Note: I should really find some names for the city and Allison's country... I'm afraid of putting names in case I have to research and find out what its like in that place to make this story accurate. Anywho, longer chapter for you all! REVIEW.

Chapter 6 – The Seer

I rested my head against the glass of the window; my sapphire eyes gazed out over the city as the sunlight casted down on the people and buildings below. My wheat highlighted hair hung loosely to the right side of my face; I ran a hand through it and lifted the strands back over my head as a long and troubled sigh fell from my lips. I set my arm above me and centered my forehead on the pane. The sun warmed it and my skin as I stood completely still, taking a moment to settle my nerves. I thought calmly over what troubled me most in this moment; since I had just woken up, it was the dreams that had plagued my astral plane the past three nights. It was very odd, the dreams were so crystal clear to me and I remembered every detail unlike most dreams where the dreamer forgets what they saw in minutes; I had even woken up thirsty the first night where I saw a vampire had bitten my neck! There was no evidence that might prove the dream was real after I awoken, however. And even more troubling, the vision-like dreams only started after I'd come in contact with the vampire Lucas.

As I finished thinking about what troubled me most right now, I stopped looking at the urban landscape and sat back down on the mat set on the floor in front of my bed. I crossed my legs, straightened my back, and closed my eyes ever-so gently and began to meditate.

For several minutes I sat perfectly statuette, clearing my mind and trying to focus on what I really needed to do in my life; meditation was a very effective stress-controlling exercise, but required complete confluence of mind, body and soul. The Tv in the living room spoke a key phrase to me that broke my concentration. "...This is the third wolf attack in the past few days... Kira, what do you think the city will do about this disturbing problem?"

My eyes opened as I listened for Kira Davis' reply. "Right now, the city is doing everything it can, Ryan. Once again, animal specialists are on the ball trying to figure out why a wolf of rarity would attack humans and could survive in the city without someone noticing or catching the animal by now. Police has set up search teams with animal control to stabilize the creature, but all search dogs have hit dead ends..."

I stood and walked into the living room to see. "...latest victim to these attacks was 16 year old Claire Dawson. I'd advise the public to stay indoors during night hours or take a form of transportation other than walking in the streets where this killer prowls. This is Kira Davis..." I put the Tv on mute and made my way to the shower.

I made sure the water was steaming before stepping in; I needed a hot shower from all of the events I had caught myself in the past few days. I relished in the feeling of the burning hot water hitting my skin, numbing me if only for a few minutes before the heat ran out and I was finished. After stepping out and wrapping a towel around my body, I ran my hand across the steamed mirror and looked at my image.

I had avoided looking at myself any other time besides when I woke up from a startling dream, I wasn't sure if I was afraid of what I was going to see or of what I wasn't going to see. Alas, I looked the same as I usually did, almost; there was just slightly darker bags under my eyes than normal from sleep loss.

My cellphone ringing interrupted my inspection; I pulled my towel tighter around my body and went to answer it. The caller ID read 'Boss,' who was my boss at the agency, I just never called him by his real name 'Mr. Gay' because it sounded so...

Well, anyway. "Yes boss?" I answered.

"Have I caught you before you've come in? I just got the message only minutes ago, Calvin Klein's training models rescheduled."

I hurried over to the kitchen where my planner sat and scrambled to open it and look at what times I had written for a photo shoot today. "When is the new time?"

"Just come in around 7 o'clock tonight, I hear the male model they have collaborating is known for being fashionably late. And hey, I want you to be careful. I know you walk to the agency and there has been wolf attacks reported on the news, so take a cab or something."

"Will do, boss. I'll be safe. Thank you for calling."

The call ended and I looked at my new schedule. Great, now I had plenty of time today to do absolutely nothing until seven. After this, I shivered when taking in the fact I was standing half nude and damp in my freezing kitchen. I began to walk to the bedroom to get clothing on, but the damn vase and rose caught my eyes again. Getting irritated with it's constant reminder, I shoved the thing behind a mound of books on my coffee table and ran to get dressed.

After this, I decided I'd look in the papers once more for anything on Felicia and thought of something else to take up time today before I had to go into work.

The sun was slightly covered by thin strips of clouds today as I went along the sidewalk. A slight wind caught my free-flowing hair every now and then when I turned corners, avoiding bumping into people and getting hit by cars when I ran across the streets instead of at crosswalks.

Unfortunately as I expected, nothing was in the paper about Felicia except a small missing person ad. I hoped in the next few days a real story would be published, but for now at least a missing ad had been published, proving at the very least the young woman existed.

On my way back to Gaddsbury Alley, the cleaned murder scene, I noticed my own missing posters were still hanging up around the city in the places I'd ask the workers to put them. Seeing those, I was just slightly relieved. If they were still there, that possibly meant the vampires of the city didn't know I had made the posters or they felt it wasn't a threat. I was hoping the first. When I arrived inside the alleyway again, it was still just as empty as it was yesterday; minus the missing person poster I made sure was hung in this particular alley.

Covering some old graffiti, the poster, that I could only assume the workers had hung in perfect condition, was ripped to shreds. 'HAVE YOU SEEN TH-' was all that remained of words pasted to the brick wall with part of Felicia's face. The rest of the picture looked like it has been destroyed by... a creature. Perhaps the killer came back. The torn pieces littering the ground seemed to have been made from claws and teeth of some sort, and it didn't seem like a vampire's doing.

Puzzled, I left the pieces to litter the ground and went along my way to my next destination.

I had all day, I miswell try and find someone who could tell me about my dreams. True city dwellers knew the best places to find the best stuff was in the downtown small-shop districts. Whether it was rare foods, personal art...or fortune tellers, I knew I could find what I was looking for downtown. There was one old woman back there someone had told me about doing a good job with fortunes, even if a person didn't believe in those things. I thought I might as well give it a try; I had no where else to go, and a paid 'professional' was out of the question. (Most 'professional' seers were fake anyway).

I didn't exactly have an address, but after walking around for a hour in a more run-down area of the shops along a street, a faint smell of burning incense and oils caught my nose, drawing me to my destination. I rounded a corner to find a dainty little shop entrance covered in beads. There was no visible sign, but standing just beyond the entrance was an old woman who was staring at me with concentration in her eyes, as if she'd been expecting me.

A polite greeting caught in my throat, I entered the incense-infested shop with slight amazement. Moving the beads aside, my sapphire eyes caught sight of several stones, small statues, candles, knives and pottery and burners of sorts which lined shelves and tables.

"Looking for anything in particular, my dear?" the old woman asked me. Her colorless eyes did not blink and long gray hair did not move out of place as she spoke to me in a scratchy tone. I made eye contact with her now, thinking over what I wanted to ask of her. A sudden warm feeling nuzzling across my leg startled me however; I looked down to see a black cat rubbing the length of its body against me. The old woman had moved to me after I shooed the cat away and touched my wrist. "We've met before... Yes, in another life..."

I took my hand gently away from the old woman, slightly disturbed but not enough to keep me from finding what I came here to. "I wanted to consult with you about a few dreams I've been having..." I asked, keeping my distance by going to look at a dragon statue on a nearby shelf.

"You've come to the right place. Dreams or visions, my dear?" she asked, sitting down on her stool in front of a circular table in the corner. She invited me to sit across from her.

"Well, I'm not sure. I see them as I sleep, but they are so very clear and I remember every detail, unlike dreams." I slowly moved over and took a seat.

"Please tell me."

I hesitated at first, wondering if it was wise to reveal anything about my past, vampires, anything to this strange woman.

"It doesn't cost much." she assured me with a pleasant, but toothless, grin.

I smiled awkwardly in return. "That's not what I'm worried about..."

"Then let's begin. I can't tell you what you wish to know until I know about you, my dear."

Again I was silent. I sat sheepishly in my seat, fidgeting with my thumbs before putting my trust in the old woman and thinking over what I wanted to say. I wanted answers, didn't I? "How much do you know about vampires?"

The old woman shifted in her seat, her pleasant look never changing. "Enough to not come into contact with them. I can guess these are what your visions are about?"

"And more. They are about a certain vampire I have met and had conversation with. I've only had three dreams, visions, so far in the passed three nights. Each have had him in them."

She looked at me expectantly. "Start with the first one."

I nodded, thinking the first night over in my head. "I had met the vampire that very day, before I had the dream. The dream was simple, short but frightening. I was staring at my reflect in the mirror, brushing my hair. He was behind me, and he had no reflection because he was a vampire, and after I turned my head to look at him, he grabbed me and bit into my neck." I paused, shivering slightly. "After that I woke up. It felt so real, I was even thirsty after! I ran to my bathroom, there was no bite mark or any sort of injury..."

As I began telling her of the second dream, she gently took my right hand and began to trace her aged fingers over my soft palm while looking intently at it. "The second dream, I saw a darker image of myself. It frightened me, but when I looked away he was there again, grabbed me,." I conveniently left out Felicia in all of this. "And bitten my neck again. No marks when I woke up.

"...But the third dream, I was in a hallway, looking into doors that were like windows to my past, my memories from outside eyes. When I came to the last door, he grabbed me out and had not bitten me. He did something quite different. It was..." I paused, biting my bottom lip.

The old woman stopped tracing my palm lines and looked up at me. "It was?"

I was acting like a teenager with a crush; I had to just spit it out. "An intense kiss." I knew I had turned slightly red after I'd spoken it. "I forced myself awake after that."

The old woman made a satisfied sound, as if expecting that answer. She took her touch away from my palm to pull her gray hair up into a tie. "This...person. He is handsome, from them I'd expect nothing less." She chose her words carefully, looking at a small glass ball in the middle of the table. "Have you had any intimate relationships in your life lately?"

I thought the question was a bit odd but not too personal to reply. "No." I answered simply. I'd never really been romantic or 'hooked-up' with anybody after college; I rarely went to social events minus when Lucy forced me to a club or something. Even then, guys crushing on me just from appearance was less than flattering.

She nodded, then looked back up to me with colorless eyes. "The arrival of this person is going to cause changes, in yourself, resurface old memories, ones that you may have wanted to rather locked away. I feel you have spent the more recent part of your life building yourself into a 'comfort zone,' if you will. This person is a threat to that zone, but that may not be a negative intrusion as you think. The strong image of these dreams suggest they are projected images, perhaps from that person, mixed in with your own emotions. I sense an underlining desire, either from him or from you."

I was puzzled for a moment. Could a vampire put dreams into somebody's head and make me feel something they felt? I know I researched somewhere about vampires having supernatural abilities, faster speed, able to see in the dark... But mind manipulation?

"Your hand shows me a very different type of person than the one I see before me. It is a hand of someone who has the ability to take on many responsibilities and has great potential; your lines are very smooth and the design tells me you are of noble decent." I blinked as she went on, drawing a huge bullseye over my forehead with everything she said. "I sense there is more than you are telling me, but that's quite alright. I doubt it would make a difference to my final decision."

"Final decision?" I asked with a little too much enthusiasm. When she raised a brow at me, I looked back down. I was relying too much on her answer.

"Whatever it is you are hiding from or trying to avoid, that is what will make you most happy in your life. The fates will draw you back to that if you let them."

I was very quiet. In a way I had already known what she just told me; I was homesick but I avoided home. A double negative. I sat silent for several minutes, wondering if there was anything I could reveal or if I'd gotten the answer I'd been looking for. If I wanted to bring up curses, I'd have to bring up my past. I didn't wish to discuss that with an old seer I'd just met.

"Are you frightened, my dear?" She asked me suddenly.

I shook my head vigorously. "Oh no, not by you... You've been very helpful."

"I meant about what you are telling me. I sense a strong doubt or insecurity within yourself." she told me.

Now that it was stated aloud, I paused and thought about how I felt when I saw the new rose in the vase and realized that my apartment was not vampire-proof. I had felt violated, in a sense. The strong scent of the shop's oils finally got to me; I felt I should leave.

"Everyone has insecurities. It's nothing huge." I stood, digging a few bills from my pocket and leaving them on the table. I didn't know how much I'd set; probably more than enough for me and three other clients. "Please keep the extra; you've helped so much." I bid politely but left as quick as I could.

I think she said her own goodbye but I had run down the street before I could catch it. I really must remember the person who told me about that seer and thank them! The old woman was absolutely brilliant; creepy and unnaturally correct, but brilliant. She seemed very wise and well aware of the environment around her, like an all-knowing shaman from the old Indian tribes. It was odd to be read as well as that; I felt very nude in a metaphorical sense, like anyone who looked at me on my way to my apartment would know what the seer knew. I picked up some lunch from the deli and hurried back to my apartment after that experience.

The day was still beautiful but grew older from the morning. 4:37 read the clock; I was surprised with how much time I'd spent already. It was almost time to go into work! I checked my cellphone as I ate my deli; I missed one call from Lucy and she left a message. "Ally! I didn't tell you last night about what happened after your party; me and Danny! We totally made out in a bathroom and now I can't even say Hello to him without fucking up my speech. You have to come in before I make a fool of myself; you're good at breaking the ice around odd situations." I was? I thought."Anyway call me back after you get this, don't mind if I'm working." I was oddly amused with the sound of her distress. They were too cute together! I swear, if they didn't hook up eventually, I might have actually gotten involved in somebody else's personal life for once!

I called the poor girl back and we began chatting about how to handle the situation without ruining the friendship and what to do next. I had to constantly remind her Daniel was interested, all of the pros about him, and how he was a better pick over the assholes just looking for one night stands with a cute blonde. The conversation served very well to get my mind off of the more troubling points in my life, like vampires and murders nobody knew about.

Because of this, I was in a relatively good mood when going into work. The sun had set in the sky by the time I carpooled to the agency like my boss wanted. Darkness took the city streets as I walked into the agency; Daniel had finished his shift of make-up artist and was heading out when I came in.

"Top of the evenin' to ya, madam." Daniel greeted loudly, unmistakably catching my attention. "Did you talk to Lucy yet?" he asked hopefully. "She's been avoiding me all day."

I smiled. "And I put in a good word."

He gave a cheesy grin of his own; he was rather ecstatic. "Blimey! Did she say anything about what an amazing kisser I was?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, you egotistic moron. She enjoyed it, yes. She was more worried about her making a fool of herself than you messing anything up." I giggled as he did some sort of dance. "I have to go to a shoot now; stop using me as the middle-man and ask her on a date, idiot."

"Good idea!" He said to me as he went to leave. Quickly I went after him, suddenly reminded of something else I needed to talk with him about.

"Wait! About Felicia, did you find anything out yet?" My voice was hushed. I touched his arm and he turned.

He stopped and frowned at me, thinking for a moment. "No. I saw a missing person ad in the paper and some odd ones around town, I haven't heard about anything else. Sorry." I was slightly discouraged, though I should have expected it. He patted my back, offering me a goofy smile. "Don't worry though! Her disappearance isn't you fault."

"I know." I told him and turned to go back inside. Still, nobody knows. I sighed as I headed to the floor the photo shoot room was on. All of the professional and expensive equipment I needed I made sure stayed at the agency half of the time so then I wouldn't have to cart it around all day. Usually I did carry a small camera on me, but the perfect picture moments always seemed to come when I didn't have one on me. Of course.

After I loaded the large case of equipment onto a cart, I pushed it from the equipment room to the enormous photo shoot room, which was already set up before I arrived. I saw Lucy checking the lights and then shouting at someone because they put the wrong drop backdrop up on the wall; she smiled at me and waved after. A couple of the fresh new models who had finished make-up were watching the crew set up from the side of the set. I could tell, from the anticipation and fear on their faces, it was probably their first professional shoot.

Leon, a known fashion agent for Calvin Klein, approached me as I opened the equipment case. "These ladies will need quite a bit of coaching, I'm just letting you know now. Hopefully our male model will help them out..." he said to me, then casually walked away. I smiled politely and understood what he meant; the new models were always frustrating at first, but could be enjoyable by the end of the shoot. I wondered momentarily who the male model was but didn't think too long as I continued to pull each part of the camera carefully out and set them on the floor, ready to assemble the pieces after.

"How pleasant to see you again." A voice I recognized made me turn and drop the final piece to the camera; god his voice was like a velvet lined seashore on a cool summer night...

I never heard the piece collide with the floor; instead, it was in the pale hand of a man. He straightened his posture and gently handed the piece to me, cold fingers brushing my warm skin.

The vampire Luke stood in my midst, a smirk on his lips that caused me blush; I thought of the ending of the dream last night and the smirk widened. He looked even better than before after he'd been through make-up and dressing. The blush disappeared as I snapped out of it and looked right below the intense stare he had on me. "What are you doing here." I spat quietly at him.

"Working; I'm a model, remember?" He narrowed his icy blue eyes. "We could start the shoot if you would ready your equipment, Miss Lovett."