"Your aunt is a vampire too?!" exclaimed Nikki, when Ana told her about Danielle the next day "What? Do you come from a family of vampires?"

"Yeah" Ana said "I do"

They were at Nikki's house preparing themselves for the dance. It wasn't like Prom when you had to get really dressed up. You could show up in jeans and a t-shirt, but Nikki wanted Ana to come over a couple of hours early so she could do Ana's make-up and hair. She wanted to make sure that Ana looked perfect for Eric.

"So, were your grandparents vampires?" Nikki asked, taking Ana's hair out of the ponytail Ana had arrived in

"No, it doesn't really work like that"

"What do you mean?"

Ana took in a deep breath. "You can't be born a vampire" she said "You have to be turned into a vampire by another vampire"

"So, who turned you?" Nikki asked "Your Mom? Your Dad?"

"No one turned me"

"But you said…"

"I am the only vampire in history who was actually born a vampire"

Ana smiled when she saw Nikki's eyes bulged out of her head and her mouth dropped open in the mirror.

"Wow!" Nikki said, breathlessly "So, you're like a vampire celebrity?"

"Pretty much" Ana said, with a chuckle

"So, who turned your parents and aunt?"

"My mother and aunt were turned by a vampire named Lance" Ana said "My father was turned by Coraline on their wedding night"

"Wow" Nikki said, combing Ana's hair "What a way to start a marriage!"

"Yeah" Ana said "My Dad wasn't too happy"

Ana paused for a moment. "You know, Lance is our prime suspect for the case, right?"

"Are you serious?" Nikki asked, excitement flickering through her eyes "How does Danielle feel about that? Since Lance turned her and all?"

"Danielle and I are actually the ones who think he did it"

"Why?" Nikki asked softly

Ana paused again. "Because we think he killed my mother"

Nikki almost dropped the brush. "Your mother's dead?"

Ana slowly nodded. "She died in a fire"

"I'm so sorry" Nikki said "Is that why you came to live with your Dad?"

Ana nodded again, surprised that she was able to not break down into tears.

"Aw, Ana, I'm so sorry" Nikki said "That sucks"

There was a long pause before Nikki broke the silence.

"I thought that vampires couldn't die?" Nikki said, as she started to brush Ana's hair again "I thought that they were immortal?"

"We are" Ana replied "Fire is one of the only things that can kill a vampire"

Nikki nodded. "How do you want me to do your hair?" she asked, changing the topic

Ana smiled. "Surprise me"

&

Since Ana was going to meet him and Beth at the dance and he didn't have to pick Beth up for another hour or so, Mick decided to do some investigating.

He sat down at his computer and typed in the site for the local newspaper. He went into their archives and started searching their obituaries.

He was looking for Alina's obituary. When he found a link for it, a bolt of fear shot through him. He wasn't sure why. He had only known Alina for one day. After that one day, he never saw her again.

He clicked on the link. Almost immediately, the article appeared on the screen. A picture of Alina was with it, thanks to digital photography.

Mick was almost shocked by Alina's beauty. Her dark, brown hair came to just above her shoulders. Her blue eyes sparkled and her smile was perfect. Before seeing this picture, Mick could barely remember what Alina looked like.

Tears sprang to his eyes as he read the obituary:

On the afternoon of July 30, 2008, a raging fire took the life of Alina Mariano, 30. A Memorial Service is scheduled for this Saturday at ten in the morning. She is survived by her sister, Danielle, and her 17-year-old daughter, Anastasia St. John.

Mick wiped the tears out of his eyes. He had been hoping that the obituary would shed some light on parts of Alina and maybe even Danielle's past. Mick then moved on to search for the news article on the fire itself.

He found it easily:

30 July 2008

A raging fire broke out in the home of one Alina Mariano earlier this afternoon. Mariano, 30, was killed by the raging flames that were consuming the house. Police do not suspect foul play. It is believed that Miss. Mariano had been cooking at the stove and had walked away, for reasons unknown. While she was gone, something near the flame caught on fire and sent the whole house ablaze, with Miss. Mariano trapped in side. Danielle Mariano, the victim's sister, 30, had been on her way to visit her sister when the fire started. The victim's daughter, Anastasia St. John, 17, had been at a friend's house that day and came home to find her house ablaze.

The police are still investigating the fire, but it seems like this case is about to close.

Mick sighed as he finished reading the article. The article pretty much told him everything that he already knew, everything that he had already found out from Ana. He figured that he could always ask Beth to pull the case file for him, to see if that would shed some light on anything, but he figured that the case file wouldn't be that helpful if the police didn't suspect foul play.

Glancing at the clock, Mick realized that it was time to get ready to chaperone the dance. He got up from his desk and headed through the living room and towards the stairs.

&

Earlier that morning, Ana had informed Danielle about the case that she, Mick, Beth, Josef, and Nikki were working on. She told Danielle everything – about Coraline, about Eric, about the two victims – everything that had to do with the case.

Ana had invited her aunt to chaperone at the dance, in case she wanted to keep an eye on Eric, but Danielle refused. She figured that Mick and Beth could handle the situation. She didn't want to interfere, since she figured out that Mick and Beth were a couple, but she did expect to get a full report from her niece and her "brother-in-law"…if that's what she would even call him…after the dance was over.

So, when nighttime came, all Danielle could think about was Ana and the dance. She was even almost tempted to just show up, but she knew that it would catch everyone off guard.

Instead, Danielle began to read the copies of the case files that Beth had given to Mick. She, automatically, started looking for something that would connect the murders to Lance.

She automatically started praying that she would find something connecting the murders to Lance.

&

Ana didn't really understand why Nikki made her go over to her house 2 hours early. All that Nikki did was straighten Ana's already somewhat straight hair and paint her nails – things that clearly could have been done an hour before the dance. But, Ana didn't care. She liked hanging out with Nikki.

When they got to the dance, Ana and Nikki noticed Mick's car already in the parking lot. Ana's eyes widened when she saw a red Ferrari parked next to it.

"Oh my God!"

"What?" Nikki asked, as she and Ana got out of her car "What's wrong? Did you forget something?"

"No" Ana said, her eyes staring at the Ferrari "Josef's here!"

Nikki looked at the car Ana was staring at and her mouth dropped open. "That's Josef's car?!"

Ana nodded.

"How the hell can he afford that?" Nikki asked, as she and Ana turned and headed into the school's gym

"Didn't I tell you?" Ana asked "Josef's a billionaire"

Nikki stopped in her tracks. Ana slowed to a halt and stared at her friend.

"Are you ok?"

"Billionaire?" Nikki said "Billionaire? Man! You're lucky!"

Ana smiled as she grabbed Nikki's arm and dragged her into the gym.

&

Mick smiled when he saw Ana and Nikki walk into the gym. He had felt sort of awkward being at the dance without Ana there. He wasn't sure why, though he knew that it was probably because all of the girls who were already at the dance couldn't stop staring at him. To make it worse, whenever he smiled at them or anything to acknowledge that he saw them, they would start giggling.

"Look's like you have a few fan clubs" Beth said, walking back over to her boyfriend with some punch in her hand "Enjoying it?"

"Not really" Mick replied, as Beth took a sip of her drink "It's really kind of weird"

Beth laughed. "Yeah, I know" she said "I don't know what they see in you"

She smiled and laughed as Mick rolled his eyes and scanned the crowd. Ana and Nikki were talking with some other girls who he assumed were in Ana's grade. He watched as the girls looked from him to Ana and back. They, obviously, had no clue that he was Ana's father.

Mick couldn't help but smile when he saw that Ana was explaining to the girls that he was related to her. The girls looked at him with big eyes. All he could to was smile and wave at them, which made them huddle around Ana even more, pushing Nikki out of the circle completely.

"Look's like your daughter is getting mobbed!" Josef said, walking up behind Beth and Mick "Man, I miss those days!"

"What days?" Mick asked, with a smile

Josef glared at his friend for a moment. "So, when is Eric going to get here?" he asked, changing the subject "Or is he here already?"

"He's not here yet" Beth replied, quickly scanning the crowd "I'm sure that he'll be here soon"

As if on cue, Eric walked into the gym. He scanned the crowd and then made his way towards Ana.

"And the watch begins" Josef said

&

"Hey, Ana"

Ana and Nikki turned when Eric walked up behind them.

"Hey, Eric" Ana said, with a nervous smile

"You look nice"

"You too"

Nikki, feeling slightly awkward, cleared her throat. "Well, I'm going to see if my date arrived yet"

Nikki winked at Ana and walked away.

"Who does Nikki have as a date?" Eric asked, taking a step closer to Ana

"Aaron Richards" Ana replied

Eric chuckled at the thought of Nikki going on a date with one of the biggest freaks in all of Morrison High School. He kind of felt bad for her.

"Do you want to get a table?" Ana asked, motioning to the tables set up near the side of the gym "We don't have to dance yet"

Eric shrugged. "Sure"

Ana looked back at Mick, Josef, and Beth as she and Eric walked to an empty table. She laughed when she saw Mick straining to get a better view and then turned back to her date.

&

The dance seemed to go by very quickly. Ana and Eric danced a lot, but also saved time for conversation. They couldn't help but laugh as Aaron desperately tried to dance with Nikki during one of the slow songs.

"Someone needs to give him dancing lessons" Eric said, coming out of his laughter

Ana playfully hit him on the shoulder. "He's trying"

"Badly"

Eric turned back to Ana, who was trying very hard not to break out into laughter again.

"Is that your Dad?" Eric asked, turning back to the dance floor

Ana turned and saw Mick dancing with Beth, with Josef standing on the sidelines.

"Yeah" Ana said, smiling

"Who is he with?"

"His girlfriend, Beth"

"Oh"

There was a pause for a moment.

"Do you want to dance?" Eric asked

Ana nodded. "I'd love to"

Eric took Ana's hand and let her out onto the dance floor.

&

"Remember the last time we did this?" Beth asked

"Yes" Mick said "I guarantee you that this time no one will be murdered"

Beth laughed. "I figured that much" she said. She paused for a moment, looking into Mick's eyes. "You know, you haven't changed that much"

"Meaning?"

"Since Ana came" Beth replied "You haven't changed"

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes" Beth replied "It is. It means that you're still the same old Mick. Same old, old fashioned Mick"

Mick smiled and let out a chuckle. "Well, then, thank you"

Beth smiled and put her head on Mick's chest as they continued dancing.

&

Eric and Ana couldn't stop smiling as they danced. Ana was having a really good time. It was just too bad that she'd have to ruin the moment while she had the chance.

"Eric" she said, as the song ended "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

Ana looked up into Eric's eyes, regretting what she was about to do. "Why did you break into Beth Turner's apartment?"

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