurt. And if I see fear in your eyes I will stop."
"I want to hold the knife with you while you do it," Liz spoke quietly.
Vandal pulled out his blade, releasing the hold on her chin. He flicked it open one handed. He placed the tip of it over Liz's heart. "Put your hand on mine."
She did. She thought she'd be nervous, scared even. But all she felt was a strange calm.
"I'll drive it in slowly. If you want me to stop give me a squeeze," he said soothingly.
She nodded and locked eyes with him again.
"I want you to look deeper than that. I really want you to look into them," Vandal said. He placed his thumb under her jaw so her head wouldn't drop.
"I'll look for your soul," she smiled. "I'll let you know if I found it after."
He could feel the difference in her gaze. She wasn't looking at him anymore, she was looking into him. Carefully he pressed the tip of the blade down harder. There was no fear in her. He broke her skin. With every inch of blade disappearing in her flesh the light in her eyes was dimming, the glow weakening. Her grip on his hand was slowly slipping. And she was still smiling. She looked peaceful.
'It's like falling asleep...' the voices quoted Liz, who was no longer able to speak.
He kept pushing and pierced her heart. The moment the blade went through it, Liz's eyes lost focus. They went blank and empty. The light in them faded and the glow was gone. Her hand had fallen into her lap.
For a moment, he remained like this. She looked very close to dead. Something deep down in her eyes was still there. Something was still there, even though all the light had faded into nothing. He had no words for what he saw in them. But something hadn't left, the way it did when he took a life.
He slowly pulled the knife back out and he watched the reverse of it. It came out crimson red. He put it down on the floor next to him.
The moment Liz had control of her muscles again, she took his hand. He held it, smiling back at her.
"It's not a bad way to go," Liz reflected. "I could still hear. It didn't go black, everything just went out of focus and became darker. I couldn't make out enough to tell what I was seeing. It felt a bit like dreaming..." She leaned into Vandal's hand that was still on the side of her face. "I wouldn't mind if that fascination in your eyes was the last thing I ever saw. You were hypnotized. There was nothing else for you there. It was just me. If I had really been dying, you would have been my release. Vandal, this was very, very intimate. I don't think you could ever be closer to someone than when they're dying. This didn't feel like you're taking something from me... It felt like you're sharing something with me. Vandal, you're not taking their last moments for yourself... You're sharing them... with complete strangers..."
She paused, then continued, "If this is what every one of the people you kill see. Then they are seeing something as equally beautiful as you're seeing, in a strange way. There was no hate in your eyes any longer, Vandal. You were letting it go... I don't think I have any way to describe this."
"Maybe it feels different, because you know me," he wondered aloud and let the hand on the side of her head drop into his lap.
Liz shook her head, "I don't think so... If they're looking as they're slipping, there's a visible change in your eyes."
"Interesting." He was still smiling. "Well, we'll never know what they're feeling. Unless you start raising the dead, princess." He gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and said, "You just gave me your life. You put your life in my hands. Literally. What I'm going to ask now, I want you to answer truthfully. Would you also have let me do this if we weren't hunting for the bitch together? If I didn't need you for that? If I had no reason not to just kill you?"
"I would," she answered without hesitation. "I trust you. Just like you trusted me not to drain you when you let me drink."
His gaze went off to the side. "Would you..." His breathing was strained. He couldn't get out the second question. He tried again, "Would you..." He closed his eyes. "Would you actually die for me?"
Something inside Liz's head clicked into place. "Vandal, look at me," she said.
He couldn't. He realized he was afraid of her answer.
"Please, Vandal." When he finally did, she told him, "I would fucking die my final death for you."
"And I... would never do the same for anyone," he spoke. He felt strange.
"And that's ok."
She was smiling. How could she be smiling when he had just said he'd never do the same for her or anyone? Shouldn't she be angry, or disappointed? Anything else but smiling, he'd have understood. If she had answered no, he'd have understood.
"Vandal, listen. There is nothing wrong with that. What you're feeling is normal. You've survived in this hell for almost 10 years, on your own. Believe me when I say that I would be just like you if I had gone through that. I think, I would be worse for wear, I would have cracked and shattered a very long time ago. You are a lot stronger than me. You just cope with things differently than I," she said.
Vandal was quiet for a long while before he found his voice again. "Thank you, for letting me have this." She knew he was referring to her letting him watch the light in her eyes go out. "And thank you for trusting me."
Liz knew how hard this was for him. "You're welcome." She took his other hand in hers. "I want you to know, that you can always count on me."
"I don't know what to say right now." He was at a loss for words.
"Then don't say anything. I don't mind," she smiled.
He looked at Liz's hands in his. They were so small, but her fingers were very thin and long.
"Did you find it then," he wanted to know.
"Your soul?" her voice was warm. "I think I did. And it was a lot brighter than you might think it is."
It got the slightest bit of a grin out of him. "You're weird."
She giggled, "Your hands are large."
"No, you're just very petite." He was grinning for real now. "You're so light, a normal person could probably throw you quite a distance."
"How do you know how much I weight?"
"I picked you up and gave you over to Nick when you fell asleep on me," he said. "You weight like nothing."
"Aw!" For some reason the thought of Vandal carrying her was something she actually found cute. "So you could probably make me fly?"
"I could," he laughed.
"I've always wanted to be able to fly," she said. "We're testing that some night. I want to fly!"
"You seriously want me to throw you?" The idea was so absurd.
"Sure."
He shook his head. "Well, fine. I'll throw you. You'll end up crashing into the concrete like a stone after."
"Probably."
"Have you always been like this, or did it get worse after you changed?" he asked.
"It's always been this bad," she laughed. "My friends were just like me. We used to take shopping carts from super markets, sit in them and race down a hill. We had competitions on who was the fastest."
"You're kidding, right?"
"It's fun, Vandal! Have you ever tried it?"
"It's stupid," he told her. "How do you even think of something like that?"
"I don't know. It just came to me one day," she grinned.
He groaned, "You're not just weird, you're also slightly deranged."
"Aw, thanks. You like it, so I'm good," she raised one of his hands to her face again and leaned back into it.
"When did I ever say that?" he teased.
She kissed the back of his hand and said, "You didn't. Not once. But I know you."
"How well do you think you know me?"
"Well, better than most, I guess. At least I know more about you than most," she smiled.
"That, is true." He really wanted to know if a single question could wipe that smile off her face and replace it with something else. Just to get a laugh. "Would you kiss me?"
"What?!" Her reaction was equal to getting slapped. All that had been missing was the sound of his hand meeting her face.
He forced himself not to laugh, not yet. He said, serious, "You kissed my hand just now. Would you kiss me?"
She looked like a panicked rabbit, searching for an escape route. Her mind was racing.
"I- I-" she stammered. "When- What-?"
This was so funny. "Would you like to? I might just let you."
He had fried the section of her brain that enabled her to speak it seemed. She kept stammering single words.
He couldn't hold it in anymore. He started laughing.
When he had calmed down again he said, "You give out hugs like they're candy, princess. I really didn't think this would fry your brain."
She took a breath. "They're just hugs. I don't just kiss anyone," she grumbled.
"The question still stands though," he grinned.
"Would you like me to?" she asked.
"You're turning my own weapon on me, princess," he said sternly.
She sighed, "If you really, really wanted me to. Yes. It would be very quick. It would be like the kiss on your hand. And you would have to keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, I wouldn't."
"Your last chance to retract that statement, because I'm really tempted to challenge you to do that for my own amusement," he told her. "Are you sure?"
"Well, challenge accepted you meanie," Liz stated. "Now close your eyes and keep your mouth shut."
For a second, he was taken aback. He had thought she'd chicken out. The look he gave her before he closed his eyes told Liz that he was already laughing again inside.
It took all his self control not to grin as she leaned in. She lightly pressed her lips on his. They were cool. She leaned back again and he opened his eyes.
Her face. She looked perplexed. This was hilarious.
"If you could see the look on your face, right now, princess," he laughed.
"Why did I never notice that your body temperature is extremely high? Like more so than a regular person?" she asked. The question was not actually directed at Vandal. She was thinking aloud. "I just noticed that. How strange..."
"You notice the strangest things at the strangest times."
"You're like an oven," she giggled. "You're a walking, talking oven. Compared to you I'm a walking, talking fridge."
Vandal rolled his eyes.
"Vandal?" her tone had changed back to serious.
"Yes, princess?" He looked at her again.
"Why do you call me princess?" she wanted to know. "You know my name. I don't think I've heard you use it even once. I mean, I don't care, you can call me princess. I was just curious, is all."
He smiled, "You kind of look like what I imagined Snow White from the fairy tales to look like. So I called you princess."
His answer surprised her. It was incredibly sweet.
"That's really precious. Thank you," she smiled. "If I'm Snow White, then you'll be the huntsman, and the bitch is the evil queen. It even fits. Now we need seven more people. Nick can be the prince." She laughed and pulled at her shirt. It was stained with blood and had a hole in it where Vandal had pushed the knife through. "Look, you even already tried to kill me and couldn't."
He picked up the blood stained blade next to him and grinned, "I need to bring the queen a heart then."
"Absolutely." She thought for a moment then asked, "Is that the only one you own? Or do you have a collection?"
"It's the only one I have," he spoke. "It was a gift from my sister."
"That's nice." She eyed the blade again. "You should probably clean that. Blood's already drying."
He reached out his hand and petted her head. "If I go to clean that, you'll have to sit in the seat you did not want to have for the rest of the shift."
"You're correct. If you trust me with it, I can go clean it," she offered.
Vandal handed her the blade without hesitation. "Have fun," he grinned.
Now 'she' was hesitating. The piece had great sentimental value to him. "I can't break anything on this, right?"
"Princess, it's sturdy. Remember, I drove that 'into your heart,'" he laughed.
"Well, then. Be right back."
She stood up and went to the hidden room in the freezers. She cleaned the blade and carefully dried it. She turned it in her hands and inspected it. She was sure the piece was handmade. It was entirely made from Damascus steel. The pattern was beautiful. When she flipped it back over to the other side she noticed that the blade was actually engraved with an inscription. 'May it keep you safe.'
Liz felt a wave of emotion roll in. She felt like crying and laughing at the same time. Vandal's sister had to be the sweetest person on the entire planet. Just reading that one line, she knew that Eliza really cared about him and that there was so much more behind it that she knew. This was a story Vandal had not shared yet.
She carefully folded the blade again and went back.
She had almost reached the donation window when she heard Peggy shouting from upstairs, "GUYS! I would like to DONATE!"
Vandal opened the door and came into the hallway, he looked annoyed already. "Don't tell me that's Peggy?"
"It's Peggy," she confirmed.
He ran a hand over his face. "I will try my best not to immediately ram my blade through her heart the moment I see her." He held out his hand and Liz gave it back. He put it into his pocket.
They heard her footsteps. But there was another sound, something was dragging over the stairs.
Peggy came into view and saw them. She grinned and spoke, "I would like to donate-" She was pulling two unconscious men by the arm behind her. She let them flop to the floor and stepped back so they could see. "-the blood of these two fuckers."
Vandal regained his composure first. "Did anyone see you come in here with them?!" he asked sharply.
Peggy waved at him and spoke, "Hey, grumpy boy! No one saw me. Nobody's gonna miss them. Let's go DRAIN THOSE SHITS!" She picked both of them up. One over each of her shoulders. "Come on!" She walked past them down the hall, straight for the freezer.
Liz followed her and so did Vandal, while asking, "What the hell?! Did you tell her about this?"
Peggy answered for Liz. "No she didn't. She's not stupid. But my friends up there told me."
Vandal grimaced. "Where did you get those two?"
"From prison," she simply said. "They were gonna be executed in 12 hours. No one's gonna miss them."
"What? You're telling me you went to a prison to get them? Are you insane? The police will search for escaped convicts!"
"Aw, grumpy boy! This girl's got her ways. Trust me." Peggy punched in the code to the room and went in. She placed each of the prisoners in a chair and started strapping the first one in. "Help me with the other please, Vandal."
He let out a frustrated breath and started strapping the second guy to the chair. "I swear if the police comes snooping around here again because of this, I'll hunt you down and make you wish you'd never come."
Peggy laughed. "Aw, you're full of sunshine."
When they had them in the restraints Liz helped Vandal set them up to drain. "How often do we need to change the bags for this?" she wanted to know.
"Quite a few times," he said.
They worked and Peggy watched them. She addressed Vandal, "You and Liz run this thing alone, right?"
"Yes."
"Wow, that sucks. It takes quite some time to drain them. This is hard work. You poor guys have to hunt all on your own. Man." Peggy looked around the room, taking in its details.
Liz changed another blood bag and told her, "I did one shift alone. You wouldn't believe how much this sucks."
"Oh, I can imagine. You said, hell on earth, if I remember correctly," she grinned.
"I see you got your update," Liz laughed.
"And you look like you got murdered, Liz." She spoke to Vandal, "That baby girl's really something, eh?"
"Baby girl? Really?" Vandal huffed and changed out the next bag.
Liz laughed.
Peggy shrugged and told him, "Well, I can't call her princess, that's your job."
He shook his head and ignored her.
They changed a few more bags until they had completely drained them.
"Good, now give 'em back," Peggy said gesturing to the two prisoners. "They've never been here. I'll dispose of them." She started undoing the first guy's restraints. "I'll burn them somewhere far away from here. I'm fast enough to get them over to another state. I'll come back after so we can chat more. It'll take me about-" she closed her eyes, listening. "40 minutes." She turned to Liz. "Then we can properly say hi!"
They watched her undo the rest of the restraints and pick the guys back up before she disappeared before their eyes. "See ya in a bit!" she said before she took off running.
Vandal turned to Liz. "What the hell is up with her? How much info does she get from those voices?"
"She gets a lot more than me it seems. It isn't fun for her though. You should have seen her at the apartment. That shit hurts her. You remember me screaming at the top of my lungs, to kill the voices, then to kill me? Peggy has it a million times worse. Hers are aggressive. They seem to be ripping her apart from the inside..." she told him.
"Hm. Well at least she's made our work easier. She brought in two. If we're going out tomorrow and find even just 2 willing donors, we're probably good for a week," he said.
They went back to the front and put away the new supplies, then waited for Peggy to come back. During their wait they had only a few customers.
Vandal was checking the inventory when Peggy knocked and Liz let her in.
She jumped into Peggy's arms.
"That's my girl!" Peggy squeezed her.
Vandal stared at them. "What's happening?"
"Baby girl's getting a fix!" Peggy laughed. She sat down against the wall with Liz still in her arms. "So tell me, how'd it feel? I've never been paralyzed before."
"It's like dreaming, a bit," Liz told her, remembering. "Everything's a bit blurry but you still hear and see."
"That's interesting." Peggy started undoing Liz's braid. "I know that was a lot of work, but I really like brushing through hair, while I have you here. Sorry, baby girl."
Liz didn't mind. She smiled, "As long as you're keeping me here, I'm good. Do whatever with my hair."
Peggy turned her attention to Vandal, but kept running her hand through Liz's hair. "You wanna know how to really fuck up kindred? I can tell you. Can't teach you how to suck out their souls however."
"Enlighten me," Vandal smirked.
"Definitely get a blowtorch and a knife. Like you did with that rapist. It'll be a lot worse for the kindred. We hate fire. Also, get a hammer and smash some bones. Flaying is also good. And get a bucket of blood next to her while you're fucking her up. The smell will drive her nuts. And since the wounds close up you can go over it again and again and she'll just suffer, endlessly." Peggy smiled at him. "You love the sound of that, I can see it. Well, the bitch deserves a fate worse than death."
"She does," Vandal agreed. "So you suck out souls? I only know how to break them."
"Yeah, it's great. If I had to describe it, it's quite a lot like what you're already feeling when you kill," Peggy reflected. "You're almost a soul snatcher."
"We actually concluded something different today, or well. I did," Liz told her.
"Baby girl, I'm sharing my body with those souls. I know, what you concluded. The souls are still silent. And in the end it doesn't really matter," Peggy said, her voice gentle.
"Oh well," she said indifferently.
"Nick already got the files?" Peggy questioned.
"Yeah, he did. His entire office is stacked. Hope you like reading. Nick and I already started and that's a ton of crap to go through," Liz sighed.
"It'll be fine," Peggy murmured.
"There were copies of parchment rolls in there that weren't even in English. It's going to be really frustrating if the information you need were to be in one of them," Liz told her.
Peggy's face darkened. "Yeah... If I have to run around to also find someone to read that for us I'd be pissed."
"Let's keep hoping for now then," Liz smiled.
Peggy chuckled. She closed her eyes and said, "It's strangely quiet right now. This is the first time in a long time they're not screaming. And that mean I will be hit by a wrecking ball soon..." There was a small flicker of fear passing over her face.
"I'm sorry Peggy. I know how bad it is. Tell me when you feel it coming so I can give you the space," Liz let her know.
"I will."
Vandal asked Peggy, "Are they towering over you? If so then that sounds a lot like what I had in my head when there was only the bitch."
"Yes. It's a lot like being chased and attacked over and over. You keep fighting, but there's no way out. And you just know, one day, they'll get you. One day you'll trip, you'll fuck up and then you're gone," she spoke.
"Then that's still different form the bitch's."
"I'm glad you don't have to listen anymore," she said, her voice sincere.
Vandal stayed silent.
"Eh, Vandal?" Peggy grinned.
"What?"
"You want to come help us with the research? This is after all, your crusade as well. It would go faster with another pair of eyes to read through that stuff. The quicker we finish, the quicker we can finally get rid of that two headed snake," Peggy spoke relaxed.
"You just invited me to someone else's house," Vandal replied. "Princess? Will Nick be fine with me coming?"
"Whoa! Snap! You're coming?!" Liz asked. She'd never thought in a million years that Vandal would do this. "Yes, oh my god! Nick will be so happy!"
"Why would he be?" Vandal asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh man! Vandal you should have seen his face when he looked at the files. He'll be overjoyed for you to help!" Liz spoke, excited. "Awesome!"
Peggy laughed. "How'd you like Heather, Vandal?"
Vandal's lip twitched. He spoke, coldly, "The only thing I can say so far is that she knows what she is at least. As well as that she talks strange. And that you're a friend to her. That makes me not hate her completely. But it doesn't mean I really care either."
"Well, Heather dear talked quite a lot about you after Nick and Liz left," Peggy grinned. "Said you looked really unhappy and very angry."
"Great deduction on her part," Vandal sneered. "That's obvious. Everyone who's got EYES can see that!"
"She also said that you looked happier when you were looking at baby girl. She said you looked at her like she was lifting some weight off your shoulders. She said she found that very interesting, right before saying she wanted to see you again."
"If you want to keep her, do not send her my way," Vandal threatened. "I have a reputation for wanting to snap other ghoul's necks."
"I'm not worried about Heather, to be honest," Peggy smirked. "I bet she could kick your ass."
"That girl could not kick my ass even in her dreams!" Vandal scoffed. "I saw the way she looked at me when I let her in." He leaned forward in his seat and his voice turned ominous as he spoke, "Please, please send her my way then. We'll see what happens. But I 'warned' you, so don't come back crying if I snap."
Liz stayed out of it. She just kept watching.
Peggy bared her fangs at him. "Accepted. I'm calling her now." She pulled out her phone and dialed.
The look on Vandal's face told Liz that he was so ready for a fight. He wanted one.
"Heather sweetie," Peggy said sweetly when she had picked up. "Vandal agreed to see you. You might just wanna wear your usual stuff and sneakers though. Don't bother dressing up." There was a pause. "Yes, sweetie. See you in a bit." She hung up and turned to Vandal again, "15 minutes."
They waited in complete silence.
Vandal got up as soon as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
He went into the hallway. Liz and Peggy stood in the doorway and Peggy told Liz, "We'll just watch. I will know if to interfere or not."
Liz nodded.
Vandal leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. His eyes were cold as ice.
Heather had reached the foot of the stairs and came towards him. Like Peggy had told her, she wore her usual things. A yellow tank top, jeans and sneakers. She came to stand before Vandal and said, "Hi Vandal."
"So, I've been told you wanted to see me, Heather." His voice was as cold as the look he was giving her. "Say whatever you wanted to say then."
She glanced at him. She was pressing her hands together nervously. "Well, you were so angry when you heard I chose this, I wanted to know if you were forced into being a ghoul and if that's why you hate it so much."
"Yes," he growled. He leaned towards her. "What else? Say anything on the off chance that I rip your head off."
"In that regard we're so different. I chose to escape what I had, I escaped my hell and you were just dropped into it," Heather spoke, more confidently than before. "But you chose to take a potential risk to be blood bound to Liz to escape this hell. You also see her as a friend, kind of. Which puts you in the same situation as I was in. I know where all your rage is coming from. I might know how you feel, if you ever wanted to talk about it."
"You don't know how this feels," Vandal snapped. "This is not the same!"
"I know how it feels!" Heather suddenly screamed at him. "I know how it feels when the people around you are total shits! When you start to hate the world around you! My father SOLD ME into prostitution! I was being trafficked! He didn't give two shits about me! That fucked up drunk beat my equally stupid mother into a coma and then got rid of ME! You think I don't know what hell is like? It doesn't matter it's not the same! It's still HELL!"
"Well, Heather," Vandal said, menacingly. "If you really know how this feels, then you might also know that I would really love to hurt you right now." He wanted her to fight. He could actually relate to what she had said. He was angry though.
He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards him. Heather twisted it out of his grip immediately. Vandal took another step towards her, "Well, do you also know what it's like when the only person you ever cared about has her dreams taken form her as punishment for something you did? Because that feels worse than dying!"
Heather's fist shot forward towards his face and he grabbed her wrist again. This time, he pulled harder and kept his grip tight.
"Yes!" Heather shouted at him. "The only person I cared about and who ever cared about me was my grandma! They extorted her for money. They bled her dry! Couldn't afford her medicine, her health care anymore and she died!"
"Still not the same!" he shouted back. He wanted her to get furious.
"I KNOW IT'S NOT THE SAME!" Heather's knee shot up and Vandal slammed her into the wall. She kept shouting, "But it FEELS the SAME! I'm still responsible in a way that that happened!"
"Every time I see my sister I'm reminded how things could have been different. I have to suffer through it every time! And I have no way to change that!" he hissed.
"And I knew my grandma was slowly dying and I had NO WAY to do anything. AT LEAST YOU GET TO SEE YOUR SISTER! I never even had the chance to say goodbye!" Heather was screaming at the top of her lungs now.
Vandal didn't see the headbutt coming in. Heather pushed him off her and threw another punch. It didn't connect. Vandal had her wrist again.
"Shut up, Heather!" He wasn't shouting anymore. His voice had dropped to a whisper, filled with malice. "Your grandmother is gone. Her suffering is over. My sister is alive sitting in her wheelchair unable to walk. She wanted to be a dancer and someone else crushed that dream. And I have to look at that, every time I see the sadness on her face when she remembers feels like I'm dying all over again inside. You only had to go through it once. I'm going to be reliving it over and over again."
Heather's foot shot out so fast that Vandal didn't have time to block it. She kicked him to the floor and jumped on him like a rabid dog.
"Then you know what I feel like every time I think of my grandma!" she howled. "And then you know that I KNOW HOW IT FEELS!"
Vandal pushed her off him by slamming his fist into the side of her head. Heather's glasses had slipped and she was holding her head. They were both breathing hard.
He stood and Heather looked up at him. He held out his hand to her, to help her up.
She took it and stood as well.
"Fine," Vandal said. "Maybe you do know how it feels."
"You punch hard," Heather grumbled, pushing her glasses back up her nose.
"You kick hard," Vandal said drily.
"I'm sorry about your sister Vandal," Heather said.
"I'm sorry about your grandma," he replied.
Heather held out her hand to him this time. "We're even now?"
He nodded and took it. "Yes."
Before he could react Heather pulled him close, wrapped one arm around his waist, leaned in, placed a hand on the back of his head and kissed him, forcing his mouth open.
His body reacted before his brain could and he kissed her back. He started and pushed her away from him. A look of horror on his face.
Heather laughed and asked, "What? Not good enough for you?"
"What the hell?!"
Heather took another step towards him again. "Are you looking for that shy girl that came down the stairs? She comes and goes as I please..." she smiled. "I learned how to play in my own hell. Just like you have in yours." She placed a hand on his shoulder and he immediately shook her off again. "If you ever want to get rid off that frustration... Call me." She turned around walked a few steps before looking back at Vandal. She pushed both of her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and said, "I won't have Peggy charge you. I'm frustrated too." She walked off. "Thanks Peggy! I'm gonna get coffee! See ya!"
Peggy was grinning. She had know what would happen.
"That's better than TV," Liz said to her careful not to speak too loud so Vandal wouldn't hear.
Peggy stepped up to Vandal. "Told you Heather could kick your ass. She did kick you to the floor! Ha!"
He felt like he'd been played. But the result had been something completely different than he had expected. He actually felt better after that fight.
"Where did she learn to kick like that? That actually hurt!" he asked Peggy.
"Why don't you ask her when she comes back?" Peggy told him. "She's just getting coffee."
"Whatever."
Liz walked over to him and softly asked, "Are you all right?"
He took a deep breath before he turned to her and plastered a smile onto his face that he didn't really feel. "I am."
"Does it still hurt? I can get ice, if you need it," she said worried.
The smile on his face turned into a real one. "Princess, I don't need ice. I'm ok."
"Okay." And the worry on her face disappeared. She smiled back. "I'm glad."
He petted her head.
"Do you need a hug?" she asked.
"Are you asking because you want one?" he grinned.
"I always want hugs, but this time, I'm really asking for you," she said warmly.
He sighed. "I don't need a hug, princess." He opened his arms. "But you can have one."
"Thank you." She quickly hugged him and let go again. "So, how about we finish inventory before Heather comes back?"
He nodded. Then he turned to Peggy. "You helped a lot," he said.
"You're welcome."
They went back inside and Vandal sat down in front of the computer again. Liz helped him and counted the new bags, giving him the numbers.
Heather knocked on the door and Peggy let her in.
She placed a cup on the desk next to the keyboard. Vandal looked up at her.
"That's for you," Heather smiled at him. Her demeanor was extremely relaxed. "You seemed like a black coffee kind of guy, so I didn't put anything in it."
"Thanks," he said, a bit surprised.
"You're welcome." She walked over to Peggy and sat down, sipping her coffee.
"Vandal, that last number is 15. We're done," Liz said.
He typed the last one in and shut the window. Like Heather, he started drinking his coffee. He asked her, "Where did you learn to kick like that?"
She told him, "I do kickboxing. But my punches need some work. You blocked them all."
"You might want to try faking a left before punching right. I could see your punches coming from a mile away," he grinned.
"Well, next time we're fighting I'll remember that you said that," Heather said. "Your punch had me seeing stars, that fucking hurt!"
"The same could be said for your kick!" Vandal flexed his left hand open and shut. "If I had struck harder, I could have knocked you out."
"Well, thanks for not doing that, then," Heather pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "So, now that I'm here. I said I'd donate blood. Want to go do that now?"
"And we just finished inventory," he said darkly. "Come on then."
Heather stood up and put her cup on the desk. "Lead the way."
The door closed behind them and Peggy said, "Well, that went very well. At this rate you can just put off your hunt tomorrow."
"We're still going," Liz answered. She sat down next to Peggy. "Gotta admit, I didn't think Heather was this confident. Her shy girl act is convincing."
"She's not really acting," Peggy argued. "She has an on and off switch for that shit."
Liz shrugged. "She's good."
"You might wanna give Nick a call that two more people will be joining him in his apartment in addition to the one who was already invited," Peggy told Liz. "Heather's going to come with as well."
Liz pulled out her phone and called Nick.
"Liz, sweetie! What's up?"
"Vandal and Heather will be joining us for research later," she let him know.
"I know. I already bought them dinner," Nick laughed. "Peggy had you call, correct?"
Liz smiled. Of course he knew. "Yes, sweetie." To Peggy she said, "He got his update already." She put Nick on speaker. "Nick you're on speaker now."
"Hey Peggy! Thanks for calling, unfortunately you're not bringing news."
"I forgot you two have an advantage over me," she spoke. "Well, we'll be over pretty soon. So watch out."
"I will. I'll see you all later!"
"See ya, Nick," Peggy grinned.
"Till later, sweetie." She hung up the phone. "Now I just have to get this shift over with. Vandal and I will be joining you guys later."
"We'll stay here with you guys. It's of little consequence and Nick will be fine," Peggy said.
The door opened again and Heather and Vandal came back in.
"I hate needles," Heather told them.
Vandal was grinning. "She nearly fainted," he laughed. "That was great! Do come again!"
"Ugh!"
He put the blood bag away and sat down again.
"Well, I just called Nick," he knows we're all coming over. "Heather, Vandal. He bought you dinner. I didn't ask what he bought, but I'm sure it'll be fine."
Vandal didn't even react to the fact that Heather was coming too. And Heather was just smiling because she had decided to join them and known that Peggy would pick up on it.
Liz looked at Heather and asked her, "Hey Heather? Can I check your temperature?"
Heather walked to her and sat down. "Yeah, sure. But why?"
Liz placed a hand on the side of her face. "Okay..." She turned to Vandal. "You're seriously just radiating a ton of heat. She's normal."
Vandal shrugged. "So what, now I'm not an oven but a heater?"
Liz laughed, "Hey with you in the room we can cut our heating costs in half!"
"Come sit with us and keep us warm, heater boy," Peggy teased.
Vandal grimaced and spoke, "I can't wait to see Nick."
Liz laughed harder. "I'll tell him you said that. He'll be happy to hear it!"
He let out a sigh and kept drinking his coffee.
"Can you hand me mine, please?" Heather asked. "I'm too lazy to get up."
He handed it to her and said, "I really want you to come in to donate each month, just to see you half scared to death of a tiny needle."
"That was my actual plan, to my dismay," she replied. "I can watch on others, just not myself. I guess it slipped my mind. Next time I'm not gonna look."
"A pity."
"You seemed like you had a lot of fun watching," Heather grimaced.
"I had," he answered, giving her a nasty smile.
"Well, then maybe I should have some fun at your expense too," Heather smirked. "Maybe I should try punching that look off your face again."
"Not in here," he scowled. "Fights are taken in the hallway. Too much stuff to break inside the room."
Heather shrugged. "Nah, I'm good." She took another sip of coffee. "Do you do sports?"
"If you count sleeping and doing nothing as sport, yes," he said. "And if it doesn't. I hunt, but a different kind of game."
Heather knew about that. Peggy had told her. "Well, yeah. Human cattle, I know."
"Correct." He sat down in front of the donation window again.
"You were right, Liz," Heather spoke. "Damn. Felt like a blanket being pulled off when he moved away."
"Yeah. I don't fucking know, why I only noticed today."
"I 'know' why," Peggy gloated.
"Peggy!" Liz whined.
She laughed. "Oh! Did I upset our baby girl?"
Liz shook her head. "Well, whatever. I'm good."
Vandal eyed Liz and said, "Yeah, I really wish you could have seen your face after that!"
"Are you teaming up against me?!" Liz spoke, outraged. "Heather! We need to form our own team to defend ourselves against these two!"
"Definitely!" She looked at Liz and noticed her blood stained shirt for the first time. "What the hell happened to you?!"
Liz laughed out loud. "Oh! Vandal and I were role playing. We did an reenactment of Snow White. He was the huntsman. Failed to kill me. He still needs to bring the queen a heart."
"You let him stab you?" Heather shook her head. "I guess we're all mad here."
"Let's crawl down a rabbit hole then!" Liz suggested. "If I dye my hair blond, I can be Alice!"
"Off with his head!" Peggy ordered, pointing at Vandal.
"Oh god. Please let this be over," Vandal groaned.
Liz, Peggy and Heather burst into laughter. Vandal rested his face in his hands.
When they finally stopped, Peggy said, "This is great! Liz you guys are so much fun to hang out with!"
"Likewise," she smiled.
"I can't wait to do research," Vandal grumbled. "At least then it'll be quiet again."
"Do you want Peggy and me to go outside?" Heather asked him. "Then you and Liz can finish your shift with a bit less noise."
He looked at her. "No. It's fine. I guess I'm just not used to it, yet..."
There was the slightest flicker of sadness washing over Heather's face. She felt sorry for him. She averted her eyes quickly. "All right. We'll be more quiet then."
"Thanks." He looked at her for a moment longer. She had a quiet smile on her lips and kept her gaze to the floor. Like this you'd never think she was strong enough to kick him to the floor.
"I think you're staring," Heather chuckled. She glanced at him. "Jup. Well at least you're looking at my face."
"What else would I be looking at?" he asked, but as soon as he had, he knew that was going to backfire in a second.
Heather grinned and raised her head again, looking into Vandal's face. "I'm well built. There's a lot to look at."
"I think I want to punch that grin off your face," he retorted.
"Oh, I don't think you do," she teased.
Liz and Peggy started giggling.
Liz whispered to her, "At this rate, I'll never have to watch TV again. I can see why Nick was so glad to watch when Vandal was annoying me."
"Don't test me," he threatened.
"I already have." She bit her lower lip. "Your reaction that time was instantaneous though. Before the interference."
He glared at her. "You're infuriatingly frustrating."
Heather chuckled. "When I want to be."
He shook his head, rolled his eyes and turned away.
Liz was trying so hard not to laugh again.
"Heather?" Peggy said. "You might want to turn that switch in your head before the guy explodes."
"All right, Peggy. I'll just go into standby then," Heather smiled.
They spent the rest of the shift in relative quiet. Liz asked Heather about things she liked and found out that she really loved cats.
There were a few more customers towards the end of it.
Vandal and Liz closed up and then the four of them were on their way to Nick's.
Liz handed Vandal back the keys to the bloodbank. "None of us is ever going to sit through that shit alone again, Vandal. One time was enough for me. And you've had quite enough of it as well."
"Princess, I couldn't agree more," he said and took the keys.
Heather stretched her arms over her head. "Ah, fresh air!" She pulled a lighter and cigarette from her pocket. "Time to pollute it." She put it in her mouth and put the lighter to it. The click sounded but there was no flame. She tried again. "That's just great," she growled.
Vandal smirked, "Princess, you might want to move away over to Peggy." He pulled out his own lighter and cigarette and lit it. "Heather, let me help you."
"Yes, please!" She leaned over and let him give her a light. "Air pollution for the win!"
"Peggy, safe me!" Liz dramatically cried.
"I don't really mind," Peggy told her. She moved so that she was walking in between Liz and Heather and Vandal.
"And I thought that'd help," Liz grumbled. "Still just as bad."
"I tried," Peggy shrugged. "You get used to it."
"Ugh, I heard that before!"
Vandal reached over past Peggy to Liz and grabbed her arm. "You might want to try systematic desensitization. I can help with that." He started pulling her over to him again. "Come on, princess."
Liz found herself between Heather and Vandal before she even thought to struggle. Vandal had his arm draped across her shoulders.
"And like this, you can't escape," he grinned. "And you got exposure from both sides."
"Ugh!"
Vandal told Heather, "If you really want something to laugh at, try blowing smoke in her face."
"Maybe I should just do that to you? I think that'd make me laugh more," Heather spoke.
"Thanks, Heather!" Liz said, amused.
"You really think so?" Vandal asked Heather. "Because I really don't care if you actually did that." He glanced at Liz again. "But her expression is priceless."
"I'm pretty sure, the look on your face would be more fun to me. Because you'd probably just look aggravated, while poor Liz here would probably look disgusted," Heather concluded.
Somehow that made Liz laugh. "The smell is worth this conversation. Heather, I love you!"
"Aw! You're sweet!" Heather giggled. "Love you too!"
"I hate you all right now," Vandal growled. "Except for Peggy. She is keeping her mouth shut."
"Oh, I can change that, real fast," Peggy grinned. "I was just enjoying the show, but I can play commentator."
Vandal looked at her like he wished she'd just drop dead. "I hate you too!"
"Poor Vandal," Liz spoke sympathetically. "Should I bring earplugs for you next time?"
Vandal smiled at her cruelly and spoke, "I can't decide if I'd rather just gag all three of you, or stake the two of you and just gag Heather, to shut you all up." He leaned closer. "I'll let the two of you decide for yourselves. Heather's unfortunately only got one option." He widened his smile and lowered his voice even more, "You know what I'd prefer for you, princess." He stared into her eyes. "You wouldn't mind, would you?"
"No," Liz breathed. "I wouldn't mind." And it was the truth.
He warmed up his gaze and smile. "You're so nice, princess. I think you don't need to be shut up when you tell me things like that." He leaned back and saw Peggy and Heather staring at them and they looked unsettled. He was very happy with that.
"Holy shit, Vandal," Peggy said. "Damn, that was fucking creepy."
"Take your pick, Peggy," Vandal told her.
She thought about it for a moment. "Stake. From what Liz described it wasn't so bad."
"We can arrange that," he said. He turned to Heather and smirked, "I'll let you pick a gag, then."
Heather burst into laughter. "Oh my god! Well if that's the case just use tape."
"Good. If Nick asks, princess. Tell him they got to choose beforehand," he said. "Because I doubt he'd believe me."
"I will," she smiled.
"Okay, now that that's out of the way, can we talk about how this actually made me uncomfortable?" Peggy asked Vandal. "Damn, remind me not to mess with you. I'm glad I'm on your side and not on the receiving end." She was referring to Therese.
Vandal turned to her. "You should be, yes." He smiled coldly. "I'm glad it made you uncomfortable. It even shut the two of you up for a minute."
"Hmpf," Peggy made.
Liz wrapped her arm around Vandal's waist and told him, "We make a good team."
He agreed, but didn't speak again.
The four of them made their way upstairs to Nick's and had reached the last step, when Nick opened the door.
He smiled brightly at them. "Welcome to my humble home. I am so overjoyed that you could all make it. Please come in!"
Liz face lit up when she saw how happy he was. He was positively shining. "Aw, Nick! You're brighter than the sun right now. That's wonderful!" She went over and gave him a kiss. Then she entered the apartment.
The others followed her.
Vandal went last and Nick still smiling, told him, "Good to see you, Vandal. I mean it."
"It's good to see you too, Nick," Vandal nodded. "For real."
Liz added, "Nick, he said 'I can't wait to see Nick.' earlier. I can confirm his statement."
"Thanks man!" Nick smiled and closed the door behind him. He grinned at Liz and said, "I see he takes real good care of you. He even removed that stake from your heart so you could come home to me. How nice!"
"He's great!" Liz agreed happily. Her frist stop was the bedroom to store away the shirt Vandal had given her and to get changed.
Peggy was already on her way into Nick's office. "Holy shit! Well, now I'm really glad I have 4 more pairs of eyes to help with that."
"The stack on the right hand corner in front of the desk are the ones Liz and I went through yesterday," Nick called to her.
Liz went over to the fridge. Nick had stocked up on food for Heather and Vandal. She called them over and said, "Well, I guess you can take your pick. Nick seemed to have emptied out a supermarket for you guys." She left Vandal and Heather to their fate of picking food.
She went to Peggy and Nick into the office. They had already started looking through things. Peggy was saying, "First thing I need is all the info we have in here on Therese. I need to know everything I can about her. I have to make sure the kindred I'm hunting down is older than her when I take the soul."
Nick pointed at a few rows of folders and explained, "These here are all the records from about up to 300 years ago." He pointed at the next rows, "Up to 500." The next. "1000."
She nodded. "Let's just pick up where you guys left off. If anyone finds anything interesting, speak up."
Nick sighed, "Yay... lot's and lot's of dry reading... Fun."
Liz picked up a folder from the row they had already started. "We're gonna be setting them up back the same way on the right side of the room when we're through one. I'll get a few pencils and notepads to take notes." She opened one of Nick's desk drawers and pulled them out. One for each of them, including Vandal and Heather when they'd be joining. "This is going to take a while. I'm already dreading it."
"Where do you keep your dishes, Nick?" Heather called.
Nick was getting up, but Liz stopped him. "It's all right. I'll go, sweetie."
Liz came into the living room and showed them where everything was. They had decided on lasagna.
"Thanks Liz," Heather said.
"No problem. Why don't you two relax for a bit and come after you're done eating? Watch TV, feel at home. Hope you can decide on a channel," she chuckled. "If you need anything call for me."
"Thanks again. You're sure you don't want us to help the time that is in the oven?" Heather asked.
"Nah, it's fine," she grinned.
Vandal glared at her.
"You should check Vandal's face, Heather. I think he didn't like that you spoke for him as well," she suppressed a laugh.
Heather looked at him mirthfully. "I know."
Vandal turned to Liz and said, "If you hear the sound of my hand meeting her face then that means I slapped that horrible look off it. You were warned. I will not be sorry."
Liz had to use all her self control not to just double over laughing. "If you're going to fight again you will have to take that outside. This house is a no combat zone." She smiled at Vandal. "If you feel like exploding, you know where to find me."
He nodded.
"Enjoy dinner," Liz said and returned to the office and closed the door.
She picked up the folder, notebook and pencil and started reading. "Peggy, what area do you want us to search for potential candidates?"
She thought for a moment, then said, "Neighboring states are fine, but pick cities close to the border. I'm really quick and I know how not to be seen."
"Okay, then we'll start making a list and note everything important down. It'll make it easier to go through everything once we found the info on Therese. It's a damn shame they sort these things so weird," Liz sighed. "It's really stupid they have records from like 500 years ago in the 100 years ago section just because that's the time they filed said record."
They heard the TV in the living room turn on. It was news.
Liz asked Nick, "If you only hear it, is it news?"
"No. It's still the newsman, talking shit and telling jokes."
"Ah, and I thought it might have been only when you see it. Oh well. You know what's ten times more fun than TV? Watching Vandal and Heather fight. Or watching Vandal annoy me, or anyone. You were totally right to just stand back and enjoy the show! It's great!"
He laughed. "I told you!"
And with that, they turned to reading.
Liz was on the second folder and had taken about a page of notes on her notepad when Vandal and Heather joined them.
She handed them each a folder and writing equipment and explained what they were looking for.
Vandal sat down next to Nick, Heather went over to Liz and Peggy.
The only sound in the room for the next 45 minutes was the scribbling of pencils, turning of pages, moving of folders and their breathing.
Nick was the first to speak again. He didn't even have to lift his voice above a whisper to be heard. "Has anyone found anything interesting yet? Anything on Therese?"
Everyone shook their heads.
The voices were quiet. They hadn't spoken up the entire time.
"Well, let's just keep reading," Nick sighed.
Liz was reading a document about a Tremere Baron in Prussia who had been abducting and torturing people in an attempt to harvest their life force and store it in a magical orb.
She flipped to the next page. This one was about a female Toreador painter who was nowadays selling her glow in the dark paintings online. She also did wall murals.
She read through another document about a Gangrel who lived with a pack of wolves. Then another about another Toreador who had joined a traveling circus in Great Britain that was run entirely by kindred of all different clans and a ton of ghouls. It said the circus opened at sunset and closed at sunrise.
Peggy's voice startled her and she placed a finger on the line she was reading.
"Guys, okay you have to hear this. I can't just keep this to myself. It's so funny. I'm reading about a Malkavian guy who had himself thrown into every state's prison in search for some weird inscriptions on walls that apparently only a few of our clan can see!" she told them. "He kept breaking into stores to steal shit and get caught on purpose. He always broke out of his cell before sunrise and moved on to get thrown into the next prison." She asked, "What are you guys reading right now? Since some of this stuff is actually cool. Just make sure to let me know if you think you found anything that could actually help."
"Mine is boring," Heather said. "The one I have here is just some Ventrue politician guy."
"I am reading about a female Brujah cage fighter," Nick chuckled.
"I have a file on a Toreador magician in a theather in Reno," Vandal let them know.
"We need to go to London. There's a traveling circus run by kindred there. It sounds great!"
"Anything useful yet?" Peggy asked.
"Not really," Nick grumbled. "I'm so glad when we finally found the files on Therese at least." He addressed Vandal, "I assume you got no clue how old she could be? It'd help if we had even an estimate."
"The queen bitch doesn't speak about her past. All I ever hear her talk about is work. I can't help with that," he said.
Nick sighed. "Oh well. Back to reading then."
Another hour passed and Liz could feel the frustration set in. She wanted to find the files on Therese, finally. They had reached the records from 200 years back now.
She glanced around the room. Everyone was absorbed in their documents. Heather and Vandal both kind of looked a bit sleepy, she noted. Heather had rested her elbow on her knee and was supporting her head with her hand. Vandal had placed the folder on the floor in front of him and had pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them.
Another 30 minutes passed and Nick was quietly swearing from time to time. She heard words like, stupid, morons, and imbeciles. She knew he was raving about the guys who had decided on the filing system.
Liz flipped another page. Nothing interesting. Another. Still nothing.
Heather's joyful cry made her head shoot up. "I found the bitch! I found her! Finally!"
A sigh of reliev went through the room.
"Well, let's hear it then," Peggy smiled.
Heather read, "Therese Voerman, Baron of Santa Monica. Affiliation: Camarilla, Sire: Unnamed, Generation: 6th, Clan: Malkavian. There's not a lot more on her. Only recent events."
"We hit jackpot with that file," Peggy spoke excitedly. "We know she's 6th generation. So now you guys check your notes on anything that's lower than that! I'm gonna hand you that bitch on a silver platter after I'm done sucking out a soul!"
They checked their notes, but none of them had a suitable candidate yet. So they kept going through the files.
The next sound that interrupted the flipping of pages was not anyone speaking.
Smiling, Liz looked over to the source of the sound. Vandal had apparently fallen asleep over his folder. His forehead rested on his knees and he was snoring the slightest bit. You could only hear it because it was so quiet in the room.
Nick was grinning from ear to ear. He mouthed, "Should I wake him up?"
Liz shook her head, "Let him sleep. He needs it. Please nobody wake him. He'll wake on his own eventually."
"He looks so peaceful," Heather whispered. "It's cute."
They kept flipping through documents and Nick was the first to find some 5th generation kindred who worked night shifts at a homeless shelter.
Peggy frowned, "Then I can't take him. I need a real shit to devour. I'm sorry guys. We have way too little good kindred. Keep looking."
Liz found the next, "This might do, if you're up for a bit of running. He's quite a distance away. 4th generation, has quite a lot of masquerade breaches, supposedly sold a ton of drugs and guns on the black market, and is marked on a watch list by the Camarilla. So if there's one more breach he's toast anyway."
Peggy held out her hand for the file. "Looks wonderful." She checked the location. "It works. Good one Liz. I can find him and take his soul. Let's get two more, so we have backup in case anything goes wrong, yeah?"
They agreed and Heather was the next to not find anything, but fall asleep on them. She had slumped to the side into Peggy.
When they had two more, Liz checked her watch and realized with a start, that it was almost the crack of dawn.
"Peggy," she whispered, so she wouldn't wake Heather and Vandal. "Peggy it's almost light out. I'm so sorry. I totally forgot to check the time again."
"It's fine, don't worry. I can sleep anywhere," she said.
"You and Heather can have the guest room," Nick offered.
"Thank you, Nick. That's very kind of you," Peggy spoke, grateful. She took the page with her 3 marks and slipped it into her pocket. "I'll carry poor Heather." She picked her up from the floor.
"Wake Vandal up, tell him he can have the couch and I'll give him some clothes to sleep in," Nick told Liz. "I'll show Peggy and Heather to the guest room."
"Thank you Nick! You're the sweetest. I love you!" Liz smiled.
"I love you too, sweetie." He led Peggy and Heather out of the room.
Liz moved over to Vandal and crouched down. "Vandal," she said quietly. When he didn't react she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Vandal?" Still nothing. She didn't want to wake him from deep sleep, it seemed like a bad idea. She gave it one last try. "Vandal," she spoke again and gently shook his shoulder.
He started. His reaction was far more violent than Liz had expected. He had felt her hand on him and his arm had immediately shot out towards the side of her head. Liz blocked the blow before it connected.
Vandal stared at her. He dropped his hand again and let out a long breath. "Sorry, princess. That was a reflex."
"Are you ok?" she was more worried about him than herself. "I'm so sorry I woke you up like that."
"I'm good."
"Nick will give you some clothes. You can sleep on the couch. It's almost day break," Liz spoke softly. "Peggy and Heather are still here too."
He agreed. He was too tired to move more than 5 steps.
In the living room, Nick handed Vandal a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. "There you go. Bathroom's to the right down the hall."
"Thanks Nick," Vandal said. "Sleep tight."
"Sleep tight, Vandal."
Liz stepped towards him, smiling, "Good night, Vandal. I hope the couch is not too uncomfortable."
"It'll be fine," he said. "Sleep well, princess."
"Am I getting a good night hug?" she asked.
"Don't you have Nick for that?" he chuckled.
"That's not enough," she pouted.
Vandal pulled her in and squeezed her. "Are you good now?"
The smile on her face was brilliant. "Yes, thank you!"
Nick and Liz went to their bedroom and closed the door.
"I'm so glad to have people over. I had no idea how much I missed it until now. Even though we were researching most of the time, I immensely enjoyed the company," Nick said.
"Me too. It's wonderful," Liz answered. "I'm so glad we found three marks for Peggy. Everything's going well so far."
Nick nodded. "Yes. Let's sleep for now. We can talk more tomorrow. All that reading really killed me."
She agreed and as she fell asleep the voices in her head were whispering, 'Today was fun. Tomorrow will be as well. Good night, Liz.'