Chanterelle sits alone in the darkness, running her slender fingers through her obsidian hair. Thinking of her long, enduring past, she wonders how she ever got herself into this predicament. Dawn grows ever closer, yet she can't seem to stop thinking about everything in her past leading up to this point. She recalls vividly her Embrace, yet can't remember anything before that. She tries to imagine what she was like before meeting Cain, and can't recall anything. There is a period of nearly fifty years lost in a never-ending downward spiral; if she can't remember her human life, then why was she ever alive in the first place? 'There must be some reason for my existence,' she thinks a bit remorsefully. 'This can't possibly be what I was put here for originally. If there is a God, he or she must have had some purpose for me.'

"Oh, what the hell am I thinking? There's no such thing as religion! It was created by humans in a lame attempt to understand their surroundings!" She sighs upon saying this, recalling the she was once fascinated by the thought that there was some higher power, one which controlled everything that happened, and ever were to happen. She had been raised a Roman Catholic, and had been quite proud to recite her prayers. This is all she remembers of her human life, though, and she becomes quite ill-tempered thinking about it for so long. Slamming her fist down on the little table by her bed, she realizes that she should get some rest before it's too late. She gets up to reaffirm that the curtains are closed, and the 'do not disturb' sign is on the door. She then undresses and slips under the covers, trying to go to sleep before daylight.

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Li is washing and dressing a wound that incurred by the hands of the punk vampires, having already tossed out her tattered kimono. She gazes into the mirror, fearfully checking for any signs that she had been damaged. Her father would throw a fit, and she didn't think that would be the best idea at this point. He wouldn't believe her about the vampires, nor would he accept that she had been helped by a complete stranger. Fortunately, though, she had no markings on her personage that would be visible to him. She dressed the wound on her thigh, then dressed herself, putting on a fresh kimono, this one mainly in black with red flowers on it. Giving herself one last look in the mirror, she flipped the light switch and left her bathroom.

Heading down the stairs to oversee the preparations for her father's meal this morning, she nearly tripped over Sugar, her white Persian cat. Sugar let out a horrid hiss, and ran off to pursue whatever it was that she did during the day. "Sugar! I didn't mean to..." but it was too late; the cat had already disappeared. Li continued down the stairs, thinking about Chanterelle. Why had she helped her? What made such an insignificant girl as herself so important for someone like the vampire woman to help her, even if the woman had threatened her?

In the kitchen now, Li tells the chef her father's breakfast order; pork fried rice and a couple of scrambled eggs. It chilled the girl to think of how her father could eat such a thing for breakfast, for she had grown quite accustomed to eating a Pop-Tart on the way to her classes. Truth be told, Li hardly ate anything anymore; only the little breakfast once in awhile and whatever she ate at the restaurant when her classes and homework were done. She pours herself a glass of orange juice, and sits quietly in the living area off to the side of the kitchen.

She is still thinking about the strange woman and what she had told her earlier. 'Chanterelle...that name sounds French. I wonder what her life was like? She is certainly beautiful, and seems very mysterious. She must have had men lining the streets of Paris, waiting to be her lover. Well, if she lived in Paris. She said I talk too much. Humph! She doesn't know me! I only think too much. Father won't allow me to talk too much. I just can't believe that vampires really exist. Boy, that was like an episode of the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. Maybe even Buffy...' The girl giggles, gaining the unwanted attention of the chef. She glares at him, and he leaves her be.

Her mother yells down the stairs that it's time for her to get ready for her lessons, so she takes her glass into the kitchen and sets it down on the counter before hurrying upstairs to gather her books and things. She sideswipes the chef, nearly making him lose her father's tray, and causing him to glare at her this time. "Sorry," she exclaims, still hurrying to the staircase. She nearly knocks her mother down the stairs trying to get to her room. Her mother lets it go, though. She knows how it is, and Li cannot miss any more of her first class or the college will take her out of it. Composition is one of the requirements for her earning the degree, and if she fails, she'll have to take it over, and that will cause far too much trouble. Li puts her satchel over her shoulder, and rushes back downstairs and out the door.

She pushes the button on her key chain that unlocks the car, and hurries to the passenger side to deposit her bag. Nearly tripping over her own two feet getting to the driver's side of her little Toyota Echo, she starts muttering and cursing over the stabbing pain in her left thigh, and the fact that she may be late yet again. "Just what I don't need right now...damn cat! Its all her fault...if she hadn't been under my feet, my morning would have started out so much better!" She sits gingerly, so as not to displace the bandage on her leg, then slams the door and cranks the car loudly, revving the poor little 4 cylinder engine until it sounds like a bored-out hairdryer. Her music is on so loud that she can barely hear herself think, but because its a song she likes, she leaves it. She has a twenty minute drive ahead of her, and that's if traffic isn't horrendous. Backing out of the driveway, she nearly hits a dog, and pushes the down button to yell at the thing, as if it is the dog's fault she's in a hurry. Big mistake, though, for the dog lunges at her and she has to roll the window up fast! "Damn dog! Bite me! Nyah-nyah..." She speeds off in the direction of the freeway, trying to keep the car on the road while she lights a cigarette. 'Damn, but I wish I didn't have to hide this habit!'

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Darkness falls on the city of Jackson once more, and Chanterelle is waking fitfully. Her sharp senses tell her that something isn't right, but she can't yet tell what it is that's wrong. Suddenly, a flame appears, and lights a Marlboro Menthol. 'Kirk,' she thinks miserably. "Hello, Darling," her voice dripping so thick with sarcasm one couldn't even cut it with a Gensu. "What have I done, now?"

The man sitting at her table and smoking in a non-smoking hotel room was none other than Kirk Roland, her so-called boss for this operation. The two had been lovers once, and she nearly bit his head off (literally). Kirk runs a hand through his long, blonde hair, takes a drag off of his smoke, and says, "Why isn't the ambassador dead yet, Chanterelle?"

"Well, you explain to me first how you managed to get in here without my noticing. Also, when exactly did you get in here?"

"I haven't been here long, Sweetheart. As for how I managed to slip by your radar, I don't know. I thought you were just ignoring me." He gives her a wide, toothy smile. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" He taps his fingers on the table, a sound he knows she hates.

Gritting her teeth, she reaches for his smokes. 'If he's doing it, so can I...' He obliges, and passes her the lighter. She lights one, inhaling gently as she hadn't smoked for over 20 years, and forgetting that it won't bother her. "I had forgotten how good these things taste. Thanks," she looks down. "There's a problem with my Op."

"What kind of problem?" He looks a bit angry, but knows the Chanterelle wouldn't be telling him this if she didn't think there wasn't something serious.

"Well, I kind of let myself be known to the oldest daughter."

"YOU WHAT?????" Kirk shook his head frantically, trying to believe that she hadn't just said that. "How? And this had better be damned good, Chant." He was referring to her by the old name he used to call her when they were close, so she wasn't worried much. But, she could tell that he was immensely afraid.

"I saved her in a blind alley from a gang of punk vamps. They turned tail when they sensed me, but somehow I took it upon myself to walk her home safely." Seeing the look on Kirk's Anglican face, she quickly continued. "I didn't know it was her, Kirk. Honest. All I knew was that I heard a woman screaming, and you know how I am about that." The other vampire's face softened greatly.

"Always have to be the heroine, Chant. I would have thought two hundred years as a mercenary would have gotten that out of you. At any rate, does any of the family besides her know about you?"

Chanterelle tries tapping into Li's thoughts, successfully. "No, she hasn't said a word. She's afraid to. Not that her family will believe some tale about weirdo's in an alley and a dark, warrior woman saving her ass anyway. I'm telling you, Hon...the gig isn't up yet. I'll see to it that it isn't."

"Well, Baby, just remember your deadline. It never takes you more than a week, and They know it. Want another smoke for later?"

"No, but thanks. I told you I'd see to it that the job got done, and you know I will. Matter-of-fact, I'm going to try to handle it tonight." She briefly hugs him and lets her lips brush against his cheek, just to let him know she still cares. She stands and watches as he disappears out of the window, and then sets out about her business.