Waking up, I felt greatly rested. Yet I was very surprised when I realized I was curled right up against someone else. I sat up quickly, realizing I wasn't in my own bed. The movement I made woke up the person beside me.

Jason opened his eyes, looked at me, rolled back over and muttered, "Still dreaming..."

I rolled out of bed, trying not to wake him. Then I tiptoed out into the hallway and down the stairs. Once there, I went to the kitchen. It was messy. Not as bad as my house after a couple of days of no cleaning, but definitely messy. I opened the fridge. Nothing except a package of hotdogs. I went to the front door and grabbed my purse from where I left it and headed out.

I went to the store, which wasn't very hard to find during the day. I bought eggs, a pack of bacon, bread, butter and cheese slices. When I paid for them, I headed back to Jason's. He was still sleeping. I got to work cleaning the kitchen up, and doing the few dishes he had. Then I searched for frying pans.

I love cooking. Even though grilled cheese, and eggs and bacon are pretty easy to cook, it's still something I really enjoy. I guess it was kind of my own coping mechanism. Whenever my mother and her boyfriends would fight, I would make them dinner, or lunch, or breakfast. One thing I've realized is that food tends to distract people.

Once everything was done and on plates, I brought Jason's upstairs. I knocked first this time. He was awake and opened the door.

"Here." I said, and thrusted the plate at him. "It's my way of saying thank you. For, you know, last night."

Jason took the plate and nodded. He followed me back down stairs. I grabbed my plate and sat down on the couch beside jason. He ate without saying anything.

"So how do we find Amelie?" I asked between bites of egg.

"We?" Jason repeated.

"I just figured that you were going to help me..." I said, trailing off and feeling stupid.

"Fine. But only because I know you couldn't handle this on your own." He replied.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You really think I can't?" I said, standing up. "You know what? I'll go myself. I'll see you tonight."

"Tonight?" He asked, a confused look on his face. The fact that he didn't protest or stop me made my blood boil.

"Yeah, but only because I like your sister. This has absolutely nothing to do with you." I said angrily. I put my plate down on the coffee table and left.

First thing I had to do was go home. I had to change and shower. I was kind of worried to go home after what had went down with Darrel the night before, but when I entered the house, it was empty. Thank goodness. After getting dressed I went into my mom and Barrel's room. After searching through the first four drawers and not finding what I needed, I got discouraged, but in the last drawer, I found what i had been looking for.

My birth certificate. I quickly scanned it, finding my father's name immediately. Bishop Wyther. I pocketed it along with the picture of Bishop. Then I headed out for Founder's Square.

The walk should have been easy, considering the size of Morganville, but it was so hot here that by the time I got to Founder's Square, I was so thirsty. I headed up the steps to the City Hall. The same secretary was there. I walked up with a smile on my face.

"Can I speak to Richard, please?"

The woman looked up at me. "Do you have an appointment?" She asked. She looked bored. Not at all the friendly and eager to please woman she was last time.

"Um, no." I said. "But it's very important."

"You need to make an appointment. Mr. Morrell doesn't have time to deal with every college student with a problem." She said, and then looked away from me back to her computer.

"It's important. Amelie sent me." I said, the lie coming to my lips without even thinking them first.

Suddenly the secretaries face changed completely. "Oh, sorry. Mrs, um...?"

"Rainn."

"Oh. Mrs. Rainn. Go right in." She said and smiled at me.

I didn't return the smile. I just headed straight into Richard's office. He looked up, startled, when I entered.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"It's me. I mean, it's Emma. I was here the other day? After Amelie and Oliver's meeting?" I said, sitting down.

"Oh!" He said, his expression changing to a friendly one. "You look really different with your hair down."

"Thanks... I think." I said, and smiled at him. "I was wondering if you could help me."

"Whatever you need." He said, then added, "As long as it's legal."

"I need to speak to Amelie." I told him. His expression turned to one of surprise.

"That might be a little hard, but I'll see what I can do. What do you need to talk to her about? I'm only asking because unless it's important, I can't ask her to come talk to you." He said. "Not because I don't want to, but because Amelie doesn't like to be bothered and might get angry."

Instead of responding, I just handed him my birth certificate and the picture of my father. I watched as his expression went from on of confusion, to disbelief to horror. Then back to disbelief.

"This can't be right, Emma." He said, handing them back to me.

"I know. Trust me. I still need to talk to Amelie about it, though." I said, and when he looked hesitant, I added, "Please."

Alright. Wait here. I'll go give her a call. But I'm not sure she's going to come right away." He said, standing up.

I waited in Richard's office until he came back. When he did, he gave me a small smile. "She said to wait here, she'll be over shortly."

"Thank you. A lot." I said. "I just want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible."

"I understand."

"So, while we're waiting, how about that long story?" I asked. When he looked at me with a confused expression on his face, I added, "About how you became probably one of the youngest mayors ever."

The smile on his face disappeared instantly. "My father used to the mayor." He said, a clouded look on his face. "He died during a storm we had here not to long ago... They just handed me the job. I used to be a police officer."

I looked up, horror struck. "I'm so sorry!" I said quickly. "I never should have asked."

"Don't worry. You didn't know." He said, and tried to give me a small smile.

"I guess you must hate it." I said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"This job. It must remind you of... you know, your father a lot."

"Sometimes. Everyone just expected me to be so happy. I liked being a police officer, though. Being mayor is just a constant reminder that he's dead." Richard said, without looking me in the eye. Then he gave me a huge smile. "Enough with the depressing conversation."

The smile on his face just didn't look real. Before I could make him more upset, Amelie stepped into the room, followed by two large bodyguards.

"Richard. Emma." She said, nodding to both of us in turn. "Why is it that you've called me here?"

Just as I had with Richard, I passed her the photo and certificate. She read them and then handed them back to me.

"This is quite shocking." She said. "I wouldn't have believed you, yet I don't think there is anyone alive today, other than Oliver, who actually knows Bishops surname."

"So you believe it?" I asked her.

"Well, I'll need to run some tests, of course." She said, motioning for me to stand up. "We must go see Myrnin right away."

"Wait!" I said, suddenly feeling frightened. "What kind of tests?"

She gave me what must have been her attempt at a reassuring smile. "Nothing dangerous. Just some blood tests."

"Is it going to be long? I have a dinner with some friends tonight." I told her. It looked as if she was holding back an eye roll.

"Fine. We'll have Richard drive you there when we're finished." She said, and motioned for both Richard and I to follow her as she walked out the door.

Outside there was a limo waiting for Amelie. She got in, but didn't ask us to get in with her. Richard just shrugged as she drove away and led me towards his truck. It was a gorgeous black Escalade.

"This thing is huge." I said, trying to pull myself up into the cab. I wasn't short, but it was pretty high up.

"She's my baby." He said, and patted the side of the truck.

"She?" I asked once we were both settled in.

"Of course. Everyone knows that a guys vehicle is a girl." He said, smiling.

"Who's Myrnin?" I asked when we started driving.

"Myrnin is... He's... well, he's kind of crazy."

"And he's a vampire?" I asked. Richard nodded. "So I'm getting my blood taken by a crazy vampire. Am I going to live through this, or no?"

Richard laughed. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." He said and turned to smile at me. I smiled right back.

He was so cute. And nice. So different from Jason. He was never mean, or hurtful. He actually opened up to me, and we've only spoken twice. And here he was, offering to protect me. Jason would tell me that I should handle it myself, or that he was only protecting me because he was forced to.

When Jason pulled up in front of a nice house, almost an exact replica of my own, I was surprised. This place looked nothing like I would expect a crazy vampires house to look like.

"Here?" I asked. Richard shook his head.

"We can't drive to where we're going. This is about as close as we can get." He said, then hopped out of the truck.

"Why is it," I started, leaning halfway out of the truck. "That every time I see you I end up jumping from high places?"

Richard laughed and offered me a hand down. I took it and smiled at him once my feet were firmly on the ground.

"I don't understand how girls where those things." He said, meaning my shoes.

We were headed towards a path that was surround by bushes. You couldn't see anything on either side of it.

I shrugged. "You get used to it." I told him. "Now this looks more like the kind of place a vampire would live."

We hadn't even arrived where we were going yet but I was already creeper out. Eventually we came up to a slanted shack.

Richard opened the door and led me down a set of stairs. There was another door here and he knocked on the door. Eventually it was answered by a guy, a couple of years older then Richard, wearing a weird outfit that looked like a mix between a cowboy and a pimp.

"Myrnin. Amelie sent us." Richard said, walking in the doorway.

"Yes, she's here." Myrnin replied, and motioned for me to come in as well. "So this is the demon's second offspring?"

I noticed Amelie in the room. Here guards were gone this time. She shot Myrnin a glare. "This is Bishop's possible daughter, yes." Amelie said. "You can see by her age, and the fact that she is not a vampire, that this seems quite impossible."

Myrnin looked me over. Then he stepped very close to me and inhaled. "You're right. Definitely human." He said, then walked over to a table. He grabbed a knife and came towards me.

I instantly backed up a couple steps. "What're you doing?" I asked, frightened.

Richard stepped forward and in front of me. Amelie came over and put a hand on Myrnin's arm. "She's human. You can't just cut her to get the sample, she won't heal the same way we do." She said. "I'm sure you have a syringe around here somewhere."

Myrnin came me a bright smile. "My apologies. Sometimes I forgot that you humans are so... fragile." He turned and rummaged around the space. Eventually he came back with a large needle and a vile few viles.

"This will only hurt a bit." He promised.

I bit my lip in anticipation. "Couldn't we have just, you know, done this professionally, at a hospital?" I asked.

"This will be perfectly safe. I know what I'm doing." He said. I looked at Richard, who nodded.

I closed my eyes as Myrnin attached the vile to the needle and jabbed it into my arm. After a little while he pulled out the first file and reattached another.

"Sorry. I'm going to need a lot of samples for this kind of work." He replied, smiling.

By the end of the process I felt light headed and shaky.

"You can go to your dinner now." Amelie said. "I'll get a hold of you as soon as Myrnin is done assessing the samples."

Richard grabbed my arm lightly and led me out of the shack. I realized about halfway down the path that I needed his arm to hold me up. When we got to the truck, I was so tired I couldn't make it into the cab.

"Never had your blood taken before, I take it?" Richard asked me.

I nodded. He picked me up effortlessly and put me into the cab of the truck.

"So, where are we headed?" He asked.

"Actually, I'm not sure. I didn't get the address." I replied. How stupid was I?

"Who are you visiting? I'm sure I can figure it out."

"Um, Eve. Eve Rosser." I told him.

He smiled. "Perfect. I needed to speak to Shane anyways." He said. "I guess I'll be coming in with you."

a/n You know, personally Richard is one of my favorite Morganville characters. I wish we got to see more of him in the books.

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Also, a special thanks to Dark Angel, the only person yet to favorite this story! You're awesome, and it makes me want to write more, knowing that someone actually likes it. :)