Taker walked inside the palatial Victorian home, fulfilling his task. He helped fix her bike and sent her off. He knew he could've easily killed her and he would be lying if the thought didn't enter his mind. Luckily for her, he just had a satisfying meal of twins right before he encountered Trish.

Slowly walking upstairs, he made a brief check on the apprentices, Nitro and London. Nitro was firmly bear-hugged by his vampire girlfriend, Melina. The mentors personally couldn't stand her; they always thought she was just a little too talkative for their tastes. But it didn't matter to Nitro. Boy is a sick puppy on a leash.

And then there was London—the porn king. He had wall-to-wall covering of the various shapes, sizes, and colors of the female form. He had a DVD player that ran porn 24 hours a day. No one could quite understand what London's fascination was for he had no trouble acquiring dates and victims alike. But some people just can't be figured out.

Finally, the mentor headed to the master bedroom. He smirked and shook his head as he saw his protégé sleeping in a bed. A bed? What does he think he is? Human? The man sat down on the bed and stared at the man who he has mentored and trained for the past 200 years.

Maybe he trained him a little too well. The protégé knew his presence like it was second skin and immediately woke up. He just barely went to bed an hour before. "What is it?" The man asked, cracking his eyes slightly.

"I found someone for you." Taker replied.

"Nice. Where is she?"

"I don't know, I sent her home."

The protégé stared at Taker in amazement. "You woke me up at four in the morning just to tell me that you found someone for me but you didn't bring her to me?"

"Pretty much." He looked down at his protégé. "You really need to get some sleep. You look horrible."

The protégé stared at his mentor. "How about that?"

Taker got up and adjusted his clothing. "My job is done here. I just came to inform you."

"Thanks."

Taker turned around one last time. "You should really get some sleep, man."

"I got it."

-----------------------------------

Meanwhile, across town, Trish was still reeling from her encounter with a mystery stranger. She swore he saw him. He fixed her bike. She threatened him with her gun and he practically begged her not to kill him. And yet, he disappeared into thin air. What the hell?

Once she entered her apartment, she made a bee-line for her roommate's room. Stacy Parks was friends with Trish for the past five years and they were practically joined at the hip. They worked different schedules but hung out with each other as much they could. Stacy was also a student, studying in Communication studies. She was fascinated with celebrities but never desired to become one.

"Stace….Stace…" Trish shook her violently. "Wake up! Wake up!"

"What? What? Are we being robbed?" Stacy inquired.

"No! But…"

"Is the house on fire?"

"No, but listen to me…"

"Good night, Trisha."

Trish once again shook Stacy again. "Woman, I'm going to hurt you if you don't let me sleep." Stacy warned.

"I was touched by an angel." She blurted.

Stacy turned on her light and adjusted her vision. There was a slight panic in Trish's eyes while her face was playing catch up with her mind, which was going a mile a minute. "Lay it on me, Stratus."

During the next fifteen minutes, Trish went into intricate detail over her encounter with Taker. Stacy listened intently until the last two minutes and that's when she thought Trish officially lost her damn mind. "And he just vanished? Into thin air?"

"I'm so not kidding, Stacy. He was gone!" Trish gesticulated.

Stacy blinked and yawned. The time read just a little after four in the morning and Stacy had more pertinent things in her agenda that day. Listening to Trish's horror story of a disappearing stranger wasn't one of them. "We'll talk more about it in the morning, Trisha. Please get some sleep."

"I'm telling you, Stacy. He really did disappear!" Trish held her ground. "I'm not making this up!"

"I know, Sweetie. But Trisha, it's four in the morning. Can we get some sleep and talk about it later?"

"Fine. But I know what I saw." Trish said as she left Stacy's room and closed the door behind her.

Trish walked to her bedroom and shed her clothing. She slipped into bed and stared up at the ceiling. She knew she wasn't hallucinating. He did exist. I saw him, I spoke to him.

He did exist, right?

--------------------------------

The next evening, Trish went to the library to prepare for an upcoming exam. She had a few hours to spare before she had to go to work and she put them to use as much as she could. She needed to concentrate on something other than what she saw—or thought she saw, the night before.

Walking up and down various aisles, Trish was too focused on finding a book on contracts and torts when she bumped into a stranger. She subsequently knocked his books out of his arms and she immediately kneeled down to pick them up. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

The man kneeled alongside Trish and helped her retrieve his books. "It's okay. They're just boring books, anyways."

Trish briefly glanced at the literature the man was interested in reading. He was interested in poetry as he was about to check out books by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Maya Angelou, and T.S. Eliot. "Do you write poetry?" She asked.

"Hardly. I just love to read it." He replied as he stood up.

Trish noticed her stranger. He had a soft demeanor about him that was welcoming. His quiet, deep voice reminded her of a low rumble. He was casually dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, yet it seemed like the shirt hugged his body. Oh my….

The man caught Trish staring at him. "Do you like what you see?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"The Cult." He pointed to his shirt.

"Oh yes." Trish nodded. "I like the Cult."

The man smiled. I bet. He held out a hand. "By the way, I'm Dave."

"Trish." She shook his hand.

The instant their hands touched, Dave knew Trish was the girl that Taker picked out for him. There was warmth about her presence and demeanor that felt right to him. Better yet, Trish knew it too. She swore that when she placed her hand within Dave's, a feeling of assuredness washed over her being. "Um, I know this is weird but I would love to get know you better." He suggested.

I was waiting for the pick-up line. "I don't give out my number to people I don't know and just met. For all I know you could be a killer or something."

That's not a far stretch of the truth. "That's fair."

"So meet me at The Wood tonight." Trish said. If Dave saw her when she was working, there were plenty of people surrounding them both. "Around 11, if that's not too late for you."

That's actually perfect. "Alright, then. I'll see you at The Wood tonight."

"Do you know how to get there?" Trish asked.

Dave turned around and smiled. "I think I can figure it out." And then he was gone.

Trish shook her head as once again she saw another man disappear right before her eyes. But this time, Dave didn't disappear into thin air. He was merely at the checkout line.