Circumstance

by Melissa Davis

Part 2 added 7/6/01 An attack at the Haven brings about Kindred's attention as it might risk the masquerade. Read to find out how this story will unfold. Please Read and Review.

1. Part One

Okay first off this is my first Kindred Fanfic and I'm doing one with an alternate reality in the way that Catlyne never entered Julian's life everything else that happened during the wonderful series has though transpired. I've had this story for a while and wasn't going to post it but due to the pleadings of a friend of mine I chose to do so. Whether or not I should finish this depends on the feedback that I get. Note: One of the main character's though her name is close to mine own her character is not based off of me. Though there are a few parts to this story where I wouldn't mind being in her shoes. Clears throat and looks around I really loved that series and wish that it could come back but alas the person who played Julian Luna's character died in real life. Disclaimer: Kindred The Embraced nor its characters belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for this story. So here you are and please read and review.

Circumstance

Part One

The music boomed loudly within the club causing the walls to vibrate slightly outside as the patrons waited in line to enter. People were dressed their best as they waited in line patiently awaiting the moment when they would be granted entrance to one of the most popular clubs of San Francisco, The Haven. Women and Men speaking to each other as they slowly started to move forward. A woman with curly brown hair fixed fashionably back accenting her attractive face smiled at her girl friend next to her. She had just moved to San Francisco and was exited when her new friend had invited her to go with her to one of the hottest clubs. She watched as a long black limousine pulled up and wonder just who it might be.

Whispering to her blond friend she could not take her eyes off the door of the limo in front of The Haven, "Sandra, I wonder who that could be."

Sandra looked towards the limo she saw Melissa staring at and smiled curious herself, "I don't know but looks like we're about to find out."

Just as Sandra had finished her statement a woman dressed in a chauffeurs uniform with her blond hair tied back into a ponytail opened the door. Melissa felt her breath caught in her throat as she watched the handsome man exiting the limo. He was tall with dark black hair smoothed back and dark sparkling eyes to match, he looked Italian, and she thought him absolutely gorgeous.

Sandra squeezed her wrist bringing Melissa back to reality, "Oh my God! If that's who I think it is..."

Melissa looked over to her friend, "Do you know him?" she asked puzzled.

"Oh, who doesn't know one of the most wealthiest and powerful bachelor in San Francisco? Oh, that's right you just moved here. That, my friend, is Julian Luna he owns most of the businesses in this city."

Melissa watched as he walked inside the club followed closely by a man with dirty blond spickey hair. She noted that his dress attire was not as elegant as Julian's, wearing a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt and jeans. His outfit compared to the expensive suit Julian wore conflicted with each other. As the line moved forwards her thoughts were drawn back to her friend as they started to finally enter The Haven and paid their way in. Sandra took Melissa by the hand as she dragged her friend to the bar and ordered them their drinks.

Melissa took the drink offered to her by her friend and looked over the drink wondering what Sandra had ordered her, "Sandra!" she shouted over the music that boomed over them, "stop paying for everything."

Sandra smiled at her friend and shouted back into her ear, "Hey, don't worry about it you can pay for the next round."

Taking a sip of her drink Melissa recognized it as a long island ice tea and smiled, she liked those. Making their way through the crowd and eyeing a few of the good looking men within the club, Sandra and Melissa found a spot and watched the band on stage. Melissa wasn't exactly one for clubs but she did not want to spend another night alone in her house unpacking and bored out of her mind. This was a fun change from being stuck in her house doing nothing.

Julian Luna stood at the window above the clubs crowd watching as they gathered, Kindred and Humans, all enjoying the new band that Lillie had insisted that he help invest in. Lillies arms encircled Julian as she leaned her red head against his shoulder, "So, what do you think?"

Julian sipped at the white wine he held, "The crowd seems to be enjoying it."

Circling around him she delicately traced her hand over the front fold of his suit eyeing him with a lustful gaze. Her red lips spreading in a teasing smile, "Do you not enjoy my new band?"

Julian leaned forward and lightly kissed those teasing lips of hers, "Does it matter," he whispered against her lips.

Lillie's green eyes bore into his as she moved away from his embrace. Holding out her hand to him she slowly started backing away towards the bed within the room inviting him to join her. Placing his wine to the side Julian took her hand and followed, the one way window providing them with plenty of privacy.

Down below the two Kindred lovers Melissa and Sandra were now on the dance floor giving into the urge to dance that the music inticed. There was not much room for them to dance but Melissa didn't give it much notice as she danced with the music. She loved to dance and didn't care if it was all alone or within a large crowd. She detachedly watched as a very good looking man with short brown hair started to dance intimately with Sandra. Melissa noted that Sandra was enjoying the mans attentions so she averted her eyes to others that were around her. There were so many crowded around her that she was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic.

Noting the bathroom at the far corner Melissa leaned towards her friend and yelled to her that she was going to the ladies room. Sandra smiled at her friend indicating that she wasn't about to leave the guy she was currently dancing with, so Melissa started towards the bathroom. Trying to get through the crowd was like trying to cut through a tin can with a plastic knife but after a while of "excuse me"'s Melissa reached the bathroom with relief though she was rather put off by the large line. 'Figures' she thought mentally, 'there is always a line to the lady's room but never one for the men's.'

After what seemed an eternity in line Melissa walked out of the bathroom back into the booming club looking for her friend. Making her way around the crowded room her eyes scanned the people all around her as she looked intensely for her friend but not seeing her. 'Oh, that's great' she scorned to herself, 'Sandra, damn it where did you go? God, she better not have went off with that guy she was dancing with.' No sooner had she had thought that last thought then when she found her friend hanging out at the bar talking with the good looking man she was dancing with earlier. "Looks like someone's getting a phone number tonight," she mumbled to herself as she made her way towards the two.

Sandra saw Melissa coming and smiled to her friend waiving her over, "Melissa, this is Devin. Devin, this is Melissa."

Devin flashed Melissa a charming smile then taking her hand in his kissed the top of it, "It's a pleasure."

Melissa felt a nervous chill from the light touch of his lips to the back of her hand and smiled. Feeling someone coming up from behind she saw a very good-looking man with blond hair smiling towards her.

"Devin, please introduce me to these beautiful ladies," the blond had said.

Devin smiled to his friend, "Ted this is Sandra and her friend Melissa."

Ted took Melissa's hand just as Devin had, lightly kissing the back of it, "I am pleased to met you."

After the two men had introduced themselves to Melissa and Sandra they made their way towards one of the tall booths at the corner of the club. Melissa sat on one side with Ted beside her as Sandra sat on the other side with Devin. Sandra and Devin were pawing each other as they were emerged within each other's presence. Being the shy person that she was Melissa was starting to feel quite uncomfortable. Ted had nudged himself comfortably next to Melissa making her wish she were at the other side of the booth so that she could slip away but was cornered. Though the guy was quite handsome she couldn't shake the feeling that she was nothing but a piece of meat to him, a promise of a one-night stand. If he thought that, he would be in for quite a disappointment.

Melissa nervously looked towards the dancing crowd as Ted traced his hand across the side of her arm, "Why so shy? Do I make you uncomfortable?" he purred in her ear sending a wave of goose bumps across her skin.

"I hardly know you," was her reply, which pretty much summed up how she felt about the situation. If it wasn't for her friend she would have ditched the two men and gone to the dance floor.

He edged closer to her, his lips brushing lightly against her ear, "Then lets get to know each other."

Was that the lamest line she had been spun or what? She wanted to smack him but resisted the urge, knowing that it would get her no where. "I bet you've told that to a lot of women but think twice if you think that's going to work with me," she told him as she turned to glare at him with the most hateful glare she could manage. She was always told that if looks could kill, the one she dealt those who pissed her off would be dead.

He merely smiled and shrugged away with hands held up in mock surrender, "I surrender, I surrender. Just wanted to get you out of that cage you seem to lock yourself into."

Oh, she was wanting to push him out of the booth just so she could walk away at that point. Instead she opted to glance at her friend who was now necking with Devin. If she knew her night was going to end up like this she would have opted for the boring nothingness in her house. Looking back at the live band she watched her friend at the corner of her eye, waiting for the right moment to get her friends attention.

Devin whispered in her ear as she laughed at his proposition then finally broke herself free to lean over the table to speak with Melissa. "Hey, lets go and freshen up."

Melissa never thought that she would feel so relieved thinking 'Thank you God!' As Ted eased himself out from the booth to let Melissa out and Sandra detached herself from Devin.

Sandra squeezed Melissa's hand, "He's perfect, isn't he so gorgeous?"

Melissa rolled her eyes as they stood in line for the ladies room as she broodly thought, 'Does this bathroom ever not have a line?'

As they entered more into the bathroom the blare of the music wasn't as intense making it easier to hear Sandra as she went on and on about Devin. "Hey, he wants me to go with him out the back to his friends, Ted's, car. Come with me."

Melissa held her hands up in protest, "Oh, no! Sandra, you barely know the guy and he's been all over you. God only knows what he'll try once he gets you outside away from witnesses!"

Sandra frowned, "Please, besides I think his friend really likes you!"

"Well I don't like him, he's a complete jerk. There's only one thing he's interested in and I'll be damned if I'll let that happen."

Sandra and Melissa went to the stalls to use the ladies room, just as two stalls became available. After they emerged and washed their hands Sandra continued to try to talk Melissa into going along with her as she primped in the large mirror before her. "Please, it'll just be a minute," she then stopped for a moment to look at Melissa pleadingly, "I really like him. Come on, for me. Look if you're not interested in that other guy fine, just, don't do this to me, please. I promise, after this I'll do anything for you to repay you. Please…"

Melissa rolled her eyes at her new friend, she didn't like the idea of going off with those two guys but Sandra really wanted to. She had always had a hard time at saying no and was starting to feel bad for acting so uptight. She couldn't help it though, she was always playing it safe and barely ever took any chances. Especially in the romantic area, which she had very little of that in her life. "Oh, Alright. But only for a minute then we go back inside no matter what. Deal?"

Sandra jumped up like a ten-year-old getting a birthday surprise and hugged her friend, "OH, thank you! Come on they're waiting." She finished as she grabbed Melissa's hand and dragged her out the door.

Sandra let go of Melissa's hand as they reach the two attractive men that were waiting at the booth. Melissa watched as Sandra took Devin's hand and followed reluctantly with Ted just behind her. She was inwardly scolding herself for letting her friend talk her into doing this.

As they started out the door in the very back of the club Melissa paused a moment not sure that this was at all a good idea. The back door lead to a very poorly light alley, which looked like something out of some horror movie. Taking a deep breath she exited the door and detachedly listened as Ted shut the door just behind her.

Sandra and Devin were laughing loudly in each other's arms as they made their way through the alley. Devin then pulled Sandra teasingly in his arms urging her into a passionate kiss. Melissa stopped, suddenly fascinated by the nearby trash can.

Ted smiled as he came around Melissa's side so that he was facing her, "Hey, sorry about what I said at the booth," he brushed his fingers through his blond hair, "I guess I sounded like a complete jerk."

Melissa felt herself starting to smile at the sudden uncomfort he was showing at trying to apologize. She fought against the smile failing miserably, "Yeah you did."

Ted grinned, "You know you look even more beautiful when you smile."

Melissa felt her cheeks flush, maybe he wasn't such a jerk after all, "Thank you." Wanting a distraction from being suddenly alone with this stranger who was starting to rub off on her, she tried to look past him to see if Sandra and Devin were through necking.

Before she could get a glimpse Ted step to the side blocking her view, "Please tell me that you'll consider giving me another chance." He stepped closer to her, so slowly that she barely noticed. Some of her hair blew in her face but before she could move to push the strands back away from her eyes Ted reached up and did it for her. His hand lightly brushing up against her cheek. She couldn't help but to shiver at his touch making him smile as he leaned down towards her.

Melissa's eyes closed as his soft lips met with hers, she couldn't believe that she was doing this. His kiss was gentle but was starting to become demanding. Things were moving too fast causing her to push herself from his embrace.

He smiled down at her as she tried to back away from him, "What's wrong?" he asked.

Melissa's heart pounded as she fought against the urge of pulling him back into another kiss, "Nothing, this is just too fast for me," she breathed.

He continued towards her, making her start to feel a bit uneasy. Here she was with a complete stranger in a dark alley, 'Don't horror movies start out with scenes like this?' she thought to herself. Her mind was starting to scream danger warnings at her as he continued forward as she backed away. Hearing a crash she was startled and looked past Ted. As if on instinct she started forward as she saw her friend struggling with Devin. She was kicking a pushing the man away but he had her in his arms his mouth at her neck.

Ted grabbed her then, "Now, now and where do you think you're going."

Looking up to Ted to argue with him having grabbed her she felt her breath caught in her throat as she saw his eyes change from their blue color to a type of silver sheen.

He just smiled revealing teeth that were a bit too sharp by her opinion, "We were just getting started."

Wanting desperately to get away she kicked at his shin and tried to wrench her arm free but was returned with a hard back hand to the cheek sending her falling to the ground. Afraid to look into the monsters' eyes she looked desperately towards her friend and was terrified by what greeted her.

Sandra kicked and clawed at Devin as she felt his teeth bit into her neck. She was starting to feel like one of those lunch drinks that you punch a straw through to drink. She wanted to scream to cry out but her voice was not working for her. Her eyes started to droop as she felt her life being slowly drained from her. The combination of ecstasy and fear not being the kind of thing she went for. Suddenly she felt a raw choking rip tare at her throat and the world slipped from her eyes as she dropped lifelessly from Devin's arms.

Melissa's vision blurred with tears, she had just witnessed her friend murdered and she knew that she was probably next. Ted's voice pulled her eyes back towards him as her hands franticly searched for something to grab hold of. She faintly heard Devin's footsteps approaching.

Lowering himself to have a better look of his pray, Ted sat practically on his knees, to regard her frightened form, "Sire, I think I want to play with my food a little."

Devin approached his friend, refreshed by the kill he had just made, "Just make sure you cover any evidence my Childe."

Melissa's mouth was gapped open in disbelief and horror. Reaching into the trash that she lay on her hands finally found something cold and long. With a speed and strength she didn't know that she had she picked up the object and struck out with the long metal pipe striking the two succeeding in knocking both of them down. She ran away before the piece of pipe could hit the concrete floor of the alley the metal clanking against the pavement.

Stumbling on the curb of the parking lot she headed straight for her car. Franticly she reached for the key to her car that she had stuck in the small pocket of her dress with her drivers' license. Just as she reached the car she had already plunged the key within the drivers side swinging open the car door. Quickly closing and locking the door a loud boom echoed on the roof of her car causing her to drop the key.

Ted landed on the roof of the woman's car with ease enjoying the chase. Walking over the roof of the car and jumping to stand on the hood of the car his form facing the now broken window. Crouching down he looked intently into the window at the crying women inside, "Come on Melissa. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Melissa hestericeley reached down into the floorboard trying to find the dropped key. Her whole body was trembling as she was searching for the damned key. "Come on, SHIT!" As she heard him pound against the roof of her car she did the only thing she could think of… She pounded on the horn, praying to God and every holly thing she could think of at that moment that someone would hear and come to her rescue.

Ted pounded at the roof with a bit more urgency, if he didn't get to her soon someone was likely to take notice and with those so called honorary Kindred all around the club one of them would be bound to investigate. Seeing that his attentions to the car's roof was making little progress he jumped from the hood of the car coming around to the drivers side.

Knowing that the Prince, Julian, would be busy for a while with Lillie, Cash had decided to step outside. He enjoyed the Haven but it was a bit more crowded than he liked. Just as he stepped out the back door he caught the scent of blood on the wind. Jerking his head towards the end of the alley he slowly approached the object of the scent. Buried underneath some trash slumped up against the wall lay a dead woman, her throat looked as if it had been torn out. This was not good. Knowing that this was definitely the doing of a Kindred Cash started back into the club to tell Julian of his discovery.

Just as his hand was about to reach the doorknob he heard a car horn being blared. About to shrug it off as nothing he stopped once more as he heard it again. Someone was pounding away at their horn and his instincts were screaming that he look into it.

Ted smashed in the window of the driver side of the car and grabbed for Melissa's screaming form. She threw herself away from his grasp as he clawed at her. Kicking and screaming she was crying as he started to pull himself further into the car to get to her. In an instant he was suddenly gone. Crying, her heart was pounding and she did not dare move from where she was. Pulling her legs into herself she closed her eyes hoping that when she opened them that she would be in her house in bed and this being nothing more than a nightmare.

Cash saw a figure smash in a car window and the figure trying to grab at someone within the car. Pulling out his phosphorous gun as he sensed that the figure was Kindred and the person within the car human he broke into a flying run towards the car. The figure tore himself from the window of the car and flew off before Cash could get a shot in. Whoever this Kindred was he was fast.

Approaching the car he saw that the human in the car was a woman. She was frightened out of her wits clinging to her self in terror. Returning his gun to its holster Cash tried to approach her without spooking her too much. Nearing the window of the car he looked over the cars damage more closely and tried to see if she had been injured. He could smell the slight trace of blood and saw that it was from a small cut at the side of her lip.

Melissa jumped almost out of the seat she was currently in as the door to her car was opened. Trembling she edged herself as far away from him as possible.

Cash smiled to her trying to get her to calm down, "Miss, its going to be all right. He's gone."

She let him help her out of the car not saying a word as he led her back towards the club. When she saw that they were headed towards the alley she tried to pull herself away. She shook her head no but Cash continued to insist that he get her inside. That it would be safer if they were inside. He held her to him as they passed the limp body that used to be her friend and entered the club.

The blaring of the music and crowding of the crowd made Melissa cling to the man that was helping her as if he was her lifeline. She had recognized the man from just before her and her friend had entered the club. Coming to a stairwell he led her slowly up the winding stairs until they reached the top.

Gently placing her in a small chair that lied at the top of the stairs in a type of waiting room Melissa wouldn't let him go as he started to leave her.

Cash knew that the poor human was terrified but he had to go and tell Lillie and Julian what happened. Bending down so that he was looking up at her he cupped her cheek, "It's alright, I'll be right back. No ones going to hurt you, I promise."

Reluctantly she let go of him and watched detachedly as he left her alone. Wrapping her arms she hugged herself as she stared at the carpeting.

Cash knocked on the door to Lillie's office room that sometimes was used for a place to stay and waited for someone to let him in or call for him to enter. His ears were met with the later.

Straightening his tie, Julian heard someone knock on the door, "Come in." Julian was surprised to see his body guard Cash enter the room. Cash never came up when he was in Lillie's office unless for good reason.

Cash opened the door and immediately saw the Prince sitting at the edge of Lillie's bed straightening his tie. Lillie he noted was leaning against the window watching the Gangrel Primogen enter her room. "There's been a murder and attack behind the club."

Lillie was away from the window in seconds and Julian had stood up. Julian regarded Cash, "Did you see who did this?"

"No, not really. He got away before I could get a good look at him but the woman that was attacked got a good look at him. He was Kindred."

Lillie was outraged, a murder behind her club, who would dare risk her wrath and the Masquerade. "Where is she?" she growled.

Julian placed his hand on Lillie's shoulder in an attempt to calm her. All he needed now was her to go into frenzy. "Are you sure it was Kindred that did this?"

Cash grimaced, as if he wouldn't know, he might be young but he was far from stupid, "The woman that was murdered had her throat ripped out and he flew off before I could get a shot in."

Pulling on his dress jacket Julian started towards the door, "Show me."Cash didn't hesitate as he first went through the door followed closely behind by Julian and Lillie. Melissa huddled in a chair met their eyes, not too soon after leaving. Cash looked to Julian, "She was trapped in her car while he was trying to get to her before I came and scared him off. I'm not sure what she saw or what happened she hasn't said a word since I found her."

Julian felt a ping of pain in his heart for the young human woman and slowly approached her shaken form and kneeled before her touching her arm. Melissa flinched from the sudden contact looking up to see the man she had seen before entering the club and recognized him as Julian Luna. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she dare not speak for fear of breaking down into more tears.

Julian looked away from the woman, to approach the others and spoke in a low voice, "Lillie take her into the office and try to comfort her. Cash, take me to the alley, I want to see for myself what happened."

Cash didn't hesitate as he led the way down the stairs leaving Melissa alone with Lillie. Melissa felt the comfort of a soft blanket being placed over her shoulders as Lillie tried to comfort the frightened woman. "You poor thing, come with me. You'll be a lot more comfortable in here."

Melissa had not the strength to argue nor did she care to. Her emotions were mixed and twisted as she blamed herself for not sticking to her guns and saying no to Sandra's request. If she only made her friend stay in the club, if she had only insisted that they leave, maybe, just maybe she would be alive right now. Anger assaulted her as she thought of how Sandra must have felt when that Devin bastard tore her throat out.

Lillie walked the woman over to the bed, making her sit down. She noted that the woman was probably still in shock about whatever it was that she had gone through. Wanting to possibly ease the young woman's nerves she softly spoke, "I'm Lillie, what is your name?"

Melissa's eyes stared fixedly on the floor at her feet afraid to speak. Though Lillie seemed like a nice person she wasn't sure what to trust. Everything that she believed in, that she based her life on had come crashing down all around her when she witnessed her friends' murder and the monsters that attacked them.

Lillie gently pulled under the woman's chin to bring her eyes into view with hers, "What's your name?"

Melissa eye's felt suddenly fixed with the other woman's unable to pull away from her gaze, "Melissa," came out as a soft shaken whisper.Lillie smiled her most pleasant smile allowing her Torrador charm to work its magic, "Now that wasn't so hard."

Melissa was able to look away from the nice woman but was unable to stop the tears that started as the wall she had put up burst open like an overflowed flood gate. Lillie took the young woman in her arms and hugged her like a mother would for her child. Stroking Melissa's hair, Lillie soothed the sobbing woman crying in her arms, "Shhh, it's okay, you're safe now."Sobbing she dared to speak as the words flowed from her, "He, he killed her. I couldn't help her…I just moved here. Why? WHY?"

Lillie rocked the sobbing woman in her arms, "Shh,"

Julian walked through the crowd of humans and Kindred towards the back door where he saw a few Gangrel standing there guarding the door. The patrons of the Haven were dancing to the loud music the band continued to play totally unaware of what had happened to two human women. As soon as he exited the door the distinct scent of blood invaded his senses.

Approaching the far corner of the alley towards a pile of trash a woman lied sprawled out against the wall underneath some trash. He could see the damage even from the distance that he was standing away from the dead body. Who ever had done this was savagely brutal.

It angered him that this had happened in his city almost right underneath his very nose. He wanted to know who did this and what Clan they belonged to. They dare risk the Masquerade by this brutality, the mindless slaughter of a woman who was still so very young. He wanted their heads for this atrocity.

Turning to face Cash, Cash could see the anger within his eyes, "I want who ever did this found and brought before me. This will not be allowed in my city. Where's the car?"

Cash pointed towards the parking lot, "Just over there."

Julian did not wait for Cash to lead the way as he started towards the car. With his enhanced vision he could already see the damage brought upon the car. The roof of the car was almost completely banged in on the passengers side with the front window cracked and barely holding together. The drivers side window was completely gone making him think that who ever did this wasn't intending on letting the woman Cash saved live.

Turning to go back towards the Haven he addressed Cash, "Start closing the Haven and call the police but make sure that Sonny is assigned this case. Luckily the only proof that our kind were involved is your witnessing his flight and the girl. Get rid of the car and say nothing about the woman upstairs with Lillie. She's the only witness…"
"You don't plan on killing her?" interrupted Cash.

Julian stopped just outside the back door into the Haven looking back at Cash with distaste, "No, but she's our only chance as to finding out who did this. After we find out what we need to know from her I'll bury it within her mind. She'll think that she spent tonight at home alone and her car got stolen."

They said nothing more as they entered the Haven. After entering Cash detached himself away from the Prince to gather some of his Gangrel to do as Julian had instructed. Julian continued up the stairs towards Lillie's office. As he entered he saw the woman sobbing in Lillie's arms.

Lillie looked up from the crying woman as she heard Julian enter and looked pained. The woman's distress was effecting Lillie as well; she could sense the overwhelming emotions that were bubbling up inside the young woman, one of the gifts of the Toreador Clan. Pulling away from Melissa, Lillie rose to leave as Julian sat beside her.

Julian carefully sat beside the young woman and let his power of dominance flow over her like warm water. Melissa felt her sorrow lifting as she felt her eyes drawn up to be captured in Julian's now silver tinged eyes. She recognized the change in eye color to be similar to the change that Ted's had taken but Julian's being not as threatening and frightening. "Now, I want you to describe to me what happened in the alley, calmly."

Her will was not her own as the story of what took place escaped her lips. She described the two men that her and Sandra had met. The way that Ted distracted her while his friend killed hers and then Ted's attack against her and how she had managed to get away, up to the point when Cash came to her rescue. When she was finished describing the incident her eyes were still fixed with his. He then proceeded to ask her, her name and where she lived, which she had no trouble in telling him. As she finished he swept his hand over her eyes sending her to unconsciousness and looked up at Lillie, who had been intently listening the entire time.

Lillie came up to Julian, taking his hand into hers, "It will take a lot to surpress this from her memory. Something like this will eventually come back to the surface."

"Then we keep a close eye on her," he replied mater of factly, "I don't like this Lillie, they acted with no hesitation at risking the Masquerade and my wrath." Standing he started pacing the room, "I've already asked Cash and his Clan to find who did this," Julian paused looking towards the unconscious woman, "I'm amazed that she was able to get away, that she's alive right now. I'll get her to her house and meet you at the mansion. We'll have the conclave meeting there tomorrow instead of here, there will be enough attention focused at the club that someone will notice."

Lillie pulled herself closer to her on again off again lover, "We will find the one responsible. The Gangrel are the best when it comes to tracking. He will be found."

Within the Haven the band started to disperse and the guests left the building one by one, human and Kindred, though some of the Kindred stayed behind. It would not be long now until the police would arrive.

Detective Frank Kohanek drove his car towards the Haven, an all too familiar place, as Sonny his partner sat beside him. From what he had heard from the dispatch he knew that there was a specific reason for him and Sonny to be on the case, Kindred had to be involved. Not long after he had found out about the Kindred did he start having more and more cases with their kind involved. Turning yet another corner Frank could see the club and police vehicles. Turning towards the back of the club towards the alley they stopped just outside the yellow line of the police tape and parked the car.

Exiting the car Frank and Sonny slipped under the police tape being met by an officer. The officer glanced at the badges that the two detectives flashed them and continued to lead them towards the crime scene. The scene was lit with two large police lights and a continuous flash of a camera as photos were taken of the victim and the crime scene.

Kneeling down besides the victim Frank lifted the white blood soaked sheet that lay over the body and saw the woman's body. It was obvious what the cause of death was and he dropped the sheet quickly mumbling to him self, "Oh man."

Sonny stood just above his partner, the scent of blood extremely strong to his Kindred sense of smell, "That bad," he replied.

Frank stood from where the victim lied covered looking to his partner, "Yeah, that bad. It looks like someone ripped the poor girl's throat out."

Going past his partner Sonny took a look at what his partner described and agreed with Franks diagnostic of cause of death. Past the blood and gore he could also see that this was once a very attractive young woman, a waste. He could tell that there was a lot less blood than there should have been, making him suspect his own kind behind the vicious and fatal attack. "I agree. Do you want to ask the person who found her body the questions or I?"

Leaving the body Detectives Frank and Sonny continued towards the back door of the Haven. As soon as entering the Haven they were pointed towards the person who had found the woman's body. Frank recognized the person or should he say Kindred, known as Cash, and was a bit surprised. Leaning casually against one of the walls of the club Cash barely took notice of the two approaching him, though he was well aware that they were coming. With hands comfortably set into his leather coat jacket his eyes met theirs as they reached him.

Frank wasn't one to beat around the bush, "So, how did you come across finding the body?"

"I stepped outside to get some fresh air when I thought I saw something strange in the alley," he wasn't going to say that he caught the scent of her blood, "when I went to see what it was I saw her."

"Did you see anyone leaving the alley or go into the alley before you stepped outside?" Frank continued.

"No," was all the answer the detective was going to get from him, "Look, I found the body then contacted you guys. Can I go now?"Before Frank could ask another question Sonny cut in, "Thank you."

Cash nodded and headed off before Frank had time to argue. Frank watched as Cash left and turned to his partner, "What did you do that for?"Sonny looked to his partner as if confused, "I thought you were through besides if he was the one that did it I doubt that he would have called us or hang around here to speak with us."

As the investigation went on Frank and Sonny found out the identity of the young woman as Sandra Blake a twenty-five-year old with San Francisco license. She lived and resided within San Francisco in an apartment on Lakeshore Dr. Going back to the alley they both searched the crime scene finding nothing that would be helpful to the investigation. As the coroner gathered the body of the murder victim Frank and Sonny returned to the old blue Chevrolet.

Frank sighed heavily, he hated these kind of crimes, from what they had seen there would be little evidence that would help them to figure out who did the murder and it would probably end up being one of those unsolved cases. Sonny looked over to his partner, "Are we going to the woman's apartment?"

Frank continued to drive, "Yeah, but I don't think we'll find much to help us on this one. " the rest of the drive was continued in silence.

They had not long ago left the city as they continued towards the address of the young woman laying unconscious beside Julian. Shortly after leaving the crowded city they were now greeted by a wealthy suburban neighborhood. The houses that they passed by were well proportioned away from each other giving each home the feel of privacy, much to Julian's relief. There would be little chance of a nosy neighbor seeing them arrive. As they continued up the drive of the intended house Julian wondered how someone so young could be so well off, a inheritance perhaps or she had a very successful career, either way his informants would provide him with the information he needed to discover that mystery soon enough.

Lorraine gave a low whistle, as she pulled up into the drive, who ever this person was that they were dropping off was loaded. The large two-story house was wondrously beautiful, not bad at all, though the Gangril mostly preferred the freedom of not owning a home, to roam as they pleased, dependent on no one. Parking the limousine Lorraine exited and opened the door for Julian.

Julian emerged from the car not too long after the door had been opened for him as he carried Melissa towards the house. While he had questioned her, she had told him about how she had an extra key to the house hidden within a flowerpot beside the door. Reaching the house door at the top of the stairs, Julian easily maneuvered the young woman in his arms so that he had one arm free as he found the key within the flowerpot just where she had informed him. As he quietly entered the house he noted several boxes aligned along the hallways and within some of the rooms that he had past. She had evidently just moved and had yet to finish unpacking, another mystery to unravel. Laying her gently down on her bedroom bed he carefully removed her shoes and then her clothing. He hated to have to invade her privacy so, but her clothes had been torn and bloodied a little. Julian was careful not to look too much, though he did take a little notice, she was a very lovely woman. He would have to be blind not to take notice. After he found a nightgown he carefully placed it over her head and shoulders and tucked her into the bed.

Sitting at the edge of the bed he watched her as she rolled over on her side facing him and cupped her hands underneath the side of her face. A strand of her dark brown curly hair fell into her face, which he delicately placed the strand back away. His fingers lingered over her soft warm skin a moment before returning his hand to himself. He could not deny the slight attraction he had for the human woman and wondered if he might not just keep an eye on her. Smiling to himself he stood from her bed, looking around the large bedroom.

The room was not as filled with boxes as the others looking as though it had had the most attention than the rest of the house. Across from her large redwood four poster bed stood a quaint entertainment center decorated with assorted figurines of Unicorns, dolphins, and wizards. Above the entertainment center hung a large picture of a knight and a lady and beside that picture on each side were a small picture of two different types of fairies, one in each frame. The room was decorated in a type of medieval fantasy theme, not cluttered like a child would have but spread out tastefully in a charming way. One could tell a lot about a person by a person's room and what he saw was a dreamer, a person that still held on to the hopes and dreams of a child. He was becoming more and more curious as to finding out about this human woman. Exiting the bedroom he glanced once more towards the sleeping woman now more than ever wanting to know her.

Devin stood before his Childe enraged by the reckless Kindred before him. Ted recoiled as his Sire struck him hard across the cheek leaving a trickling trail of blood from the now quickly healing wound Devin had inflicted. Devin's nostrils flared as his eyes flickered with silver, "Stupid fool. You let her live. Do you have any idea how you've endangered ourselves by this?" he seethed.

Ted did not even try to whip away the blood on his cheek as he lowered his head down in shame, "Forgive me, please. If that stupid Gangril didn't show up…"

Devin quickly cut him off, "It's too late for what ifs. Damn it, by now the Prince knows of us and has probably sent his lackeys out to search for us. Now because of YOU we have to be a lot more conspicuous. I will not let this matter kill our chances at owning this city." Looking away from his Childe, Devin sat lazily in the large velvet chair. He would have to put his plan into work a lot sooner than he had anticipated.

Ted watched his Sire as he fingered the driver's license in his hand. Just before he escaped from being shot at he had picked up the woman's drivers license. She had escaped him but he was not planing on letting that bitch get away so easily the next time, besides he hated loose ends and she was just that, a loose end. The Prince probably buried her memory of his attack and would probably assign one of his Kindred lackeys to watch over her, so he would have to be careful. Unlike his Sire, Ted had patience and he would wait as long as he had to till he would take what was supposed to be his, her.

It was so dark and cold as she ran, ran for her very life. Someone was behind her chasing her. She could not for the life of her look back to see what she was running from but she knew that she was terrified. Just when she thought that she might had eluded her pressure she felt his hand clinching her wrist. Wrenching her wrist away from her attacker she lunged away from him but fell to the hard ground with a thud. Looking down she was laying in something wet and sticky and as she looked down to see what it was she stifled a scream as she saw the blood soaking into her clothes and her skin.

Melissa's body jerked up from her nightmare as her consciousness slipped out of the horrible dream and she was now aware that she was comfortably in her bed. Struggling to open her eyes her vision cleared to see at the foot of her bed a person standing there. The figure stood at the foot of her bed for a moment and then was gone but the image was well imbedded within her mind. She was sure that it was Sandra but what disturbed her more than anything was how she had looked. Blood covered the front of her dress her hand holding her throat as she was reaching out to her. Her heart beat fiercely within her chest as she closed and opened her eyes over and over again as she tried to shake the image from her very mind.

Rolling out of bed Melissa reached for her workout clothes making herself believe that it was just part of her disturbing dream. After she would take her usual run around the neighborhood and return to do some kick boxing she would call her friend. Melissa laughed at herself for the ridiculousness of the morning. Yes, a run would do her good and help her clear her mind of the nonsense of her dream.

Outside of the house hidden from view a man sat on his motorcycle in wait. Cash watched over the house wearing his helmet to help protect him from the sun's rays. He had fed recently, giving him plenty of protection from the sun, but still the sun was not pleasant to his pale skin. Just as he heard the slamming of the house door he watched as the young woman from last night emerged from the house dressed in biker shorts and a sports bra. He would have to follow her but keep from her view, the last thing he needed was for her to see him following her. His watch over the woman would only be temporary until they found someone to take on the job on a more permanent basis.

Melissa stepped outside and breathed in cool air around her. The sky was clear and it looked like it was going to be a very pleasant day. Stretching on the porch she tucked the key underneath the flowerpot just before she headed out towards the neighborhood streets. She planned on running a few blocks around the neighborhood to get warmed up before she started in on her kickboxing. Letting her legs take over she concentrated on her plans for the day. She would first call her friend Sandra and then maybe go over to her place. Sandra had promised to show her around the city and point out all the hot spots that they were going to try. Sandra had lived in San Francisco all of her life making her the perfect tour guide. Melissa was glad she had met her a couple of weeks ago, it had been lonely since she moved here, though it was lonely where she was from but here there were fewer memories to haunt her. Here she could start a new life and get it together. With the inheritance and the occasional contract programming jobs she would do she was well off. The only problem being that she barely knew anyone and pretty much kept to herself.

She frowned at how hard it had been just to make friends and wondered for the millionth time if she had made the right decision about moving here. Melissa forced herself to smile, she wasn't going to worry about things like she had the habit of doing. At the thought of her friend the vision from that morning hit suddenly causing her to put more into her run. She wasn't going to think about that stupid dream. If she concentrated enough on the run it would disappear from all thought. Turning another corner she could see her house coming up and started to slow her run into a light jog and then into a walk. Sweating and thirsty as can be Melissa quickly swept the key from under the flowerpot and went into the house to grab a glass of water before she would head out to the back. Tall glass in hand she slid the glass door open and walked out into her back yard.

Closing the back door she paused as she took in the beautiful large backyard. It was one of the main reasons she had bought the place. The large swimming pool lied within the middle of the yard a large rock formation towering just behind it as water ran smoothly over the rocks and into the pool. She had always wanted a swimming pool just like the one that the house had and now she had one. It was amazing how much life can change within the time frame of a year, though she would give it all back just to have them back. Her smile turned into a frown as her thoughts went to a year ago when both her parents had died in a car accident leaving her with a large inheritance but totally alone.

Turning away from the swimming pool she made her way towards the side of the yard where a large punching bag hung from a silver poll. Wiping the tears away she started her routine before pounding her frustration and anger into the punching bag before her. Never once when she was working out did she notice the man in the motorcycle helmet watching her.

Cash noted the changing of expressions on the young woman's face and wondered if she was maybe remembering some of what happened that night. He would have to tell Julian when he was relieved from watching her what he had observed. There was much sorrow and anger within her eyes but a strength as well as determination. He watched as she made her skillful blows towards the punching bag and couldn't help but be a little impressed. She was a fighter, he had seen that when he had come to her rescue, even though she acted like a frightened child, she kept her cool a little more than he would expect from a human after an attack she had just survived.

Calling it quits from her vigorous workout Melissa headed back into the house to take a shower. Peeling off her work out clothes she stepped into the large shower closing the glass door as she entered. Standing to the side she turned on the water warming it up to the right temperature just before she stood underneath. Emerging her head underneath the soothing water she closed her eyes taking in the soothing caress of pouring water against her skin. After washing and shaving she reluctantly tore herself away from the shower by turning off the water. Stepping out she dried herself off and got ready for the day.

Now dressed and ready to go Melissa was on her hands and knees looking for her car keys. "Damn, where the hell did I put them!" she shouted to no one in particular. 'This is just great' she mentally berated herself, 'you can remember something that happened to you a year ago but you can't find something you had seen just yesterday. Damn it…Okay, just calm down, I'm never going to find them if I panic. Now think, where did I put them…' Getting off the floor she tried to retrace her steps from the night before but was coming up with a complete blank. Leaving her bedroom she started towards her workroom where she kept a set of spare keys in her desk.

Reaching her desk she pulled open the door and grabbed her key. Smiling in victory she headed towards the garage and her smile slipped completely. The garage was empty, "Shit!" she continued through the door and walked around the empty room with her mouth dropped open in disbelief. There went her plans for that day. Wanting to cry but keeping herself from doing so she went back inside the house and grabbed her phone to start making calls. First, she knew that she would have to call the police to file a report, then she would have to call her insurance to file a claim. Finally she would have to find out where she was going to rent a car until one, her car is found or two, she would have to buy a new one, she prayed for the first option.

After a few hours on the phone she rubbed her eyes and let her head sink onto the desk before her. She had papers scattered across her work desk with numbers of her insurance, the police, and other information. Looking at her clock that hung on the wall she wondered where the hell the police were. It had been two hours since she had called them and she was starting to get impatient. Though the police were still not there, she had managed to get a lot done. Thankfully her insurance company covered this current situation and would help her to buy a new car, though she had the money to do it. She was also waiting on the car that was supposed to be delivered to her house by the rental agency she had made arrangements with. It had taken some part of her charm to persuade them to drop the car off at her home, but when she insisted that money would be no problem they were all too eager to please. Money could not buy happiness but it sure as hell made life a lot easier to manage when put in tight situations such as this one.

Detective Frank Kohanek was not at all pleased with the lack of leads that he and his partner had received thus far in the investigation. After he had left his partner at the station and headed back to his place he was not able to get much sleep. The poor woman's mangled body would not let him sleep in peace as her image kept appearing in his dreams. Sitting up from his bed after maybe a few hours of sleep he rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. Since he was obviously not going to get any sleep he decided to freshen up and go back to the victims apartment to take another look around. He decided if that didn't reveal any new leads that he would start asking the neighbors questions and as he dried off and changed into his regular jeans and tee shirt he decided that maybe, just maybe he would find something that would help him in the case. He just hopped that he would be able to stay awake when he went back on duty.

After looking through the woman's apartment Frank continued his investigation by knocking on the doors of the tenants residing on that floor. Just when he was about to give up and go home he decided to knock on one more door. Waiting he was about to walk off when he heard someone on the other end of the door unlocking what sounded like several locks on the door and cracked the door opened.

An old woman peeked out at the young man and regarded him suspiciously, "What do you want?" she snapped.

Detective Frank put on his most friendly smile as he pulled out his wallet to show his badge, "I'm sorry to disturb you mam, but could I have a few words with you?"

The old woman looked at the badge placing her glasses on her nose as she looked and examined the badge closely. Closing the door Frank heard the sliding of the dead bolt and watched as the woman opened the door. After she invited him in he followed her into the old woman's apartment. Which was cluttered with nick knacks and pictures.

Leaving the detective in the living room she gathered her best china and tea and returned with a tray. "Please, have a seat. I rarely get any visitors. Oh, and sorry about my warm reception at the door. Can never be too careful."

Frank sat obediently on the couch and waited for the old woman to do the same before he started his questioning. "Did you know a tenant by the name of Sandra Blake?"

The old woman stopped in mid reach as she was about to poor the detective and herself some tea, "She's alright isn't she? A sweet girl, she comes over on a regular basis and keeps me company."

Frank swallowed, he hated being the bearer of bad news, "I'm sorry…"

The old woman held her hand to her mouth as she knew what he was going to tell her. She really liked the young woman and it broke her heart to know that she would never see her sweet face again. Regaining her composure she sat back in the chair, death was not a rare thing in her old life and was not something she was unfamiliar with but it still hurt, "What do you need to know? She told me just about everything."

Frank was a little taken back at how well the woman was taking this and continued, "Did she happen to tell you anything about what she was going to do or go out with Saturday night?"

"Oh, she was going to that club. Oh, what's it called?" she raked her brain for the name of the place. Her memory was as sharp as nails when it came to dates or people but precise places she sometimes was a little shaky in that area.

"The Haven," Frank helped her, hoping that she could shine some light on the case.

"Oh, yes that was it. She was going to go with that Melissa girl. Have you spoken with her?"

"Melissa, Melissa who?"

The old woman shakily stood from her chair, "Wait just a moment." She started towards a table that stood in the doors hall way picking up a small book she opened it, "Yes, Melissa Davidson." Looking up at the detective she made her way towards him and handed him her address book to allow him to write down the woman's address and phone number.

Frank couldn't help but to grin, his hunch had paid off. If Sandra had went with someone to the club why was she not at the club. Jotting down the information in his notepad he said his thank yous and left to go pay a visit to this person.

Melissa smiled as she saw the two cars pull up in her driveway. The first car that pulled up was a very nice red corvette followed by a plain midnight blue Honda civic. As she answered the door she took the papers handed to her by the person at the door and accepted the keys as she thanked the man and handed him her check. Looking at the car once more she made her way back into living room and sat on the floor to continue her unpacking. She wanted to go over to Sandra's but no one was home and she had to wait for the police to show up to take down her stolen car report. Immersing herself in unpacking took away from the aggravation of having to wait.

Hearing the doorbell Melissa got up from the floor and opened the door. As she opened the door she saw a young man with wavy brown hair and light blue eyes. She was relieved when she saw him pull out his wallet and showed her his badge. Opening the door wider she allowed detective Frank in. "About time you guys showed up I've been waiting here for hours."

Frank's brows hunched together as he heard her comment, "Ms. Davidson, I don't know who you were expecting but…"

"You mean your not here about my stolen car?" she was starting to feel a little foolish about having jumped to conclusions.

"Ah, sorry, no. Do you know a Sandra Blake?" he decided that getting to the point would be best.

"Yes…why do you ask?" Melissa could feel her heart sinking back into her stomach, the vision from that morning leaping back into her mind.

Frank looked over her carefully noting her sudden paleness, "You might want to sit down."

Tears were starting to well up as she slowly sat down on the couch the feeling of dèja-vu overwhelming her. She knew this routine, had lived it a year ago when the police had come to her house to tell her about her parents accident.

Frank immediately sat beside the woman, who looked like she was about to break down into tears. Man did he sometimes hate his job, "I'm sorry, she was found early this morning behind the club, the Haven. I spoke with Miss. Tamperson who lives down the hall from Sandra and she had said that you were supposed to have gone with her to the club last night."

Melissa felt her heart wrench, her friend was gone, ripped from the world like she was nothing. The tears flowed freely now as she let the news sink in. Forcing herself to be strong she explained to Frank that they were supposed to go out together last night but she had bowed out. Melissa was starting to feel as if it were her fault, had she only gone with her friend, she wouldn't be having this conversation with the detective. The pain started to die out as she started to feel numb, "If…If, I…had gone with her. Oh, god. How…how?"

Frank held the young woman's hand in an attempt to comfort her but knew the effort was worthless, "She was murdered. I know this is hard but do you know if she had any enemies or an ex-boyfriend that would want to hurt her?"

Melissa shook her head no, "Not that I know of but I've only known her for a few weeks. I just moved here and…" she trailed off as she wished that she had known her better, had spent more time with her, had only gone with her. Damn, she hated herself at the moment.

Disappointed that his trail had run cold Frank pulled out his card and stood, "Here's my card, if you think of anything that might help please feel free to call." Frank paused for a moment as he looked down at the now upset woman, "Will you be alright?" God, he felt like a hill for asking but felt that he had to.

Melissa nodded getting up to show the detective out. Closing the door she slumped against it sliding down until she sat on the floor. Her and Sandra weren't close, but she was the first person that Melissa had let in since her parent's death and now she had lost her only friend. Now she was alone. The tears raked over her as she openly wept the loss of a friend. After an hour of crying she pulled herself off of the floor wiping the tears form her now reddened eyes. She couldn't let herself do what she did a year ago and was bound and determined that she would just go on with her life. "Life, yeah right," she whispered to herself, "I lock myself away in this house and keep to myself and now the one person I let in is ripped from me."

Opening the sliding glass door she stood at the edge of the pool and then looked up at the sky above her refusing to cry any more. Anger rose within her throat like acid as she shouted out into the sky, "I hate you. How many more people that I care about are you going to take away from me?" She wanted to lash out at whom ever it was that handed out fate. It seemed cruel to her as of late.

Cash watched as Detective Frank came and then left Melissa's house. 'This is just great' he thought to himself, 'Julian's not going to like this.' He sat on the hill overlooking the house and sighed. Not only were his Gangrel having no success in finding the Kindred Julian wanted found, now Frank had made a connection with Melissa and Sandra. His self-brooding was cut short as he watched Melissa enter the back yard and scream out into the sky. Cash frowned wishing that there were some way that he could help ease her pain but knowing that he could not.

Within the Luna Mansion, Julian sat over his desk looking intensely at the papers in his hands. A manila envelope sat underneath severally neatly laid out sheets. Gently laying down the papers he had just finished reading, he leaned back in his chair propping his elbows on the armrest and folding his hands under his chin. The papers he had just finished reading were the documents informing him of the human woman's past and present. Her past definitely making him ache for her. She had been through a lot in the past year. He was right about how she was able to afford her home, it was an inheritance and the fact that she was a successful client/server computer programmer. The inheritance was received a year ago after the tragic death of both of her parents in a car accident. She was the sole surviving relative of the family and was left literally alone by the tragedy. Just recently she had moved here to San Francisco from Texas and started doing contract work for major companies. She had finished two so far and was being given high appraisal of her work. He was even considering recommending her to some of his own companies, impressed by her success at such an early age of twenty-six.

The light tap at his door brought him out of his brooding as he called out, "Come in."

His secretary Miriam opened the door allowing Cash entrance. Cash entered without hesitation and proceeded towards the desk where Julian sat. Julian eyed him closely before ending the silence between them, "I thought I had instructed you to watch over Melissa."

Cash was the Primagen of the Gangril Clan, not a babysitter, though he was concerned for the young woman that he had rescued. He tried to ignore the Prince insult, "I've assigned Ray to take my place and watch her. Detective Kohanek had visited her today and I thought that you would want to know. I'm not sure what he said to her."

Julian sat back in his chair in thought. He had already spoken with Sonny about the investigation and he had said nothing about any leads that they had stumbled upon. Ignoring Cash's presence Julian immediately picked up his phone and called Sonny. The phone rang only once when he heard Sonny's voice on the other end, "Frank knows about Melissa. Go and find out what he knows." Julian had hung up the phone before Sonny could make any comment and returned his attention back to the young Kindred before him, "Thank you. Is there anything else?"

Cash smiled, "Well, I found out that she knows kick boxing and had a corvette delivered to her house today, probably a rental. The police came by her house a little bit before I left, she was filing a report for her missing car."

Satisfied with the information Julian nodded to the Gangril Primagen, an obvious signal that he could go. Julian watched his bodyguard leave the room and stood from his desk making his way towards the blazing fireplace. Looking into the fire he mussed to himself how much time he was going wait before he would approach her. Having her on watch wasn't enough, he needed someone close to her and decided that he would be that very person. He hadn't met a woman yet who could withstand his charms, a human woman not a Kindred woman. He smiled slightly at the thought.

A week had past since the dreadful day when she had been told about Sandra's murder. She had attended the funeral but left shortly after not wanting to stay any longer than necessary. She knew that she had to go to say goodbye but the memories of her parents funeral still fresh in her mind made it all the harder to stay. It was reliving it all over again. She had stayed at home for almost the whole week only going out when she needed groceries. Melissa distracted herself by unpacking and decorating her house and now she stood in the living room looking about at her finished work and smiled.

The loss of her friend did not lay as heavily on her heart as the first few days and she was starting to feel like her old self again. Melissa felt slightly guilty about it but the fact was that she really didn't know Sandra all that well. Not really wanting to spend another day at home she changed just before she grabbed her purse and headed for the door. After driving around San Francisco for a few hours Melissa parked her car in front of a large Barnes and Noble bookstore. Melissa never noticed the dark Mercedes with tinted windows following her and parked just across the street from her.

She loved to read and inhaled deeply as she entered the bookstore, the scent of paper weighing heavily in the air with the mixture of coffee. Towards the side of the store by the windows small tables with chairs were laid out as well as a small coffee shop within the store. It was the perfect place to sit and read, though she really didn't care for coffee. She never could get herself to like it. Making her way further into the bookstore she slowly looked over the books carefully reading the sections until she came upon the fantasy section.

Seeing a book that particularly caught her eye she reached for the paper back only to have her hand collide with someone else's. She looked to the person to apologize and almost lost the ability to speak. He was very handsome with dark black hair combed back, his eyes were the darkest brown and he was wearing an Armani suit. "Oh…Excuse me."

He smiled at her making her want to swoon, "No, excuse me. I am sorry, please."

He made to hand her the book that she was reaching for and she took it a little shyly, his fingers lightly lingering on hers before he removed his hand. His eyes never left hers as he handed it to her and she looked away suddenly embarrassed by the way he was currently looking at her. Focussing fully on the book in her hand she started to read what it was about and frowned, not what she was looking for. Looking up she saw that he was still there and started to hand him the book, "Here, it's not what I had hoped for."

Julian took the book she handed back, "And what is it you were hoping for?"

Melissa smiled and looked away at the books a lined in front of her, "Something a little more original. I think I've read that story plot in about three different books. Different tittle but same story." She was hoping that he would lose interest and walk away. He made her a little nervous, well new people often made her a little nervous but there was something about him. She wasn't sure if it was a good feeling or not and with her past luck with meeting people it was probably not.

Julian watched her as she tried to pay attention to the books in front of her. He could see that she was watching him at the corner of her eye. Her eyes were beautiful, an enticing hazel and her hair was pulled back with a few strands falling about her face and neck. Her fair skin so perfect and warm he wanted to touch her but refrained. He started to act as if he were looking through the volumes in front of him, not wanting to scare her away.

She could not help but to look over at the man standing beside her not really able to concentrate on the books in front of her. When he caught her in the act of staring she grabbed a book at random and acted as if she were reading it. In truth she couldn't make out a single sentence as she was deep in thought about what to do. 'Oh, God, he is not going away. Okay, its not like he's hideous or anything. Say something. Hi I'm Melissa, no, Melissa and you are, no, just keep looking at the book maybe he'll make the first move. Oh, hasn't he already? The way he touched my hand when he handed me that book. Oh, Melissa, calm down your acting ridiculous. He's just a man, okay so he's absolutely gorgeous. Come on, the reason why your still single is because you're always so careful and picky, live a little.' After the quick discussion with her self she put down the book and took a deep breath turning towards him and he was gone. 'Damn, you took too long to decide and you will probably never see him again. I am an idiot! Idiot…idiot…idiot.' After she was done hitting her self mentally she turned back towards the books. Picking up another volume she started to read the description and was convinced that it was what she was looking for.

Deciding to pay for the book she sat at one of the tables by the window after she had ordered some mineral water. She didn't want to be rude and just sit there without having ordered something, since she obviously would not order coffee. Sitting down Melissa hung her purse over the back of her chair and when she turned the man she had met earlier was standing in front of her. Melissa looked up and smiled which he returned when he asked her if he could join her she couldn't refuse.

"May I." He sat as soon as she nodded for him to do so. As he sat he watched her as she looked nervously towards her glass of water. As soon as he was comfortable someone placed coffee in front of him. He thanked the young man that had brought it and returned his gaze towards her, "I see you found something original."

Melissa looked at the cover of her book and then back to the man in front of her, "Yes, I'm Melissa Davidson by the way." There she finally did it she actually made a move.

"Julian Luna. Come here often?" for the life of him he couldn't think of anything other than that to say. For the first time in a long time, Julian Luna, Ventrue and Prince of the City, actually felt slightly nervous.

Melissa smiled, "Actually this is my first time here. I just moved here from Texas a month ago."

"Really," he was relieved that she was starting to open up, "What part of Texas?"

"Dallas," she couldn't believe that this was starting to feel so easy, natural, right. This was the first time that she actually felt comfortable talking with someone, her nervousness drifting away like a cloud. "So, do you come here often?"

"Not really, I just saw this place and felt compelled to come inside." He couldn't actually say that he had followed her in an attempt to meet her and ask her out. "I'm glad I did." His heart almost fluttered as he watched her cheeks flush and her eyes look down towards her book.

She felt her cheeks flush and looked away in an attempt to hide it. He was handsome and charming, go figure. The way he had said that last statement made her glad that she was sitting down. She was silent, what do you say after a comment like that? After a moment of silence she looked back towards him, her eyes locking with his. She felt her cheeks flush once more and wished that her body would quit doing that. "I…uh. Did you find anything?" there she said something that formed a coherent sentence.

Julian smiled at her attempted to hide her embarrassment and the innocent statement that she probably didn't realize had a double meaning, "Yes, I think that I have."

Melissa seeing that he didn't purchase a book and was empty handed understood what he meant and quickly took a sip of her water trying to hide her smile. "So," she bit her bottom lip in thought not sure what else to say.

He saved her from having to, "Do you, by any chance, have plans for tomorrow night?"

She couldn't believe it, someone was asking her to go out on a date. It had been so long since anyone that she found attractive had asked her out on a date. "No, not really."

"Can I occupy your time tomorrow night for dinner then?" the way she smiled told him that she was going to say yes.

"That would be nice. Here…" she pulled her purse out and reached inside. Her business cards were in the side pocket of her purse, easy to reach and made introductions a lot easier. "this has my home phone number and address."

Taking the offered card he glanced at the plain white business card and flipped it over to look at the back where it had her address printed on the back in black pen. Placing it within the inside pocket of his dress jacket he frowned as he saw that she was about to leave.

She had stayed there way too long and had other things that she needed to do, one being to buy a new car. Placing her purse over her shoulder as she started to stand she smiled, "I'm sorry but I need to get going."

He stood as she did and took her delicately by the hand kissing the back of it gently, "Till tomorrow night."

She felt faint from the light moist touch of his lips to the back of her hand and watched in bewilderment as he freed her hand. This was just to good to be true, was she dreaming. She looked away finally realizing that she was staring and started for the door. Melissa could have sworn that he was watching her as she left, she could practically feel his eyes on her back watching her leave.

Julian stood and watched as she left his eyes never leaving her until she disappeared from his view. He had followed her in hopes to meet her and seduce her with his charms, he didn't think that his plan would backfire. This woman awakened a fire within him that had been long buried. He knew the attraction of Kindred towards humans but there was something more to it than that. For the first time in a long time he felt a little giddy about the dinner date tomorrow night and remembered that the last time he had actually felt this way was before he became Kindred. When he first touched her skin he had felt an attraction towards her. The softness of her skin the warmth that pulsed from her very soul. Making his way towards the door he was met by his bodyguard Cash who was smiling knowingly to his Prince.

Cash had watched everything as he stood watch over his Prince and could sense that there was more going on between the mortal woman and the Kindred Prince. Cash followed silently as he followed Julian out towards the limo where Lorraine was waiting with door open. Cash followed Julian into the limo and the protection the limo provided from the sun. The ride back to the mansion was silent.

Within the dark Mercedes behind the tinted windows Ted watched as Julian Luna, Prince and Ventrue emerged from the bookstore that he had just watched Melissa exit. He had seen through the windows of the bookstore the exchange between her and the Ventrue Prince seething in rage. Watching the limo drive away Ted angrily ran his hands through his blond hair successfully pulling out some of his own hair with the act. Eyes flashing silver as he watched the limo fade from view. 'She is mine you Vintrue dog…' his thoughts raged just before he pulled himself out from going into a frenzy.

Tonight he would satisfy his rage when he and his Sire take pleasure in killing more of the kin. 'Them and there laws. Once we start to expose the Prince and his followers for what they really are they would be easy to take down. Leaving room for our Clan to take over and the city will be ours. Once the news about our victims come out in the papers and news reports, the vampire hunters will come and distract the Prince enough for us to make our move and take over.' He smiled to himself as he pictured the blood that would literally spill within the city and started his car to return to his lair.

Melissa looked at herself in the mirror and groaned. Tearing her dress off she threw it to the floor with five other dresses that she had discarded. It had been a very long time since she had actually gone out on a date and she didn't know what to wear. Most of the dresses that she did have were too businessy. Frowning she pushed through the closet full of clothes and stopped when she found what she was looking for. Smiling at finding the dress she pulled it over her head and looked at the effect. It was a simple sleeveless red dress that came down to her knees. The dress color went well with her complexion and accented her curves flatteringly. Added with her black pantyhose and black pumps she looked great. To finish her look she had pulled her hair up into an French twist letting some strands fall about her face and put on her favorite diamond earrings and silver chained necklace with a small diamond at its center. "I hope this isn't too much. Maybe…Oh hell, you look great girl you're just nervous." She smiled at her reflection as she finished talking to herself. Exiting the room she noticed that it was almost eight o'clock and started down the stairs knowing that he would be arriving soon. She couldn't help the butterflies that flew about in her stomach thinking that she would probably barely touch her food at dinner.

Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs she heard the doorbell, "Just a minute," she called as she headed to the door. Pausing at the door she smoothed the front of her dress and opened the door. Julian Luna stood at the door wearing a similar suit that he had worn when she had first met him looking devilishly handsome. "Come in." she invited as she stepped to the side to allow him entrance.

Julian smiled as soon as he saw her beautiful face and the dress that she was wearing made him glad that he had fed before coming to pick her up. The transformation from the woman that he met in the bookstore and the one that greeted him at the door made his heart race. She was a vision and it was taking all of his strength not to pull her into his arms and kiss her passionately right then and there. "Melissa, you look lovely this evening."

Melissa smiled at the compliment and continued towards the living room, "Let me get my purse and I'll be ready to go."

He watched her as she walked towards the couch grabbing her black purse and turned to face him. He was almost on top of her making her heart sink and her breath catch in her throat. She had not heard him approach her, "Shall we?" she said nervously.

Julian offered his arm and she took it and made their way towards the door. After she had locked the house and continued towards the driveway she couldn't help but to draw in a quick breath. She looked to the limo and then to the man beside her about to say something when she saw a man emerge from the limo opening the door for them. Entering the limousine she was awe struck at actually being inside one.

Julian smiled at her surprise of the limo in front of her house and the way she was carefully looking about her surrounding in total fascination. As the door to the limousine closed he instructed the chauffeur to drive and then concentrated his attention to the woman beside him. "I hope you like Italian, I've made reservations at the Acquerello."

"Oh, I love Italian," she looked around the limo once again and noticed the two people up front and then looked back to Julian who was watching her intently making her blush.

Julian loved the way her skin blushed under his gaze and the way she would look shyly away. He could hear her heart racing and moved a little closer feeling the warmth that illuminated from her. She smelled lovely and he couldn't stop himself as he reached up and lightly traced his fingers along the smooth skin of her arm.

Melissa closed her eyes at his touch and shivered as she felt something stir from within. She unconsciously swallowed and wet her lips as she opened her eyes and looked to the man next to her. Slightly uncomfortable about the feelings he was starting to arouse within her she thought quickly for something to say to distract her from the tingling feeling from his touch, "I hope your not spending to much on me tonight."

Julian smiled seductively at her attempt to change the current mood but moved his hand away respecting her unspoken wish to take things more slowly. "Not at all. Tell me about yourself."

Melissa felt a little disappointed when he had moved his hand away from her but relieved. She was very old fashioned when it came to dating and was ashamed at the thoughts his touch were bringing about. "Well, as you know, I just moved here a few months ago. I haven't really had time to see much of the city with my work and everything."

"Oh, what is it that you do?" he already knew from the information that was provided to him per his request but she didn't know that he knew.

"I'm a computer programmer. I do mainly contracts. What do you do?"

He smiled at her question, 'If you only knew', "I own several businesses which I supervise over."

'That explains the limo,' she mused to herself, 'he must be extremely well off. Like I really care about money though.' "Oh, so are you from here then?"

"Yes." With that said they had finally reached the restaurant. Melissa and Julian continued their conversation over a candle lit dinner. The restaurant was scarcely populated giving them much privacy.

Melissa sipped the wine in front of her as she finished the last of her meal. After they had talked openly she was starting to feel quite comfortable with him. 'I wonder what mom would have thought about him?' the thought invaded her mind and made her almost choke on the wine. The thought of her mother made her smile disappear as the sad memories of the last words she had exchanged with her mother just before the accident ruined a perfectly good evening.

Julian noticed her sudden change, "Are you alright?"

Slowly she placed the wine back down on the table and placed the napkin from her lap onto the table, "Yes, I'm fine. Excuse me for a moment."

Julian stood as she did so, watching her retreat towards the bathroom with a frown. He wished that he knew what it was that he had said to affect her so.

Melissa made her way towards the bathroom quickly locking the stall that she entered and leaned against the door. She tried to block the memory from her mind and gain some semblance of control as the tears threatened to escape from her eyes.

"Melissa, you're being ridiculous." Her mother had harshly spoken to her daughter.

"Mom, why can't you understand? All my life I've done everything that you've wanted me to do. For once can you let me do something that I want." Melissa was tired of this. Tired of the way her mother always treated her as if she didn't know how to take care of her self, as if she were still a child.

"I have never made you do anything that you didn't want to do! Me and your father have practically bent backwards trying to support you and this is how you repay us. By acting like a spoiled brat and quitting your job so you can waste it doing what?" She didn't want to hear this.

"God, you always do this? You never listen to me and what I want. It's always about you. I've wasted my entire life trying to please you and no mater what I do its never enough. I HATE YOU!" she regretted her last statement as she saw the hurt expression from her mother. She didn't mean it, she loved her mother deeply. It was just that she made her so mad at times. Her mother said nothing more as tears welled up in her eyes and she slammed the door behind her. Melissa ran out after her but was too late as her mother and father left the driveway. It was the last time she saw either of them alive, and she would never forgive herself for those hurtful words she had spoken out of anger at her mother, nor the expression on her mother's face.

Melissa wiped away at the tears that escaped and scolded herself, "Great, stop crying. She knew I didn't mean what I said. There's a wonderful guy out there and I'm in here crying." Taking the tissue from the stall she opened the stall door and made her way towards the long mirror in front of the sink. She was thankful that she usually wore waterproof as she tried to freshen up her face. After a few minutes she was as good as new.

Julian waited at the table but was starting to get concerned from the length of time she was taking in the ladies room. He forced himself to breathe when he saw her emerge from the bathroom and headed towards the table. He noted that her eyes looked as if she had been crying and the smile looked forced.

Melissa forced herself to smile as she returned to the table and sat down. She just prayed that he couldn't tell that she had been crying. "So, what were we talking about."

Julian looked to her with concern, "Are you alright?"

'Damn,' she cursed her emotional self, "Yeah, I'm fine. Had something in my eye. I've really enjoyed tonight." She wanted to change the subject and was relieved when he didn't continued to ask if she was okay.

"I have, as well," he smiled, though he was still a little concerned about why she had been crying he thought it best not to press the issue. He would find out when she would confide it to him. Throughout the dinner he had noticed the way that she would steer the conversation away from family whenever he had brought it up. She probably was still pained by the loss of her parents he had deduced. As they had spoken he had found out that she was very kind and a little shy. He was hoping to break through that shyness in time. He was patient and the further time he spent with her the more intrigued by her he had become.

After finishing with dinner they continued to stay talking about nothing of real consequence. Before they had known it, it was already well past midnight. The ride to her home was spent in silence as she watched the passing lights along the road. Stopping in front of her two-story home Julian helped Melissa out of the limo and walked her to the door.

Walking slowly up the walkway to the front door Melissa dug in her purse for the key. She hated to see the date end but she knew that it needed to end sometime. It was late and he probably had work to go to the next day, she hoped that she hadn't kept him out too late. Her heart started to race as they reached the front door. Turning to Julian she smiled nervously, "I really had a wonderful time."

Julian could hear her heart racing as he placed a strand of hair away from her face, "I did as well. I hope that we can do this again sometime soon."

Melissa's eyes fixed with his as he slowly lowered his head towards hers. Her heart raced franticly as his lips started to lower towards hers. Biting her lower lip she looked away from him towards the door, "I would like that."

He pulled away disappointed but all the more intrigued by the woman before him. Instead he took her hand and kissed the back of it, "I look forward to it then."

Watching him as he kissed the back of her hand she turned towards the door and unlocked it. As soon as the door closed behind her she leaned heavily against the door lightly laying her head back against it with a sigh. She wanted to hit herself for pulling away like she had done thinking that she probably blew it.

Julian lay his hand on the door and could sense her leaning against it. She was going to be more of a challenge than he had thought and he couldn't wait till the next time that he would see her again. Closing his eyes he could hear her heart racing and could still smell her sweet scent. Turning away he made his way back to the limousine with a large grin about his face.

Making her way up the stairs she unzipped her dress and started to unfasten her hair. Her hair now down about her shoulders she kicked off her shoes as she reached her bedroom and let her dress fall to her feet as she slid into the bath room. Changing into her silken nightgown Melissa washed the makeup from her face and reached for the towel. As she dried her eyes she looked at her reflection and blanched as for a moment she saw the very image of Sandra covered in blood looking back at her. Closing her eyes she looked at her reflection again praying that it was just her imagination and sighed with relief when the only thing that greeted her eyes was her own reflection.

Not wanting to take any chances she quickly left her bathroom and climbed into bed leaving the bathroom light on for comfort. She usually liked the dark but after seeing what she had seen she wasn't feeling to comfortable with it. The house was silent but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was not alone and sat up in bed looking around the room. She was tired but her eyes refused to stay closed as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Feeling suddenly chilled she pulled the comforter more securely towards her taking a deep breath. Her eyes grew wide as she was able to see her own breath within the suddenly freezing room. Not daring to move her eyes darted about the dimly lit room in fright.

Seeing a form at the corner of her eye she swallowed hard and couldn't stop herself from shaking. Slowly she started to turn her head towards the form. Sandra's face was right next to hers. Melissa fell out of the bed on the other side as she felt the ghostly touch on her face when Sandra had reached out for her. Letting out a stifling scream, Melissa sprang up from the floor and darted out of the room, down the stairs and straight to her couch in the living room.

Melissa hugged herself as she tried to put some sort of rationalism behind what had just occurred. Her eyes filled with tears as the fear of what just took placed overwhelmed her. She was all alone with no one to comfort her and refused to go back upstairs until the morning. Her eyes focussed on the coffee table in front of her couch and the small card on top of it. Shakily reaching for the card she read the card and noted that it was the card that Detective Kohanek had given to her a week ago. A card that she knew she had placed in the kitchen gores the day after he had handed it to her. Not knowing why she picked up the phone and dialed the number on the card.

Detective Frank Kohanek sat back in his chair at his desk as he finished the last of his paper work on the Sandra Blake murder. The investigation was turning up nothing and he had to reluctantly close it as an unsolved case.

Sonny could see the hurt expression on his partners' face. The case that they weren't able to solve had gotten to Frank a bit more than the other cases though he couldn't figure out why. Sitting at the edge of Frank's desk he leaned forwards to his partner, "Hey, you alright. We've done all that we could do for this case. You're taking this one a bit hard."

Frank frowned, "Yeah, no. I don't know why but this case has haunted me more than any that we've worked on."

Sonny was about to say something more when he was interrupted by Frank's phone ringing. Frank picked up the receiver, "Detective Kohanek!" pause, "Calm down Ms. Davidson I can't understand you. Alright I'll be right over." As he heard the phone on the other end click he hung up his phone with a sigh.

Sonny recognizing the last name as Melissa's and asked, "What was that about?"

Frank shrugged, "I don't know, that was Melissa Davidson. The one I told you about that led to a dead end. She says that she saw Sandra, she sounded pretty upset."

Sonny grabbed his coat, "Let's go then."

Frank followed suit and followed his partner out the door towards the car to head for Melissa Davidson's house.

Melissa hugged the blanket closer to her as she hung up the phone. Standing she tried to make her way towards the kitchen but stopped as she heard something crash upstairs. Already scared enough as it was she huddled herself into the nearest corner of the room wishing that the detective would hurry up and get there. Another crash made her flinch, "Stop it. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" she cried out.

She felt the chill once again as Sandra's form appeared before her, her hand covering her bleeding throat. The ghost pleadingly looked to Melissa mouthing to her for help. Melissa pressed her eyes shut as the tears started to well up within her eyes and cried out when she heard the doorbell.

Reaching the house Sonny watched as Frank pressed the doorbell both looking at each other as they herd someone cry out inside. Stepping away from the door Frank and Sonny kicked it down with guns drawn and ran into the house.

Frank stood on one side of the hall as Sonny stood on the other. They both were looking around carefully as they edged closer to the stair well. Sonny hearing a crash from upstairs and made his way up the stairs as Frank made his way towards the living room.

With gun drawn Frank scanned the living room and quickly turned as he heard a shuffling noise in the living room corner. Seeing Melissa huddled in a blanket on the floor Frank holstered his gun and edged towards her, "Ms. Davidson," he whispered.

She looked up to him with reddened eyes, "She was here. Her throat was bleeding and she wanted my help."

Frank hugged her trying to calm her, he was shocked though that she had mentioned the throat wound, they had never released that to the press.

Sonny edged towards where he heard the crashing noise, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. The lights ahead of him blinked slightly as he swung around the corner with gun pointed towards the room. He had never seen what he witnessed in the room before him. The room was in shambles as small objects were flying threw the air within the room and just as he entered it everything stopped clanging simultaneously to the floor. For the first time in his life he was speechless. Placing his gun back into his holster he backed out of the room and headed down the stairs.

Entering the living room he saw Frank sitting on the couch with a woman. She was shaking uncontrollably as Frank was trying to get her to calm down. Sonny crouched down beside the couch looking to Frank for an explanation. Frank just shrugged his shoulders not knowing what more that he could do.

Melissa was trying not to feel as panicked as she was feeling but not only did she see the ghost of a friend that was murdered she had felt her friends pain. The pleading look that she had given her wouldn't leave her mind as the detective tried to get her to calm down. Pushing away she looked to see someone else within the room. He was crouched down besides her looking up at her with concern in his eyes. "Who…who are you?"

Sonny smiled seeing that she was starting to calm down, "I'm Sonny, Frank's partner. Can you tell us what happened?"

She faintly smiled at the detective as she tried to gather her wits. Still fearful about what she had seen she wasn't sure if she should tell them. They would probably think that she was insane or out of her mind. She looked at Frank and then Sonny and decided to tell them what had happened. When she was through the look that she got from them made her wish that she had kept her mouth shut. They were silent not saying a word, which made her a bit angry, "I need to know. How was Sandra killed?"

Detective Frank wasn't sure if he should tell her, "Melissa, you probably just had a bad dream. We'll stay here until you…"

Melissa stood immediately cutting him off, "Don't try to patronize me. I know what I saw and I was not dreaming. Damn it! Tell me, how was she killed? Was she stabbed, what?"

Sonny stood from where he was trying to take her arm to steer her back towards the couch. Melissa jerked her arm away, "Was it her throat? When ever I see her she is always holding her throat and there's blood." She was shaking now as she was seething with rage, "Damn it tell me!"

Frank stood to look at the now angry woman, "Alright, just calm down. Someone slit her throat," he wasn't about to tell her that her throat had been literally ripped out.

An image flashed in her mind. Sandra struggling against a man who was at her throat, blood. Just then her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Sonny lunged forward catching her before she hit the floor. Frank rubbed his head, "Okay now what?"

Sonny frowned at the unconscious woman in his arms and carried her back to the couch where Frank stood to give room, "I'll stay with her, go and get a glass of water."

Frank ran his hands through his dark brown wavy hair eyeing the unconscious woman on the couch and then his partner but then left in hunt for the kitchen.

Sonny watched and waited for his partner to leave. As Frank left around the corner he looked back down towards Melissa. She was starting to awaken and when she did her eyes were locked with his silver glazed ones. Feeling numb she could not look away, she felt drawn into the silver gleam of his eyes and felt helpless under his control.

Sonny willed for her to calm and relax, "Melissa, what did you see?"

"Sandra was in an alley struggling with a man, there was blood."

"Remember nothing of this. When I release you awaken and be calm," as he started to release her he passed his hand over her eyes.

Melissa blinked just as Frank had returned to the living room with a glass of water. She remembered Sandra's ghost but nothing of what happened right before she passed out, "Wh…What happened?"

Frank handed her the glass of water, which she excepted, "You fainted."

She felt a bit embarrassed, she had never done that before, "I'm sorry, thank you. I guess Sandra's death's affected me a bit more than I had thought it had. You're right, it was probably just a dream. I'm sorry for calling you."

She wished that she could go and hide somewhere and forget any of this had taken place. The thought though of going back upstairs made a cold chill run down her spine. Melissa realized that Sandra was not trying to scare her but was reaching out to her for help. She remembered reading somewhere once that ghosts are those spirits that can not rest because of something left undone or they were torn from the world before their time. They had yet to find Sandra's killer and that must be why her soul isn't at rest. At that point she decided that she was going to try and help her friend. If she didn't she wouldn't be able to live with herself for doing nothing.

Frank and Sonny left Melissa's house after making sure that she was all right. Sonny's thoughts were in a whirl as how to explain what he had witnessed to his Prince. It was obvious that the spirit of Sandra Blake was trying to communicate with Melissa. This in all could bring forth her memories of the attack and of their kind, Kindred, which would endanger the Masquerade.

Frank glanced to his partner as he returned his eyes to the road before them. His mind was in a whirl of its own as the past few weeks kept coming to mind. Not only did the murder of Sandra Blake continued to occupy his mind and his dreams but Melissa had somehow known how Sandra had been murdered, information that they had made sure did not leak out to the public. With his new knowledge of the Kindred in San Francisco, it wasn't hard to believe that the ghost of Sandra Blake was somehow reaching out from beyond the grave. He was starting to wish that Alexandra had never told him about her kind. That if he had not known that maybe his life would be a little bit more normal than it was now. He knew that Sonny was one of those so called Kindred but didn't let Sonny know that he knew. That day he had followed Julian to that funeral he had seen Sonny standing beside Julian. Sonny had looked right at him but had never confronted him about it. With a silent sigh he continued his drive with nothing said.

The night was cold and silent as he stood in the shadows of the alley awaiting the limo. His Sire had arranged for them to meet when he had last spoken with him on the phone. The conversation had been short as he had informed him that he had more information on the Sandra Blake murder investigation. Looking down at his watch, but not really needing too, he saw that the limo should be arriving very soon and as if on cue it had silently pulled up.

The door opened allowing him entrance as he quickly slid into the back of the limousine. Closing the door he looked to the figure in the corner of the limousine and saw his hand held out to him. As he took it and kissed the ring of his Prince and Sire.

Julian Luna pulled his hand away after Sonny had given the rightful show of respect, "What have you found?"

Sonny looked to Julian not sure how to explain the occurrence of that evening, "Something happened that I'm not sure your going to believe." Julian said nothing as he awaited his friend and Childe to go on.

"Frank received a call from Melissa Davidson at about one this morning. When we got there we heard her scream and went in. Frank went towards the living room while I went upstairs. When I got up stairs…" how could he say this without sounding like he had lost his mind, "her bedroom was being ransacked but there was no one in the room, no one that I could see. It was like some kind of windstorm in her room, things flying of their own accord. If I didn't see it with my own eyes I would have not believed it."

Sonny looked to Julian trying to read the look on his face but seeing nothing that could tell him how he was taking this bit of news, "When I got back downstairs Melissa was hysterical but calmed down after a while. She said that she had seen Sandra Blake reaching out for her."

Julian shifted his weight within his seat as the news was being relayed to him. He would not have believed the story being relayed to him but Sonny was not one to make up stories. He had heard some things in his long lived life about ghosts and other strange things but had never once encountered it him self. If what Sonny was telling him were true than it was going to be harder than he had first thought to keep Melissa from discovering what had happened that night. "Does she remember anything from that night?"

"After I was alone with her I mesmerized her. She told me that she remembered seeing Sandra being attacked. I pushed that memory to the back of her mind but I don't think that it's going to work. If we continue to push her memories to the back of her mind it could have harmful effects on her."

Julian looked away from Sonny feeling his stomach wrench at the idea of having to kill or embrace Melissa. It were times like these when he wished that he had not become Prince. "I know. Thank you."

Sonny seeing that that was his signal for dismissal looked to Julian, knowing that something about all of this was affecting him. About to ask what was wrong he decided against it, if his Sire wanted to confide in him he would. Leaving the limo he watched as it drove off and turned to make his way back to his car at the far end of the alleyway.

The sunlight came through the glass of the back sliding door awaking Melissa from her restless sleep. Sitting up she could not for the life of her remember what her nightmare was about and untangled her legs from the sweat soaked sheets. Sitting at the edge of the couch she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes and turned to look at the stairs that lead up to her bedroom. Getting up she headed for the kitchen instead. Grabbing some juice and a piece of toast she sat at the kitchen table and slowly ate her breakfast.

The house was early silent, the only noise was the crunching of the toast in her mouth as she chewed. Every few bites she would glance towards the stair case knowing that she would have to go up sooner or later. The loud ring of the telephone made her jump. Picking up the phone she placed it to her ear, "Hel…hello," she smiled, it was Julian.

"Hello, did I wake you?" his deep voice answered.

"Oh, no, but I'm still trying to wake up. I, uh, didn't think that you would be calling me so soon." She suddenly felt her heart flutter at the thought of their date last night and the almost kiss.

"I'm having a dinner party tomorrow night and was wondering if you would like to come. I don't usually invite people on such short notice but seeing as that we've only just met, I hope that that would be an adequate excuse."

Melissa smiled lightly tracing her finger on the outside of her glass of juice, "Tomorrow night, hum, let me see. It is short notice and all…" she paused playing with him a little, "I think that I might be able to."

She couldn't see Julian's relieved smile on the other end of the line, "Good, I'll have my car pick you up at around eight then."

"Okay, I guess until tomorrow night then."

"Till tomorrow night. Good bye Melissa."

"Good bye," when she heard the familiar click on the other end she hung up the phone with a sigh. With all the strange things that were happening in her life it was nice to have something normal happening for once. She couldn't help but to blush at the way he made her feel when he was near, and she had only known him for a few days. Finishing her glass of juice she stood, squared her shoulders and headed up the stairs. When she entered her room she was shocked to see that it was spotless, not one item was out of place except for the missing sheets and comforter. Last night it had been trashed and now it looked as if it had never occurred.

As the day went on she had no more ghost encounters and it felt as if her life were returning to normal. She was starting to believe that last night had never happened that it was some crazy nightmare that just felt so real. That night, as she slept in her bed there were no strange occurrences and she slept soundly with no nightmares that night. When she lay down to sleep she didn't see the figure outside her window silently watching her.

Cash groaned silently to himself wishing that he were in his comfortable jeans and a T-shirt, the tux that he had been forced to wear that evening was cutting off his circulation. He hated these types of gatherings and would not even consider going to one if it weren't for the fact that it was one of the things that went with the job of bodyguard. With his new position as Julian's bodyguard and being Gangril Premmgin he was yearning for the time before the damned Brujah killed his Sire, Steve Ray. If he were still alive he would not be the one stuck in the tux this night, more importantly though he missed his sire. There was still so much that he needed and wanted to learn from him. Pushing the painful memories of the loss of his Sire to the side he concentrated on the guests that gathered within the Luna Mansion.

The people, humans and Kindred, spread out dressed in elegance and riches as they talked amongst themselves about money and business ventures. It was gatherings like these that people tried to make important contacts with those in the higher high-arce. This was the perfect setting for Julian Luna's charms and business expertise. Talking with the city mayor about a certain bill that he was hoping to get passed, for it would profit his company immensely. The party was held within the mansion and continued outward within the back. The weather being perfect for a party such as the one that was being held that night.

As if on cue as his eyes glanced towards the door his eyes were met with Melissa's form. She was dressed in a satin burgundy sleeveless gown that came down just past her knees her hair fastened up away from her face and cascaded down the back in a wave of curls. Melissa was a vision and as he approached her he noticed that he was not the only one that had noticed.

Melissa was overwhelmed when she entered the large mansion. She was not totally prepared for the amount of eyes that lied on her when she entered the room. She knew none of the people and was having second thoughts about coming until she saw the one person that she did recognize.

Julian was approaching her from the far end of the room and she let out a long breath that she didn't realize that she was holding. She noted the dark black tuxedo with an ivory white undershirt his dark black hair smoothed back. The way he walked the room with confidence and power made her wonder why such a man was interested in her. She always viewed her self as a simple and plain woman though people always told her differently, she always took their praise with a grain of salt.

Taking her hand in his he pressed his lips against the back of her hand, "You look stunning."

Melissa's smile grew as she blushed at the complement, "Thank you."

As one of the caterers passed with a tray of Champaign Julian took two glasses handing Melissa one. She took it gladly hoping that a little alcohol would help her get through the gathering. It had been a long time since she had been around so many strangers and was feeling a bit uneasy. Having Julian at her side while he introduced her to some of the guests helped a little, but just that, a little. Most of the people there were business associates and would go on about mergers and the like. She was on her second glass as she stood beside Julian while he spoke to a couple in there mid fifties. Glancing around the room she was wondering for the millionth time if coming to this was such a good idea. 'Yes, you needed to get away from the house. Besides, I like Julian, he makes me feel…oh, I don't know what I feel. Every time he smiles at me I wonder what it would be like to kiss him. It's not just his looks either, their something more, something I can't quite put my finger on.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her name. Looking to see that the man that Julian had introduced as Mr. Cunningham had asked her a question, "Hum."

Mr. Cunningham smiled warmly at Melissa's blank look and repeated the question, "Julian just said that you're a computer programmer."

Melissa looked to Julian as he was watching her with a smile, "Yes, I do mainly contract work for technical corporations."

Julian had been speaking with Mrs. Cunningham about her side business with a largely known restaurant chain when he heard Mr. Cunningham address Melissa. Looking to her he noticed that she had been somewhere else in thought as he was forced to repeat his question. He wondered just what it was that she was thinking. He listened loving the sound of her voice as she explained about what she did for a living.

Mrs. Cunningham put in, "That sounds fascinating. Are you currently working on any projects?"

Taking a sip of the Champaign before answering, "No, not right now. I haven't run across anything that I would be interested in, besides I was hoping to get a little bit more settled in my new home before taking on any more jobs."

Julian entered the conversation, "How many have you done since you moved here?"

"Let me think, about five, I think."

Mrs. Cunningham saw an old friend that she hadn't seen in a while and interrupted, "Oh, excuse us, honey there's Loran King. I haven't seen her in years…" and with that said they headed towards the woman that she had spotted.

Now that the two were gone Melissa looked around them starting to feel as if the room was about to cave in on her. Julian noticed that something was starting to bother her, "Are you okay?"

Melissa faintly smiled, "Yeah, I just need some air. It's a little crowded in here."

Julian smiled offering her his arm, "Allow me."

Melissa gingerly took his arm as he led them out towards the back. The scent of fresh flowers filled the air refreshing her senses as they walked outside. It was a refreshing change of atmosphere and she loved being out at night. The stars showing brightly over them as they made there way towards a scarcely populated part of the back yard. They walked side by side her hand still tucked in his arm as they made their way towards the gardens. Melissa inhaled deeply taking in the moment and looked towards the night sky.

People glanced and watched as the two left out the back together and then continued with their gossip. Lillie downed the rest of her Champaign as one of the diplomats went on and on about his work. She too noticed Julian with the mortal woman and watched as they left through the back door together. When he said that he was going to keep an eye on her she didn't think that he meant by this. She could feel a tinge of jealousy as she stared at the door that they had just left through.

Julian watched her contently as she inhaled deeply and looked to the sky, "Is this better."

"Oh, yes much…Oh, don't get me wrong, it's a lovely party. I just get a little claustrophobic sometimes."

"That's quite all right, I was starting to tire of it myself." Melissa looked to Julian with a smile and was starting to pull her hand away when he stopped her.

She froze his hand lightly on hers, the look that he was giving her made her wonder again why he was remotely interested in her. Her heart was starting to race and she could feel it pounding in her chest. She was lost in the moment as he started to close the distance between them. His lips touched lightly to hers as he began to kiss her. She refused to let her mind work as she returned his kiss, her hands slowly encircling his neck as the kiss deepened. The world outside was melt to nothing as he pulled away to look at her with a smile. She returned his gaze, not sure what she was feeling towards this person before her.

Lightly touching her cheek with the back of his hand, Julian looked into her beautiful hazel eyes. They were so full of innocence and life and he wanted in all the world to protect her, to have her as his.

Melissa blushed and looked away not sure if she could keep looking into those eyes of his without melting within them. Her eyes returned to his as he kissed the back of her hand that was now held within his large strong ones.

The ways she reacted to his touch made him wonder if she had ever really been with a man. It was rare for someone of her age but not unheard of, "Can I ask you a personal question?"

Melissa was still smiling, "Yes…"

"Have you ever been in love?" his heart actually beat as she looked embarrassly away from him.

Had she ever been in love, that was definitely a personal question. She thought about it for a moment, remembering her last relationship. He had been the first person that she had actually ever considered sleeping with. She was thankful that she didn't though, as he had broken up with her after only three months. When she thought about it, she cared for the guy but love, no she had never been in love before. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

Julian smiled at her answer, "I was just wondering how someone as beautiful as you would not have already been taken."

Melissa's blush deepened, "I don't know, maybe I just haven't met the right person yet," she added, "What about you? Have you ever been in love?"

"Yes I have. It was a long time ago, though," he answered.

"Oh," 'Ok now what do we do? This is going too fast. No, wait, we've only kissed and I'm thinking like he had just asked me to marry him or something. I barely even know this guy but why do I feel as if I could trust him completely. Am I falling in love with him? NO, that's crazy! I just hope that I'm not overly thinking this through, like I usually do. If this is just our second date, oh God, I wonder what's going to happen on the next one, if there is a next one. Shut up brain, the date isn't even though and I'm not sure that he is even going to want to go out with me again. I wish that he would kiss me again, and make me forget this ridiculous brainstorm going on in my head.'

Julian was about to say something more when he saw one of his bodyguards approaching. The bodyguard spotted Julian Luna with a woman and immediately approached them. He hated having to interrupt his Prince but it was needed. The bodyguard almost turned around and fled when Julian glared at him with annoyance. Whispering his message into Julian's ear he made his exit.

Julian grimaced at the bad timing and returned his attention to Melissa, "Let's return inside, it seems that they've become lost without me." Melissa lightly laughed at that and took his offered arm as they walked back towards the mansion.

He hated having to leave Melissa but Kindred business had a way of interrupting his social life. Making his way towards his study he was silently followed by Cash. Something had to be direly wrong to have interrupted his evening and as he entered the study he was wishing that he were back at the party. Entering the room his eyes were met with Cameron, the Brujah Primogen, and a few more Brujah that stood on either side of him. Standing behind his desk he crossed his arms glaring at the Kindred within the room, "What is it that is so important that it could not wait until after the party?"

Cameron clinched his jaws tightly in annoyance. He hated the Prince with a passion and the fact that he had to come to his mansion and have Julian's riches shoved in his face didn't make it any easier to keep himself from lunging himself towards the Ventrue bastard and ripping out his throat. "I'm sorry if I've interrupted your little get together," he seethed trying as best he could to hold back the venom that was edged within his words. "But since you insist on keeping Sasha here with you I suggest that you have a little chit chat with her."

Julian regarded Cameron as if he were an annoying itch that kept rearing its ugly head, "And what is it that I need to speak to her about?"

Cameron placed his hands on Julian's desk and leaned in towards the Prince, "She is out of control! She refuses to listen to me about our laws and proceeds to risk the Masquerade with her behavior towards her own Clan."

Julian uncrossed his arms as he leaned into the desk doing the same as Cameron, his eyes glaring into his, "And whose fault is that? It was your Clan who forcefully embraced her, what do you really expect from her? Loyalty, for her to follow your commands like a mindless dog."

Cameron backed off from the desk and glared at the Gangril bodyguard that stood behind Julian Luna, "Maybe if you would keep your Gangril dog away from her she might not act the way she does towards her own Clan."

Cash started forward in an attempt to rip the Brujah Primogen heart out and hand it to him but was stopped by Julian's hand on his shoulder. Cash reluctantly backed off allowing his anger to subside but felt it quickly rise as Cameron smirked at his reaction.

Julian looked away from Cash understanding how the young Primajin felt. He was wanting to do the same but knew that he had no grounds in doing so and that it would only bring about a war that he had been fighting so long to avoid within his city. "Cameron, I will speak with her but know this…" his eyes focussed on the Brujah before him with a tinge of silver glazing over his eyes, "I would be careful if I were you about how you speak to me and those around me." His eyes returned to their normal brown shade, "If that is all?"

Cameron narrowed his eyes, secretly planning his revenge that he would have one day, "Yes, for now." With that said he exited the room followed closely by his Clan brothers.

Julian sighed, 'What has Sasha done this time?' he wondered silently. "Cash go and see if you can find Sasha."

Cash was about to argue, but at the way Julian had just looked to him he thought it not wise and nodded in agreement. Leaving the Prince alone in the study he made his way towards where he stayed. If he were going to go out looking for Sasha, he would be damned if he were going to do it in a tux.

He grimaced to himself at how their relationship had been lately. They were constantly fighting their bloods natural hate towards one another's Clan's and it continuously tested their love for one another. If Julian had only granted him permission earlier for him to be able to embrace her, things would not be as they were now.

Julian leaned back into his desk chair as he wondered what Sasha had done this time. He loved her with all of his heart and it pained him to see her act the way that she did. She blamed him for her current predicament and he wished with all of his heart that he had somehow prevented her from ever being entangled into the Kindred world. He had tried but her rebellious nature made that an impossible task and the fact that she was one of his descendents didn't help her either.

The only peace that he could take from everything was that the one responsible for her forced embraced was rightfully dealt with and no more. That in a way made her more alone than any other Kindred. Without the close relationship of a Sire, it was a lonely existence. He had hoped that he could somehow fill that loneliness that she felt. Sasha hid it well but he knew her more than she thought that he did. It didn't make things less lonely by the fact that she was in love with Cash, a Gangril and mortal enemy of the Brujah. This in itself caused her to be shunned by her own Clan and by the other Gangrel. They only barely put up with her because of her relationship with Julian as his descendant and Cash, their Primogen.

Rising from his chair he pushed further thoughts about his Kindred life to the back of his mind. All he wanted to do for the next few hours would be to immerse himself in Melissa Davidson's company. She showed no signs of remembering anything about the incident behind the Haven and he hoped that the ghost of Sandra Blake was only a onetime thing.

Returning to the party he found Melissa speaking with someone but could not make out whom that person was until he came closer. He felt his throat tighten when he recognized Lillie as the one that Melissa was speaking with. This was not what he was needing right now, he did not think that Lillie was coming.

Melissa laughed, relieved that she had found someone within the party besides Julian that wasn't another stuffed up person with only themselves that they cared about. "That sounds great, maybe I'll visit that place sometime."

Lillie smiled warmly to Melissa, she found that she actually liked the young woman, "Well anytime you come to the Haven just ask for me and I should be there." She saw Julian approaching and sipped at her Champaign. Melissa was about to add something more when Julian returned.

Julian took in the scene, hoping that he wasn't to late, "I see that you've met Lillie."

Lillie smiled as she circled her arm around his waist, "I was just speaking with Melissa about coming to visit my club, the Haven."

Melissa noted the overly friendly way that Lillie was clinging onto Julian and cursed herself for letting him use her like he did. It was obvious that she was more than just a friend.

Lillie could sense the hurt within Melissa and whispered into Julian's ear, "I simply adore her Julian, when you're done with her can I have her?"

Julian untangled himself from Lillie giving her the coldest glare that he could manage without bringing to much attention to himself from the others within the room, "No, I don't think so," he whispered so that Melissa would not hear.

Lillie's smile faded as she heard his words and sensed that there was more for this woman than a mere fling on the side. Quickly covering her anger with another smile she turned her full attention towards Melissa, "Maybe we can get together some time and I can show you around San Francisco."

Melissa smiled to Lillie feeling her anger from earlier fading. What ever was between this woman and Julian was something that was in the past, besides she liked the woman, "That would be great."

Julian felt a tinge of relief flow through him as Lillie left and went to go and mingle with the crowd. Taking Melissa's hand in his he kissed the back of it and smiled, "I'm sorry that I was gone for so long. There was some unexpected business that came up that I had to take care of."

After dinner the crowd was slowly dispersing as the guests were starting to leave. The party would be the source for gossip for the next few weeks about Julian's obvious new love interest. His action around the beautiful young woman more than relayed that something was going on between the two.

Melissa sat out on the patio in one of the chairs as she looked out at the stars. She was feeling a bit tipsy as she had had three glasses of Champaign and rarely ever drank alcohol, she had just never cared for it much. Looking at the stars she didn't notice the figure within the bushes a few feet in front of her watching. Julian had promised to return to her after he said some good byes to a few of his guests. She was startled when the young man came as if from no where. He was handsome, with short blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

Ted watched and waited almost the whole night for her to be alone. Making sure that no other Kindred were around he slowly approached her stopping in front of a chair that was facing her, "May I" he asked.

Melissa smiled at the man and nervously looked to him, there was something about him that made her feel a bit uneasy, "I guess so." She tried to show disinterest by looking away from him towards the night sky.

Ted smiled at her as she was trying to avoid looking at him, if she didn't fully remember him she certainly subconsciously did, "I'm John by the way."

Melissa looked to the man, not really wanting to be rude, "Melissa… so are you a friend or business associate?"

"Neither, actually."

His smile made her skin crawl and she was starting to wonder when Julian would return. For some reason it seemed colder outside and she was starting to sober up pretty quickly.

He leaned in towards her, "Don't tell anyone but I wasn't invited. I'm a reporter for the San Francisco post."

Melissa's eyebrows arched up at this, "Oh," she was really hoping that Julian would come back soon, now. The man seemed nice enough but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that tugged at her stomach.

"So, are you Julian's next conquest?"

Melissa blanched at this question, "Excuse me!"

"You do know his reputation with women. He's the regular Don Juan, if you know what I mean." He inwardly smiled at the way she was angered by this bit of gossip he was throwing at her.

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, and I saw you talking with his current girlfriend, Lillie Lantry. Well, I guess I was wrong about her being his current girlfriend when its obvious that he's currently with you."

Melissa felt her cheeks flush as this man was for some reason trying to get to her. Standing from the table she looked down at the man in disgust, "This conversation is through, sir."

Ted rose just as she was about to leave reaching for her wrist. Melissa turned to look daggers at the man that dare grab her. Her heart sank at the way he was looking at her.

"Do you really know who you are getting yourself involved with?" Melissa silently looked to him and felt all of her strength leaving her as the truth to his statement sank in.

Julian was heading back towards where he had left Melissa when his casual walk turned into a hasty run. Before his eyes he saw the Kindred bastard that had been described as one of the attackers holding Melissa by the wrist. His bodyguards noticed their Prince running towards the back when they saw the source of his distress. It didn't take them long to follow suit.

Fear sank into her as she found that she was unable to disentangle her wrist from his hard grasp, "Please let go."

Ted smiled, "Just remember my words," looking past her he saw a very angry Prince running towards them and took it as his cue to take flight. Letting go of her wrist he backed away until he was hidden within the bushes and then fled as fast as he could.

Melissa stumbled back and almost screamed out when two strong arms encircled her, "Are you all right?" he asked. She was relieved when she recognized Julian's voice. She watched detachedly as four men ran past her after the man that had just fled moments ago.

"Y…yes," she breathed and then pulled away suddenly remembering John's words, "Yes, I'm fine."

Julian noted the cold glare that she gave him as she turned to face him, "What did he say to you?"

She rolled her eyes feeling angry at not just him but herself, she could be so naive sometimes, "Oh, nothing much. The fact that Lillie is a current girlfriend and that you're the regular Don Juan of San Francisco." She tried to walk past him but he stopped her.

"Melissa, I was involved with Lillie, but not anymore," it was partially true and he prayed that she would believe him, "And it is true that I have had a lot of relationships in the past but who hasn't."

"I haven't," Melissa pouted, the alcohol in her system was making it rather hard to make rational thoughts. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't of believed what that guy told me in the first place. He said that he was some reporter or something."

Julian felt relieved that that was the only thing that the Kindred had told her. Lightly kissing her cheek he escorted her back into the house, "There are some things that you should know about me. With the successful business that I'm in I have a lot of enemies. You might hear rumors, but remember them as such, rumors." Melissa silently soaked in what he told her as they continued towards the limousine.

Before he could get into the limo with Melissa he was stopped by one of his bodyguards, "Were you successful?" he silently asked so that Melissa would not hear. The bodyguard shook his head indicating that they did not. Julian silently cursed to himself before returning his attentions back towards Melissa.

The ride back to Melissa's house was silent as her hand was enclosed within his. The combination of Champaign and the fact that she was sleepy didn't help her when she struggled in keeping her eyes open. She leaned her head on Julian's shoulder as she breathed in his light cologne, the image of John grabbing her by the wrist suddenly coming to mind. She let the image fade from her mind as his arm encircled her shoulders bringing her closer.

Julian breathed in her sweet scent as she lied her head on his shoulder. Bringing his arm up and around her, he brought her warm body close to his as he looked down towards her. She was visibly fighting her eyelids as she kept having to pry them open. By the time that they had reached her house she was asleep in his arms. Not wanting to wake her he allowed the limo driver to open the door as he carried Melissa's sleeping form to the house.

As soon as he had entered the house he couldn't stop the hairs on the back of his neck from standing on end. He could feel a presence within the house, but it wasn't human or Kindred, it was something else. Climbing the stairs towards her bedroom the feeling faded until it was no more. Laying her down he proceeded to take her shoes off and sat on the edge of her bed. She was so beautiful and he wanted so much to protect her from any kind of harm. It was a close call when he had caught the Kindred with Melissa, he didn't want to think what would have happened if he didn't show up when he did. Thankfully though it looked as if he was trying to hurt Julian's character more than harm her. He would have to double the watch on her and her home. The Kindred obviously did not fear the consequences of breaking the Masquerade nor angering him. He was puzzled as to what the Kindred's intentions were.

Melissa felt the familiar comfort of her mattress underneath her as she tried to open her eyes. When she did she saw Julian smiling down at her. Sitting up she looked at her surroundings seeing that she was in her room, "How?"

"You fell asleep in the car and I didn't want to wake you."

Melissa blushed, "Oh, you could have woken me."

Julian gently placed a fallen strand of her hair away from her eyes. Her hands met with his as he was about to pull away. She held his hand to her cheek never really wanting him to pull away. They slowly pulled themselves closer until their lips met in a searing kiss. Her body ached for more but her mind rationalized with her senses as the passion between them started to rise. Melissa reluctantly pulled away her forehead touching his, "I can't…not yet."

Julian looked to her wanting to close the distance between them once more but refraining from doing so. She wasn't ready for that type of intimacy and he would wait as long as she needed. He wondered for the first time when he had fallen in love with the warm human before him and wondered if she returned his feelings. The way that she looked at him told him that she did. He smiled and pulled further away from her, "Goodnight," he added as he headed towards her door.

"Goodnight," she answered watching him leave. As soon as he left the room Melissa dropped back into her pillows and sighed heavily. She wanted so much for there to be more but was afraid of it. She had never been intimate with a man and wanted to be sure before she did. She went back to sleep with a smile on her face as she absentmindedly touched her fingers to her lips.