Old friends and newbie vampires

by Kimchihuahuafan

Darren is an old friend of Damon's, and Darren's girlfriend has been turned, and she doesn't have the best control. So what's a guy to do -but turn to his old buddy Damon Salvatore, and his lovely wife Elena. Cannon character pairings, Damon & Elena, and other characters I created - who will be just as much fun - and it belongs to the original creators at Warner Bros.

9. Chapter 9

As always, it all belongs to the CW, their producers and undoubtedly half a dozen other people I don't know about. The only characters that are mine are the ones I created.

Again, I'd love to know what you think, what you think could be added, what you want to see less of, or more off. I take those suggestions and run with them. Last time, someone asked for more drama – so I am working that in a little more. So please, review away! I look forward to them!

~~~OFANV~~~

Richard sipped the drink Damon had poured him. When he'd arrived, Damon had opened the door, invited him in (not that it was necessary for the invite, there wasn't a living owner here after all). Richard shook his hand, made a show of looking around the room, obviously judging. He shed his expensive fancy looking wool coat and scarf, handed them to Damon as if Damon was waiting on him. Damon rolled his eyes, and then hung the coat and scarf unceremoniously on the coat rack by the front door, practically tossing them there.

Richard shook hands with Darren, greeted Elena and Alexandra, and then took a seat in a single plush chair. He was dressed in an expensive tailored suit, a dark navy blue that was almost black, and wing tip shoes that looked as if they'd been shined that day. He had heavy gold cuff links on, a thin gold bar link on a chain holding the tie in pace The tie was Versace, Elena judged. Even his hair was perfect, it was cut short, parted perfect, and had some kind or product in it to keep it in place.

In direct contrast – Damon wore black designer jeans, a pair of men's black leather boots, a dark green button up long sleeve shirt, but untucked. His inky black hair had just a hint of unruliness to it – just the way Elena liked to see it. Of course, she usually had a hand in his hair looking just a little messy, since her hands were always in it.

Elena had on skinny jeans, rich brownish-red knee high boots and a snug fitting V-neck top, a long draping cardigan sweater ever that. Her long brown hair hung loose, and she'd let the natural wave dictate how it laid. She rarely flat ironed her hair these days. She had on just a hint of makeup as well.

Alexandra had on dark boot cut style jeans, dark espresso brown lace up booties on underneath. She had a light peach crop top and a dark brown fitted canvass jacket. Her out of control red curly hair was just that today – the out of control layered curls hung down her back, she'd kept them back from her face with a simple head band.

Darren had worn his thick dark brown hair loose and long. It was straw straight, and reached half way down his back. He kept the mustache and goatee combo that framed his mouth trimmed in short and neat. He'd worn a simple thick white V-neck t-shirt, boot cut jeans and the biker boots underneath.

Where their guest looked like he as dressed for a boardroom, the rest of them looked comfortably casual.

Elena wondered what Richard had been thinking when he looked around the great room of the home she and Damon shared. She and Damon had chosen classic timeless pieces, and it was a comfortable home, and she loved it. It occurred to her that the home Richard and Leo shared probably looked like a museum. She wondered how anyone really enjoyed or lived in a space like that.

Damon offered Richard a drink, and they sat down to talk. It was all small talk at first, the political fundraiser Richard and Leo were going to this weekend. Damon brought up the fundraiser for the toys and clothing drive for children and needy families they were going to the following weekend. Richard wasn't sure he and Leo would attend something like that, but perhaps they'd send a check.

Elena took that as a flat out lie. It was as if it was beneath them. She'd met Richard and Leo before – briefly – at the charity balls she and Damon went to. She'd always thought they were a little on the arrogant side. But seeing them out of a formal environment really drove that point home.

"He did call," Richard said, sipping the expensive liquor from the glass, and he watched it swirl in his glass for a moment, then turned his gaze back on Damon, then on Elena, and then on to Darren and Alexandra.

"However he declined to meet with us or discuss the issue," Richard said, "I'm sorry."
Damon sipped his own drink, "That's a real shame."
Elena rested her hand on Damon's leg. She could feel the tension building in Damon. She glanced over at Alexandra and Darren as well. Alexandra's face conveyed boredom, and that was good. Right now, drawing attention to why this might be so important to her was a bad idea. She wouldn't have been able to pull this off two months ago.

"Damon, Leo and I are well aware that you are not going to let this go," Richard said, "Tread carefully."
Damon gave Richard a smug smile, "Behavior like this attracts hunters. I'm just not quite sure why you're ok with all of this."

"If we do nothing to attract the hunter to ourselves, then we have nothing to worry about. Think of it as evolution – or Darwinism – survival of the fittest. A lesson this rather young vampire should learn, and learn well."

Richard looked over at Alexandra, his gaze openly assessing. Darren's eyes narrowed, the look on his face instantly protective and possessive.

Alexandra's expression went from bored to mildly curious, as if everything was only interesting now, because the attention was on her. She gave a dramatic sigh, "I have very good friends that have been very kind in helping me make the adjustment."

Darren snorted, then asked Richard, "Have you ever actually had to live low key when there's a hunter in town? It's not so easy."
Richard flicked an imaginary piece of lint off his suit jacket, "I've been a vampire for three hundred years. I've dealt with hunters – of all kinds."

"And yet you're still around," Elena said coldly, "amazing, considering your attitude."

Richard looked at Elena for a moment.

"I shall take my leave," Richard said, "Until next time."

He stood, and Damon stood as well, Darren followed, and they walked him to the door. They were all quiet for a few moments.

Alexandra immediately dropped the facade she'd put on when Richard was there, "Pretty damn cavalier for someone who's ever dealt with hunters. I was scared shitless when that hunter came after Seth – and I was human at the time. He killed two other people that were there, just because they saw."
"There are only 5 supernatural hunters at any given time," Elena said, "The guy that chasing Vlad – may just be a regular human hunter."

"And they can still be really dangerous," Damon added, "Richard isn't going to be any help at all."
"That may not be quite true," Darren said, "I could hack that snobby bastards phone records, see who's called him – see who they are – it might take a while to figure out which number is really Vlad's of course, but I can do it."

"Without getting caught?" Damon asked.

Darren snorted, and pretended to be offended, "are you kidding me?"

Damon handed Darren his phone, "Both Richard's and Leo's phone numbers are in there. They'll expect something like this."

"They might expect it, but they won't see me coming," Darren said, "Even if he had a burner and dumps it – I'll find him. People are creatures of habit."

Damon sighed, they were. He was – which was why Richard knew they wouldn't give this up.

"Why are they protecting him?" Elena asked, "I didn't buy the whole Darwin act speech. Vlad doesn't keep up with Richard and Leo – I thought."

"He doesn't, they aren't close," Damon replied, "Something is definitely off."

Alexandra sighed deeply, "Do you think they knew the first few were mine?"

"They probably suspect," Damon said, "But that's not the point. We're going to give him a chance to stop and leave. We'll play nice – until we can't."

~~~OFANV~~~

Dust hung in the air for a few moments, and Damon looked over at Darren. They'd been tearing apart the bathroom for half the day. They were dressed for the work, old jeans, old t-shirts. Darren had pulled his hair back in a tail, braided it down.

They'd made sure they knew which walls were weight bearing and which were not. They'd turned off the water, cut the electricity to the two rooms. Then they started tearing everything out. It should have been therapeutic, help burn off the tension they were feeling over the conversation they'd had with Richard yesterday.

"Feel better?" Darren asked him, wiping some of the dust off his face.

"Nope," Damon said, looking around the room, "I still can't figure out why they're protecting him. It doesn't make sense."

Darren nodded, pulled at a piece of drywall precariously hanging by the remains of the paperboard, "I'm tracking four burner phone's – all opened in the last six months – and none of them fit the pattern – none of them were near the other murders."

Damon nodded, "Maybe he didn't take his phone with him."
Darren shook his head, "We're ripping apart a house right now Damon – where's your phone?"

"In my back pocket," Damon replied, "I Know the point you're going to make."

"He'd have to have been planning ahead and purposely leave his cell phone behind – if it's one of those phones – and from what you told me about Vlad . . ."

"He's not that careful," Damon finished, "Damnit . . . maybe he has a phone registered under someone else's name."

"Which suggests planning," Darren said, "But that crossed my mind – I'll reset my tracking parameters."

"Maybe you should be tracking Richard or Leo's phones," Damon said, sighing deeply.

"Maybe," Darren said, "Are we sure this is the work of a vampire? Maybe it's a human – most humans would have just thought the original killer was getting creative."

"The bodies are almost completely drained dry of blood," Damon said, "So if it's a human – they've working damn hard to pull this off."

"When we butchered livestock, we killed them, hung them by their feet, slit their throats and drained the blood – we got them pretty dry."

Damon sighed, "OK . . . it's possible."

"But not likely," Darren said, "still, can't harm seeing who they know that fits the pattern."

As if to prove the point about how people rarely left their cell phone at home, Darren's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, answered it, "Hey babe."

~~~OFANV~~~

Alexandra was sitting in the passenger seat, and Elena was driving.

"We're leaving the hardware store – and I know it's creeping up on lunch – what do you guys want?"

Darren laughed, "Oh I don't know – we could break in some of the guest rooms."
Alexandra laughed, "Perv! To eat!"

"I'm flexible babe –you know that – I'll ask Damon."

"Burgers or something," Damon said, "Elena knows how I take it."

"You get that?" Darren asked.

"Yep," Alexandra snorted, seeing the opportunity to dish a little attitude back, "I just bet she does . . . oh food! Ha ha! Seriously though -how is the tear out going?"

"Pretty good," Darren said, "I think we worked off some of yesterday's tension. We're about to start dragging the debris out – don't park too close to the house – I think we're gonna try to a little dry wall - dumpster basketball through the guest room window."

Alexandra laughed, "Yeah, we'll park at the end of the driveway."

"Did you get the plumbing stuff we asked for – we had to turn off the water."

"Yep," Alexandra said, "Hard to make it out of the store – I saw this enormous tree I fell in love with."

"Hey, we can throw a tree up in the living room downstairs after we paint," Darren said, "and sleep here, we just gotta throw a bed here, eat out every day, I'm game."

"Like hell!" Damon said, "You're staying with us until the house is ready."
Darren heard a similar response from Elena in the background.

"I think that's settled," Alexandra said, laughing, "I'd say we compel our way into getting what we want, when we want it, but under the circumstances . . ."

Darren signed, "yeah, just in case a hunter comes to town with Santa, maybe we should play it human. Sucks doesn't it."

"I know right – I'm actually starting to enjoy some of my newly acquired talents . . . and now I gotta be super careful – Ok, we'll find a local take out place near the house. See you soon. Love you."

"Love you too baby."
Damon smirked a little bit, listening to the conversation.

"This timing sucks," Darren sighed, after he'd hung up the phone.

"Death over a toilet seat – I say wait the six weeks," Damon said, "It's not like you don't have a place to stay."

Darren nodded.

They took turns gathering up debris, tossing it out the window.

"What's the witch population like in this city?" Darren asked, "I haven't met a single one yet."
"I only know of two," Damon said, "which doesn't mean much. One of them is reasonable – the other is sketchy. I don't go looking them up generally. Vampires and witches don't generally mix well. There could be 50 of them in the city and I wouldn't know."

~~~OFANV~~~

It was an old jeans and old t-shirt kind of day, and that was exactly how Alexandra and Elena had dressed. They'd gone to one of the big hardware stores to get the plumbing pieces Damon and Darren wanted, and they gotten several 5 gallon tubs of primer, rollers, pans, all kinds of thing.

"We'll have some help day after tomorrow," Elena said, "I don't think having some of my girlfriends from school around when Damon and Darren rip out things that should take 10 guys is a good idea."

Alexandra laughed, "Yeah, not a good idea – we have a lot of prep to do as it is."

"Diner," Alexandra said, "There – on the corner – I think it's a diner."

"Looks like food to me," Elena commented, "there's a lot of little cute shops and café near your new place."

Alexandra nodded, "Yep . . . I'm sorry, I should be bouncing off the walls with excitement, but I keep thinking about Richards visit yesterday. Darren spent the whole day breaking through that security – which probably was easy for him, but it was the look on his face . . . this whole fucking mess is my fault."
Elena parked the suv, "No, it's not. It was my idea remember – none of us expected someone would copycat us. Most vampire's drain the bodies and just dump them or bury them. Not a whole lot of places to bury a body in New York City."

"Did you have trouble at first?" Alexandra asked her.

"God yes," Elena said, "It's a long story but this problem we're facing now, it's just something that happens. This crap could happen to a human, think about it. Someone kills someone who raped their daughter or son, disposes of the body and then someone else copy cats the murder. Now there is two murders and the police have to pay attention. I can understand the first killing, I can even understand the second, but what Vlad is doing now, what Richard and Leo are doing, this is all just . . . stupid – and foolish."

They got out of SUV, both of them looking around as they walked.

"I can usually figure out why people do the things they do," Alexandra said, "Even if I don't agree with it – this . . . there is no rhyme or reason."

"We don't have all the pieces yet," Elena said, "When we do . . . we'll deal with it."

~~~OFANV~~~

Elena backed the SUV into the driveway – just far enough to not block the sidewalk. As they were pulling up, they saw a big hunk of something come flying out of the window and land in the dumpster. She and Alexandra got out, take out bags in hand, and another piece came flying out.

"I see one of my new neighbors," Alexandra said quietly, "Across the street – looking out the window – probably enjoying the show."

Elena turned and looked. Sure enough, there was a white haired elderly lady, looking out her window at them. She raised her hand and waved.

Elena and Alexandra waved back.

"And that means we can only carry in one bucket at time," Elena said, "gotta play it human."

"Yeah," Alexandra said, "I think you're right, damnit."

The four of them sat down on the floor of the empty living room, spreading out their lunch.

"So the café we got this at," Alexandra said, "Nice friendly little family owned place. It's all burger's and chicken strips, that kind of thing, friendly people, and there's a minimart next door."

Darren bit into the burger, chewed, tasted, swallowed his first bite. Damon did the same thing.

"Decent," Darren said, "You see the granny across the street?"

"Oh yeah," Alexandra said, "I'm sure you're dumpster basketball practice has been very entertaining for her."

"Nice thing about little old ladies who look out windows, they know what's going on in the whole neighborhood," Damon said, "that could be useful."
"I was kinda thinking we'd take her cookies and say hello just for the hell of it, but hey," Alexandra commented.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of the supernatural," Damon said, "Get to know all your neighbors Red. You'd be surprised who lives just around the corner sometimes."

"Mario – Seth's partner – I ran into him by accident – literally in grocery store. It was something about the way he moved that tipped me off," Darren told her.

Alexandra swallowed a piece of her burger, "I knew something as off with Mario before I knew what he was."

"He's just odd," Darren commented, "I wonder how he's doing now. We've never heard from him since he left Seattle."

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"Damon and I have met some vampires who are rather social when you live close, but when they move on – they move on. Mario lost someone he loved, it's got to be hard for him."

"I'm sure it was," Alexandra said, "I can't imagine."
Darren leaned over, brushed a gentle kiss to her forehead, "We'll be fine. We're careful."

Save for those damn bodies in the dumpsters . . . Alexandra thought.

They tore through lunch pretty quickly, and Darren and Damon went back to cleaning out the debris in the master bath/bedroom that had been demolished. Alexandra and Elena started in on all the prep work. Pulling the molding off the bases of the walls, the covers on electrical outlets and light switches. Alexandra labeled with tape where each cover went, and then they covered the parts they couldn't remove with tape. They did that throughout the entire house, not trying to salvage the molding. They'd replace it when they put in the hard wood floors.

Damon and Darren capped the plumbing and created a by-pass, so the rest of the house could have running water while they were working on the bathroom upstairs. They'd even been able to start tearing out the kitchen down stairs

The wrapped it up around 6:00 pm, locked up the house, closed up the dumpster, and headed home. They had an evening out planned tonight with some of the girls from the college.

~~~OFANV~~~

Damon dressed in black slacks, nice black leather boots, and a rich dark navy blue dress shirt with just a hint of a sheen to it. He had the top couple of buttons undone. He'd added just a little bit of hair product to his hair, mussing it up so it looked like he'd just rolled out of bed from wild sex. In reality, he'd just had that wild sex in the shower with his wife.

While Elena finished getting ready, he sat back with his tablet, sorting through the headlines. A small article on the vigilante, but no new bodies, no new information. But mostly he just watched Elena.

She was wearing a short light colored silk bathrobe, sitting at her vanity desk fixing her makeup.

"So, is working on this house a chore, or are you enjoying it?" Elena asked, even though she knew the answer.

"What's not to like, we're getting to tear things up," Damon said, his tone amused, "It's nice to have buddy that's a vampire around – a good friend."

Elena smiled, "It is . . . we haven't really had that much the last fifteen years," Elena said, "Friends like us. Do you think Darren was in Seattle – when we were there 15 years ago?"

"No," Damon said, "I asked – He was only there for the last 3 years. Before that, it as LA – he's been kind of a tumble weed, until now."

Elena sat back, to take a good look at her work in the mirror, satisfied, she stood up, strode into the walk in closet, and came out with two dresses. One was ice blue, the other a daring red. She held them up.

Damon sighed, looking at both dresses, "I like them both on you . . . but you know me, the more daring, the better – the red."

She smiled, thinking of a discussion about the red dress vs a blue dress – 30 some years ago.

She came out with the Red dress again, and laid it down on the end of the bed, and went to the dresser, and pulled out a matching red strapless bra and panties.

Damon smiled smugly. This was often one of the best parts of his day, watching his wife get dressed – and then helping her get undressed later on . . .

The party dress was strapless, the bodice hugging her curves snugly, and the skirt just a little looser once it passed the curve of her hip, but there was still a kick split in back. She chose simple black 3 inch heels, a few pieces of glittery costume party jewelry. She'd curled up her hair a little.

She sorted through her clutch purse, and Damon stood up, slipping his wallet into his pocket.

"Ready?" she asked.

Damon smirked, "I was born ready."

~~~OFANV~~~

Alexandra had on a dark plumb colored dress on. It had a wide tank top style straps, the bodice cut into a V-neck, flared out slightly at the hip. She'd pulled her hair back from her face with a few decorative combs, and she'd done her makeup up with a little bit of drama.

Darren had on navy blue slacks, lighter blue dressy shirt, one of the thick gold link necklaces around his neck that she often saw him wear.

They'd taken a cab to the club, and the bouncer at the door was the same man that was in one of Elena's classes. He pulled back the velvet rope, they talked for a few minutes, and then headed inside out of the cold night air.

Inside, just as before, the air vibrated with the music. They made wound their way through the club, claimed the small VIP pit that Elena had called to reserve ahead of time. Reserving the VIP pit meant they had to spend at least $200 on a liquor, but that was easily accomplished between the four of them and the handful of Elena's friends from collage

Slowly, their group grew. Some of Elena's friends from school showed up with boyfriends or girlfriends, or just a friend, and there was couple that Damon knew from his favorite sports bar joined them as well. It was a relaxed, fun evening at first. They drank, they danced, talked about holiday plans, some of the things that were on the news.

It was late, just after 1 am when Alexandra saw him. Tall, lean, blond hair, features almost gaunt. It was something about the way he moved. She watched for a few more minutes, saw a moment of intense gaze between him and the woman he was dancing with, and then they started heading towards the back of the club.

Alexandra turned around, looking for Darren, or Elena, or Damon. It was just her and Damon at the moment, and two other girls from the college. Alexandra grabbed Damon's arm, yelled his ear, "I just saw him – that guy that one night in the club like almost two months ago!

And then she tore through the crowd after him.

Damon was hot on her heels. He hadn't seen who Alexandra saw, but he certainly wasn't going to let her face whoever it was on her own if it was in fact Vlad, or any other vampire.

Alexandra wove through the crowd, moving almost too fast. It was hard to hold back, rein it in. Her blood was roaring through her veins, the energy, the drive to hunt almost overwhelming, even though it wasn't a human she was stalking.

This man put her new life in danger, put Darren and her only other real friends in danger, she'd be damned if she let this go.

They reached the opening to the hallway which lead back to rest room, and farther back to an exit. Damon grabbed Alexandra, yanking her back so hard she stumbled. He whirled them around, so she was behind him, and he leaped forward.

Once they had the seclusion of the hall, he blurred forward – not having to worry about anyone seeing them back here. They rounded the corner in a millisecond.

The other vampire was there, with a woman who had that blank, vacant expression on her face. The other vampire spun around, teeth bared and snarled.

Damon bared his own teeth, throwing his arms wide, palms flat and open.

"We just want to talk!" Damon snarled.

Alexandra stepped to the side, so Damon wouldn't be in her path if she needed to lunge. She knew Damon was immensely stronger than her – but she didn't know who this was in front of them either.

"Then talk!" the other vampire said. His accent was not Russion – in fact, it sounded Irish.

"Who are you?" Damon asked.

The snarl was gone, Alexandra could hear the change in his voice, but she remained poised to lunge. Her gut instinct was that this could go bad quick.

"I am Nigel," he said, "Nigel McKinnon, and who might you be?!"

"Damon Salvatore," Damon said, relaxing, lowering his arms, "this is Alexandra."

Nigel watched them for a moment.

"I presume you have a reason for interrupting my meal," he asked, his tone and body language telling him he was pissed.

"Someone's been draining people dry, dismembering them, leaving them in pieces in dumpsters," Damon said, "is it you?"
"I'm not bleedin' stupid!" Nigel snapped, "I've seen the newspaper reports! Whoever it is, is asking to be caught! That's the kind of thing that attracts hunters!"

Damon snorted, "I talked with two other vampires, and they're laying it at the feet of someone named Vlad – described as tall, lean blond hair . . ."

"Hah!" Nigel scoffed, "Whoever told you that is wrong – Vlad doesn't stay in any one city more than a week, the fool ate a hunter's wife, and now he can't stop running. Damned hunter is so obsessed with finding and killing Vlad, he's left a path of destruction in his wake that's attracting attention from governments and police agencies all over Europe. The whole situation is buggered all to hell."

"That's rather interesting," Damon said, "Know two vampires named Richard and Leo?"

The vampire raised an eyebrow, "With all that's been going on, not sure I want to, you gonna call off your wee girly there or not? She's looking a bit deranged."
Damon glanced over his shoulder at Alexandra.

Alexandra ran a hand through her hair, and glanced from Damon, then back to Nigel, "I'm quite sane, thank you."

Damon gave Nigel his cell number, asked him to call him so they could meet and talk another time, and they left him alone. They emerged back out onto the dance floor, worked their way through the crowd and to VIP pit. Elena and Darren were still gone, and Alexandra looked around the club, here eyes scanning the crowd, still uneasy.

"Dancing," Damon said, in her ear," up near the corner near the bar."

Alexandra spotted them, and relaxed.

Damon caught the attention of their waitress, and he ordered another round of drinks for the people in their group. The waitress keyed in their order to a hand held tablet, and cleared away the empty glasses and beer bottles.

Alexandra smoothed her skirt down, sat down, crossed one leg over the other.

"Jeeze Damon – how do we ever know how many of us are around?"

"We don't," Damon sighed, "It's a big city, easy to disappear in, hence the reason we like it. You can bet there are a few more here than in Seattle."

Alexandra watched the crowd, "You think he's pissed we made him?"

Damon snorted, "He should be embarrassed that we made him - that you did."

"I saw him once before," Alexandra said, "and I'm a bartender. I watch crowd behavior."
Damon rolled his eyes, "still."

"What the hell is going on Damon? Your friend – Richard is setting Vlad up," Alexandra said, still watching the crowds around them.

"I don't know," Damon said, "but I sure as hell intend to find out."

~~~OFANV~~~

They'd spent the day decorating Elena and Damon's home, nursing the mild hangovers with bloody-Marys' in the morning, and eggnog laced with rum or brandy depending on the preference of the person drinking it. Damon had started a roaring fire in the fireplace, turned the heat down in the main room. Elena had turned the radio on to a local station that played holiday music. It as a comfortable and relaxed day. They'd put up a Christmas tree, strung lights all through it. Lots of the decorations Elena and Damon hung were things they picked up in all the places they'd been. They strung long strands of holly laced garlands, along the railings of the stairs, along the railways along upper walkway that looked down at the great room. Damon put up mistletoe in most of doorways, cracking a joke about taking advantage of every possible opportunity he could. Outside, they hung a wreath on the door, strung the dangling tiered icicle lights along the roof line, outlined their doorway and porch rails with lights.

Damon made a light salad for dinner, liberally topped with shrimp sautéed in a sweet white wine, and they spent the evening lounging on the sectional sofa, talking about decorating mishaps from years past, their own and some of their friends. It was a totally idyllic day, something that reminded one of hallmark or lifetime movies channels with the requisite happily ever after scenes.

~~~OFANV~~~

Darren and Alexandra drove over to their house Sunday morning early, just to check on it. Any house getting a remodel tended to attract the attention of vandal and thieves, not that there was anything worth stealing at this point. It was early, and they'd stopped for strong espresso on the way. The temperature was dropping again, the weather reports were predicting snow, and the gathering dark clouds backed the report up.

As they got out of the car, Darren pulled Alexandra into his side, and they just paused for a moment, looking at the front of the house.

"Next year, we can go all crazy, decorate all the bushes and trees, light the house up, put those lighted yard figurines in our front yard, piss of the neighborhood scrooge."

Alexandra smiled, was quiet for a moment.

"I've never had a house you know – I mean – I lived in a house, where rented a room in one – but to be with friends now, to know we're going to have our own place . . . this is like a dream to me! Yesterday, and today – I'm almost afraid I'm going to wake up and it's not going to be real," Alexandra said.

"Having to drink blood aside, it's a pretty damn good dream," Darren added.

Alexandra laughed, "That's not so bad, or maybe I'm a little crazy or bent or something . . . I was drinking from you before I turned, regularly."

Darren smiled a little, feeling his body react, just thinking about how good it felt when she drank from him.

They walked around the outside of the house, then went inside, walked through it, then back down stairs. It was cool, they'd turned the heat down to 50 when they left.

"Next year," Darren said, "We could put a tree up by the front window, just to the side, so we can still see out, but so people who are driving by or walking by can see it. A fire in the fireplace, go a little crazy with the garlands."

Alexandra smiled, "When I was a kid, and mom and I were in Mexico, we had some really good days – and it seems odd to be so fond of these memories, considering my stepfather was a drug dealer, and he could be vicious. You know all this – you lived there – we went poinsettia crazy, and there were all these parties, nativity scenes were everywhere – my mother took me to all these parties for the kids. I remember there was always a piñata at these things – all these different pastries, and we did the 12 nights of Christmas – the decorations had to come down on the 5th of January, it was bad luck to have them up on the 6th."

Darren walked her over to the sliding glass door that gave them a view of back yard. It was a mess right now, everything was overgrown, and the grass was patchy, almost non-existent in some areas.

"That tree in the back corner – we could hang up a piñata there, invite the neighborhood over for barbecue's in the summer, let the kids go crazy. When I was a kid, the little kids got the first couple swings at the piñata, so they all got a chance to swing at it. She always got these piñatas that we had to beat the living hell out of – and she'd fill them herself. Wrapped candies, little trinkets . . . I remember my mother and grandmother always sewing these little dolls, my grandfather and a couple uncles carving little toys out of wood – they did that all year – some of it they sold, some of it they stashed away for the Christmas festivities. We were dirt ass poor, but we always had a good Christmas season. We were always stocking up on things when we could get them cheap – and sometimes around the holidays – we'd get a bottle of tequila or some other kind of booze from the people we worked for – hell one year my cousin and I lifted a case of tequila from this distillery we got seasonal work at – and we saved it for Christmas festivities. El jefe was always so drunk it was amazing more stuff didn't come up missing. The adults and some of the teenagers in the family were so blasted that year after some of the parties, the Christmas miracle as that no one broke their neck walking home."

Alexandra smiled, "Mom got me my own glass pipe and weed our last Christmas together. I know that's terrible, but I was just so happy she was home with me, I didn't care. I hate to think what she had to do to get it. Thinking back, I'm surprised her pimp wasn't making sure she was out working."

Darren wrapped both arms around her, held her tight, "You'll never live like that again – I promise."

"I know," she said, her arms wrapped tight around his waist, "Best Christmas gift you ever had – as a kid – what was it?"
"A pair of work boots," Darren said, "my own – I'd always had hand-me-down's from the older men in the family. The set I got wasn't great, looking back, but they were new, they were just mine – and I needed them. I thought I looked like a real man I guess."

They started out of the house, Darren locked the door behind them.

"You know," Alexandra said, as they walked back to the car, "We should do something nice for Elena and Damon – I just don't know what."
Darren nodded, "I've been thinking about that – I can't think of anything either."

He opened her door for her, she got in, and he closed it, and walked around to the driver's side. She smiled to herself. That was the kind of thing he did – opened doors for her – for women, elderly men and women, and without thinking about it. It was innate somehow.

He got into the car, and backed out into the street.

"You know," Alexandra said, reaching over and putting her hand on his shoulder, "my best Christmas ever – as an adult – and this tops anything as a kid – Last christmas – our first Christmas with us living together – we put up that tree, went a little crazy decorating your – our – apartment, we hosted that crazy party, and then we had that dinner on Christmas eve . . . and the Christmas before that – we'd only been dating a few months, and you'd told me what you really were – and I was struggling with it – and we were out down town – and there was that car accident. You ripped the door clear off that car and got both those people out, knowing that the car was on fire. You put yourself at risk, risked exposure – and saved those people – that's when I knew who and what you really were, no matter what label people put on it – that was the day I knew I was 100% in love with you, and I'd stay with you, follow you – no matter what."

Darren reached up, took her hand squeezed it, "definitely my best Christmases too – and this one – is going to be just as spectacular. We're here with good friends, and the possibilities for us are limitless."

~~~OFANV~~~

Elena sat at the end of the sofa, her legs across Damon's lap. She had her tablet on, and she was sort of watching the football game that Damon was engrossed in.

"I texted Darren, told him we were running low on beer," Elena said.

Damon nodded, "Are we . . . I guess we do go through a lot more than we usually do lately . . . he say anything about the house?"

"Nothing," Elena said, "Which I'm going to guess means everything is fine. Alexandra offered to cook tonight, they're making a quick run through the market, and she wants to catch the Giants game this afternoon, so they're hurrying."
Damon rubbed his hand up and down Elena's calf, glanced back at her, "Anything interesting?"

"I did a key word search on Craig's list and some of the other posting sites – no reach outs. There's a couple comments on a web page about our little murder spree here locally, but most of the people on this board are humans who really just hope we exist."

Damon smirked, "bring on the hunters, great."

"Yep," Elena said, "No clubbing, snatch, eat and erase party nights for a while."

Damon shrugged, "I'm content to bag it for months if we have to. Besides, there are plenty of assholes who just set themselves up so easily – in all kinds of places that are usually hunter free – or places they don't look."

"Very true – and Alex seems to be finding that opportunity easy to manage," Elena said.

Damon laughed, "Hhhhmmm . . . is it possible - we might have a quiet, uneventful idyllic life for a while?"
Elena laughed, "Imagine that . . ."

~~~OFANV~~~

They came home – Damon and Elena's home. Alexandra had picked up a roast that she could fix pot roast style. She mixed the seasonings, rubbed it into the exterior, bagged it, and put it in a roasting pan and put it in the oven, and set it to cook low and slow. It would be ready around 6-ish tonight.

After that, she threw together a spinach dip, cut up a baquet into small slices, laid it out on the coffee table, and brought in fresh beers. It was a nice quiet afternoon – well, a nice afternoon, but perhaps not quiet, with all the yelling at the TV. It was football after all.

As Dinner drew near, Alexandra slipped away, cut up the vegetables she'd chosen, tossed them in olive oil, and set them under the broiler to cook. Then they'd browned just enough, she drizzled a red wine vinaigrette over them, and tossed the whole mix in a bowel. She had rolls, a green salad, the mixed vegetables and the pot roast. Damon pulled out two bottles of red wine, decanting them about half an hour before dinner.

Just before they were about to sit down, Damon's cell phone went off. Damon glanced at the screen, it was Nigel.

"Nigel," Damon said, answering the phone, "I'm glad you called."
"Aye well, I though perhaps we should meet and discuss this issue, under different circumstances."

"Go on," Damon said.

"Tomorrow evening, say 6:00, Rockefeller square," Nigel said.

"Nice and public, out in the open venue," Damon said, "I'm in. Who are you brining?"

"I travel alone," Nigel said, "One less person to bugger it up."

"Well, I don't travel alone," Damon said, "My wife Elena will be joining us."

"Fair enough," Nigel said, "Northwest corner, there is a bar there with decent beer, we could grab a pint."

"We'll be there at six," Damon said.

He got off the phone, and everyone was quiet.

"This is the guy from the night club – the one that you and Alex met?" Darren said, "I'm going."
"We're all going," Elena said, "but maybe we should spread out a little, keep an eye on things."

Damon started to fill wine glasses, and Alexandra started to carve into the roast. It was nice and tender, juicy, evenly cooked rare all the way through. She was cooking for vampires after all. This was just a family meal, and families discussed problems over dinner.

Plates were passed around, the side dishes were passed around.

"We'll go early, scope the place out," Darren said, "I can set up an app on your cell phones to be listening in, and he won't know it."

"Like go in wired?" Damon asked, "Please, this guy just wants to get a handle on things."

"We've got all this conflicting information – he could be our ripper," Darren said, "Alex and I will be listening in, nearby, so we can watch who comes and goes."
Alexandra nodded, "UH . . . so I know what the hunter we ran into in Seattle looked like – but it's winter, everyone has on big bulky coats."

"You knew it when Nigel was stalking that girl – you'll pick it up when a hunter is stalking someone," Darren said, "It's mostly just watching behavior. Who looks like he's looking for someone, looking for trouble? You did that as a human."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes.

"I refuse to let this stuff control our lives," Elena said, "No matter how this rolls out, we'll handle it. If we play it safe – we won't have any problems. There could be 50 hunters in this city, and as long as we're not leaving a trail of bodies, they won't find us. We've had vampires get stupid in our cities and towns before, and we didn't get targeted if we didn't do anything to attract attention. We have blood bags, we'll be fine."

She bit into the pot roast, tasted, chewed, "Alex, this is amazing."

~~~OFANV~~~

Alexandra picked up the wig early in the day, picking one out that fit, and would look realistic was apparently a fair amount of work. She chose blond, because she could pull it off with her skin tone. She got a pair of glasses that were actually frames with plain lenses. It was an accessory, that was all. She dressed conservatively, boot cut jeans, sneakers, a dark leather jacket, scarf and gloves. Unless Nigel was looking close, or someone else who knew her face, they probably wouldn't spot her. The wavy hair covered the sides of her face well.

Darren had braided his hair into a tail, pulled on a slouchy watch cap, covering most of his hair. He wore a bulkier dark jacket, left off the earrings and necklace he normally wore.

They left the house first. Darren had been at the electronics store that morning. He'd gotten some ear pieces that fit just inside the ear canal, and they were flesh colored so they weren't as obvious. This way, he could hear what was going on around Damon and Elena.

They chose a table in the middle of the bar, so they could watch the back door and front door, while facing each other.

They sat at the bar, shed their coats, and settled in. They were here two hours early, and they'd nibble their way through an appetizer, slowly sip beers, so they weren't out of place.

They sat and watched Damon and Elena come in, didn't acknowledge them, though they could hear them. So far, everything seemed clear. A few minutes later, Nigel came in, looking around, and sat down next to Damon. Damon introduced Elena, and they ordered some drinks.

"So how do you propose to catch this buggering fool," Nigel asked.

Damon snorted, "I have no idea . . . to be honest, after what Roger told me, my money was on Vlad, and they warned me off, said I should let it go, let nature take its course, that kind of thing – and I was ok with that, but when we saw you, I thought you were Vlad, I figured it might be a good time to tell you – if you were Vlad, to pull your head out of your ass."

"I know a witch," Nigel said, "She might be able to come up with some kind of spell."

Damon sighed, glanced over at Elena. She just raised her eyebrow.

"What's this witch going to want?" Damon asked.

"I'll find out," he said, "you think we can ignore this? Hide while the hunters come looking for our blood?"
"I think I can be discreet," Damon said, "Not do anything to draw the Hunters attention to myself."

Nigel snorted, "Only good hunter I know is a dead hunter."
Darren and Alexandra were listening in, and watching the room. It was Darren that spotted someone. Darren was watching the back door. The man came in, wearing a long heavy coast like everyone else, but there was something stiff in his sleeve.

"I got a guy with something stiff in his sleeve, pausing at the hallway leading to the back," Darren said, I'm gonna get a little closer."
Damon's posture changed, stiffer, straighter. Elena slid off her bar stool, "I'm gonna head towards the restroom, I'll be back."

Alexandra moved to the edge of the booth, just watching, and waiting.

Darren lumbered back, like he'd had little too much to drink and was unsteady on his feet. He stumbled into the guy, his hand brushing the guys arm. The guy swore at him, and Darren staggered past, mumbling some apology. Then, so fast, that Alexandra wouldn't have been able to catch it if she hadn't been looking right them, Darren spun around, grabbed the guy around the neck and chest, and blurred back down the hall. Alexandra's eyes scanned the room, looking for someone, anyone who might have seen them. Nothing . . . or if they did, they didn't care.

She could hear Darren slam the guy up against wall, and compelled him to tell him why he was there, why he was armed.

He was there to meet a buddy of his, and he always carried his gun. He wasn't there to attack anyone that night.

Darren compelled him to forget everything and go back in.

Alexandra could hear Elena sigh in relief, and she went into the ladies room for just a moment, and then back out. Darren waited another minute, then went inside, and took his seat across from Alexandra.

"Jesus . . . what if he'd been . . . well – you know . . .what would you do?" Alexandra asked him quietly.

"Compel him, send him to another city if he was human. If he wasn't, then Elena and I would have had to break a few bones, incapacitate him, and figure something out. I've heard we can't actually compel them or kill them, which sucks."

~~~OFANV~~~

Damon sighed, "So tell me more about this witch friend of yours . . ."

Nigel grunted, "I wouldn't say she was my friend – but I'd say she'll do business with us – she'll ask for something she can't get, ask us to play thief or something for her."

Damon snorted, "Let's see what she thinks she can accomplish first. I might know someone who's good at getting things."

"I'll contact her," Nigel said.

"How do you know this witch, anyhow?" Damon asked.

"Not my first time in New York," Nigel said, "We done business together in the past. She's not fond of us, but she's not interested in getting rid of us either."

He finished his beer, "I'm off – nice to be meeting you Mrs. Salvatore."

Elena nodded, "Nice to meet you."

Nigel and Damon shook hands, and then Nigel left. Damon and Elena stayed at the bar for a few minutes.

"OK, we meet up at the sports bar," Damon announced, "see you guys there."

Darren and Alexandra watched them go, and they hung back for a few minutes, and then they left, catching a separate cab.

Alexandra pulled the blonde wig off once she was in the cab, pulled the pins from her hair, fluffed it out, and sighed deeply.

"Holy crap, that was intense," Alexandra said quietly, as she folded the wig and set it into her bag, along with the glasses.

"We had no way of knowing if Nigel was setting us up, we know we can't trust Richard," Darren said, "Now the questions is, can we trust his witch?"

~~~OFANV~~~

Their sports bar, that was how Elena thought of it. It was a few blocks from their home. They knew the wait staff, they knew the bar tenders, they were comfortable there. They took a table in the back corner, where they had a good view of a couple TV screens, and it wasn't in the main pathway through the bar.

"Just the two of you tonight?" the waitress asked.

"We have two more friends coming," Elena said, "Can we order a round of skins, and I'll take a hard cidar, and he'll want his bourbon."

The waitress smiled, "Will do."

Elena scooted her chair closer to Damon's, and he draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Do we want to pursue this?" Elena asked him.

Damon sighed, "I'd be inclined to go with Richard's original suggestion – let nature take its course, be discreet for a while. The problem is Richard lied to us, and warned us away from pursuing it. That just makes me a little too suspicious."

"We have to figure out who's doing the bodies now," Elena said, "That will solve most of this."

Darren and Alexandra walked in. Alexandra had pulled off the blond wig and fake glasses.

"She's hotter as a redhead," Damon announced, "Cute as a Blonde, but hotter as a redhead."

Elena laughed, and leaned forward, "I think it made a great disguise. I never would have recognized you if I wasn't looking right at your face."
The drinks arrived, Darren and Alexandra ordered a round for them, and Elena caught them up on what they'd talked about so far.

"There is one way we can find out who's been at the body dumps. I can hack the cell towers, track what numbers have been around the dumps, and match it all up. But I need more computing power than my lap top has – I'll need to bust out some of my other machines, can I use one of your other guest rooms?"

"Pick a room brother," Damon said, "what if our copycat isn't carrying a cell phone?"
"Then we got nothing," Darren said, "and we go back to pounding pavement and hoping that witch can actually help."

~~~OFANV~~~

Again, I'd love to know what you think, what you think could be added, what you want to see less of, or more off. I take those suggestions and run with them. Last time, someone asked for more drama – so I am working that in a little more. So please, review away! I look forward to them!