Was it weird that I was debating what to wear to meet a vampire?

Well Prada thought so as she paced around my walk in closet as I looked for something to wear. She was playing the part of hummingbird perfectly as she couldn't sit still for more than a nanosecond. I know she was scared that I wasn't going to make it back home and it made me smile.

But, I'm a big enough girl to admit that I was nervous to be meeting a vampire for the first time. They had never come into the club that I had seen, but I only worked a few nights a week so they could have come into the club on one of my days off. Some of the girls moonlighted at clubs that had vampire patrons, but I just wasn't that brave. I had been through hell as a child I didn't want to make my adult life hell. Well adult-ish. I had been masquerading as an legal adult I had almost fooled myself into thinking I was.

I don't care what the vampire propaganda machine is trying to tell about how harmless they were. I didn't believe it, now granted I had read Dracula, but still they were killers. No sense in being dumb enough to forget that. Caution cost nothing after all.

I was getting frustrated at myself so I just walked out of my room with Prada in tow. I had hours till I was supposed to be at the Palms so I could distract myself with some housework or something.

I puttered around the house the rest of the day. Didn't really have anything pressing to do. I just wanted to be busy and not thinking about what I was going to do later on tonight. I did my laundry, and cleaned up the kitchen. Got on my laptop and paid a few stray bills. I didn't have a mortgage or a car payment since I paid cash for those, but my electricity bill was due two days ago. Thank God they hadn't turned it off like the they did last month. Its a little unnerving to walk into a dark house and the lights didn't work.

I walked back into the living room with nothing left to do but sit and wait for the sun to go down. I watched the CSI marathon and not for the first time wished I could have gone to college. It wasn't that I wasn't smart...I shook myself before I went to that dark place again.

That never led to anything good. After a guilt ridden bowl of ice cream with carmel sauce I was left with a few more hours to kill.

After a while I just climbed back into bed and took a nap. Thank goodness I didn't have any Dracula dreams. I wouldn't have been able to talk myself into meeting the Vampire King. Who the hell still had kings anyways?

I woke up with enough time to get myself decked out and ready for this little vamp meeting.

I jumped in the shower and scrubbed myself from head to toe. I needed to do a spring cleaning shower. Which always left me feeling totally like a girl and a buffed penny. I made sure there weren't any stray hairs anywhere. No one wanted to watch a hairy stripper. Well there were some clubs with "regular" women who stripped, but they didn't make nearly the amount of money we did. A man could see his girlfriend strip for him anytime.

He paid me to be a fantasy.

I am Sasha Fierce was blaring through my speakers as I got ready to go meet the vampire king. Nothing like a little Beyonce to put you in the sexy girl power mood. I had a little giggle as I thought about it. Girl power wasn't going to mean a hill of beans in this invite was for me to be a main course for the evening.

I looked at the dress I laid out, if you couldn't tell already I loved Prada. It was my favorite clothing line and their clothes fit me better than anything else. And there was nothing like having something expensive against your skin when you felt like silk.

The dress was a tiny little strapless number that flirted with the tops of my knees. It hugged my body enough to make me look sexy without trying, but it wasn't vulgar like I was a whore begging to get gang raped.

I figured formal meant formal without the slut look.

I slipped into a matching black strapless bra and lacy panty set. I didn't really need to wear a bra, but Victoria Secret knew what they were doing when they made that WonderBra. I slid into the dress and my boobs were on display, but I just couldn't help that. The dress wasn't made for a girl bigger than a small C and I was a tight and ample C cup.

I had to sit down on my footstool to put on my highest heels. I was almost 5 foot 1 in these shoes. Sometimes being small was such a hassle, I thought as I had to pull on my bedroom doorknob to pull myself up to stand. Those shoes were definitely not made for walking.

I shook my hair out of the tight French braid I slept it to give it that tousled wild look, but it looked deliberate. I dabbed on some lipgloss, stuck the invitation into my purse, blew Prada a kiss and jumped into my car and drove over to the Palms Casino. It was a hot night as always and let down the top on my Mini Cooper. I only drove my Charger to work. I sang along with whatever was playing on the radio. I was nervous and I sing when I get nervous, don't know why.

As I got closer to Las Vegas the lights got brighter and brighter. Whoever called Paris the City of Lights had never been to Vegas. No city shone like Vegas did at night. I would bet the house on it.

I loved it. Though living in Vegas you get tempted to dump a paycheck on the craps table or gamble away your house payment. That's why I always made it a point to stay out of casinos. I worked hard for my mom and I already had to give KP 20% of my tips and that was enough. Some of the girls in the club had markers all over town and they had to do some things to get out of those markers that made my hair curl. I didn't like owing anyone. You never knew when they would come to collect.

The traffic on the strip was as always heavy, and the tourist were in full force. They seemed to think that when they came to Vegas they got to act like total idiots and not wear enough clothes to cover their burning bushes. It would have been comical if not utterly pathetic. Every so often a camera would flash and I had to work hard to keep my attention on the road.

I sped on and soon the gleam of The Palms came into view. It was a beehive of activity and the valets were working overtime trying to get everyone out of their car and out of the way in a timely manner. It was barely a full minute before it was my turn to pull up and hand over my keys.

My door was opened. "Hey sugar," Marshall smiled as he helped pull me out of the car. The heels were made for looking good. Not getting in and out of cars. He chuckled as I teetered a bit. He had to help me to stand upright.

I smiled at him, "I didn't know you were working here." He nodded. I smiled at him. It was good he had a steady job and quick flip through his head proved that he wasn't gambling anymore. That was a good thing. He had a son to take care of. I didn't have many friends and it was nice for someone to just like me because I was me. I had met Marshall my first night in Vegas, and we had been friends ever since. Though I didn't see him as much and I was glad to know that it was because he was working and taking care of his son. Well he didn't know about my little quirk. No one liked to know that their private thoughts weren't private anymore.

"Who you here to see? I know you don't gamble." He took my keys, and handed me a numbered slip. I tucked it into my bra and I noticed that he watched me do that. It was ok. What was the occasional ogle between friends?

"This vamp named Felipe de Castro." I answered quickly. All the color drained from his beautiful face.

He gripped my hands hard and I tried not to whimper under the pressure. "Be careful around those vamps Ember." He warned me and when another car pulled up he had to get back to his job. I nodded at his warning. I patted his arm and shooed him away. It took a moment for him to gather himself enough to get into my car. I stood for a minute as he drove off with my car. It was now or never, and I took a few deep breathes and walked into the casino. It was a madhouse. I could hear the whoops and hollers of winners and loser. The constant cha-cing sound of the slots was making my head thump. And it didn't help that I was lost as to where I was supposed to go.

"Ms. Ember," called a voice and I turned at the sound of my name. I didn't like to go around throwing my name around. Though I was sure I had been careful when I got away from my master I didn't want to bastard coming back and sneaking up on me to steal me back. So I wasn't used to people calling me by my first name. Only KP at the club did, and I was getting miffed at the number of people that knew who I was all of a sudden. I had spent a whole year in Vegas without anyone knowing anything about me. I mean even the name on the house wasn't mine, and now it seemed everyone knew who I was.

I looked at the woman who was flagging me down and I walked over to her. Like everyone else she towered over me. She was a woman who had spent years perfecting her outward appearance. Her hair was gelled perfectly into a tight French braid down her back. Not a hair was out of place, and her make was flawless and demurred. Enough to show that she was a woman that loved being a woman, but didn't want to scream that she needed the attention a pound of make-up would give her. She wore one of the DKNY power suits with a smart pair of heels. The slit in her skit was just high enough to show that she was comfortable in her own skin but low enough to let everyone know that she had a brain she intended to use. It was a nice package neat little package. I wondered if that was something I could learn to do.

She was giving me that critical, disapproving eye and I knew it was wrong but I did it anyone. I let my guard down to see what she was thinking as she gave me that look.

I nearly fell back at the flood of voices and emotions that washed over me. And the woman's plastered on smile slipped for a second. "Are you alright Ms. Ember," she asked me. I nodded. I shook my head to clear all the thoughts and the damn ringing. It had been a long time since I let my guard all the way down to listen in to people.

I usually kept my tight mental shield up and stayed out of people's heads. My own life was tragic enough. I didn't need to know about the housewives turning tricks on the strip to pay for a bus ticket to get back home to whatever backwater town they came from. "Follow me please. Mr. de Castro is eagerly awaiting your arrival," she said as she turned and headed to the elevators. She didn't wait for me, and I had a hard time keeping up with her long strides and my slightly wobbly ones in my super high heels.

We had to walk through the entire casino and the noise of coins hitting and then being shoved into the slot machines was enough to give me a headache. A few people let out happy shouts as they won the little bit of money that got them all excited and encouraged them to keep playing to win more. But they never did and those same people would be thinking about taking money out of their kid's college funds in the morning.

The collective sound of our heels hitting the floor put her thoughts into a cadence, and I found myself moving right along. Who is she to get a special audience with Felipe. Looks like a damn hooker if you ask me. Hmmm, must be a high priced snack or something. Don't know why he doesn't ask me. I would gladly let him bite me. I had to giggle. She gave me a raised eyebrow as the elevator doors hissed open to let us in. I shook my head and stepped in after her. She slid a card into a slot and punched the pent house button. She was jealous that I was a snack. Who the hell thought like that? Who the hell actually wanted to be bitten and drained like a juice box? If she wanted to know what it felt like to be used like a tampon I could introduce her to my former master. I bet she would have loved that.

Well at least this vamp king did it in style if we were heading to the penthouse. I had seen the suite on a few travel shows. I smiled as we silently rode up to the pent house. "So who are you?" I asked. I already knew but I couldn't very well say anything. I had learned early on not to tip my hand about my strange ability.

She didn't turn around but I could hear the huff in her voice. "I am Mr. de Castro's secretary." she told me snottily. Like her job was better than mine, but I didn't say anything. She could put herself up on a pedestal if she wanted to. Everyone had a right to love what they did. We were both silent the rest of the ride up. Finally the doors hissed open again and we found ourselves in the foyer of the impressive penthouse. From the elevator I got an eyeful of the Vegas strip. The entire floor was incased in glass and you could see straight down the strip on one side and the desert on the other side. It was a nice view, but I wasn't there to admire the view and Snotty Secretary kept right on walking through the foyer through the penthouse.

The penthouse was decorated like they wanted it to look expensive but not stuffy enough for a MTVer to feel uncomfortable. It was a sleek modern feel with modern art along the expansive walls. I could hear music and the sounds of a party going on toward the back of the penthouse.

My brain was buzzing with the thoughts and emotions and they were washing over me and I had to stop and lean against a wall for support. I wanted to kick myself for not letting my guard down more often so it wouldn't feel like I was getting hit with a mac truck. I had been taught better. I didn't want to break out into a cold sweat, that just wouldn't look good with this outfit.

I took a few deep breaths and listened till I could walk and talk without wanting to faint. Snotty Secretary was giving me a look like she wanted to rush me back downstairs and show me the door, which was what she was thinking about doing.

"Hey, your boss invited me, bitch." I snapped. The color drained from her face, then bright pink spots colored her cheeks and she turned from me. I wanted to stick my tongue out at her, but I stopped. I had embarrassed her enough. She was smart enough not to say anything else and she kept on walking. I took another deep breath and followed her on through the place. We broke free from the long corridor and we were on the second story of a winding staircase that overlooked a spacious sunken living room.

The room was teeming with vampires and humans. The vampires were of all colors and ages, well ages when they died. The humans were all young and oozing enough sex that it could have been bottled up and sold by the crate. Everyone turned and looked up at me. I threw on a dazzling smile and gave a little wave to everyone. I knew who Felipe de Castro was before he said anything. He was of course the center of everyone's attention, well before they all looked up at me. Talk about feeling like a literal piece of meat.

"Welcome Ember." he said opening his arms and smiling up at me. Another telepath, this is getting exciting, came screaming at me loud and clear. The smile slipped from my face as I realized what I was doing. I was hearing Felipe's thoughts as clearly as if he were still alive. Felipe's faced changed and I slapped my smile back into place and kept on walking. I could hear vampire thoughts. Somehow that revelation didn't make me feel good. It made me feel like Nemo swimming in a churning pool of sharks.

I didn't want to keep listening in to him; especially when he started speculating how good I would look without my clothes on. I only took my top off in the strip club. I kept my underwear on, and me and sex weren't on speaking terms. Fantasizing was as close as I was going to get.

But somehow Felipe thinking of me didn't feel the same as when a human thought of me naked, and Felipe's fangs ran out at the thought and I had to suppress a shudder. I was the little lamb being lead right up to the lion and he was looking hungry.

I walked slowly down the staircase and every vampire eye followed my every move. The mood of the room was charged with a lustful red haze and it made me blush that I was the cause of it. Felipe was barely taller than me, but his shock of jet black hair was combed back from his face and I could see he was hispanic before he was turned. He could almost double as Jimmy Smits, though I was more of a Benjamin Bratt fan, he was still a good looking older man, um vampire. The jet black suit and blood red shirt he was wearing was not putting me at ease, but still I kept walking down those stairs.

I felt the gently nuzzle of Barry and my eyes swung around till I found his. He was my anchor in the chum infested pool I was wading into. I grabbed onto him and refused to let go. I gave him a slight nod and he seemed to visible relax. He thought I was going to be mad at him for telling his boss about me who in turn told Felipe about me. I would talk to him about that later. I was a little miffed, but only just.

"Thank you for the invitation," I smiled at the little vamp as I finally made it over to him. I wasn't sure what to call him so I thought it best not to say anything more. He motioned for everyone to sit and I nodded a thanks and sat gracefully on the end of a black leather couch and everyone else sat once I did. I noticed there weren't any other females in the room and my smile got a little tight. I didn't like that. "I have to admit I was a little surprised to receive it." Might as well get down to business. I wasn't asked her for my looks. And the sooner I got this over with the sooner I could run screaming for the hills.

He looked at me for a few seconds with a serious look on his face. I thought I was in big trouble for speaking out of turn, but his face broke out into a grin, "Women these days are so forthright. I like it." I wasn't sure what time period he was from but I was glad I hadn't offended him, because I was a forthright kind of girl. "Barry's king Stan Davis told me a little piece of information last night that I find very interesting." He indicated a vamp that was sitting in a chair overlooking the view of the strip.

I had to keep from recoiling when he turned to face me. Half of his face looked like something had crushed it. Something big, heavy and very pissed off.

The vamp tried to smile and I could literally see into his brain with the movement. I had to hold back the throw up that was fighting its way up from my stomach. Felipe saw my face. "My colleague Stan was in that terrible Rhodes bombing a few weeks ago." he explained. I heard about the bombing at the Vampire hotel during their convention. More humans died than vamps and I had to wonder at the thought process of the people responsible. I mean if the vamps didn't burn up or get staked obviously they survived. So you actually punished the humans more than you did the vampires.

I turned back to focus on Felipe, and I nodded. "So its true that a few vampires were hurt in the bombing?" I asked in what I hope was a sympathetic manner.

Felipe nodded, "Yes it was a heinous crime. One for which vengeance will not be quick." His smooth face took on a deadly mask and I slid back on the sofa to put a little more distance between myself and his fangs. He winked at me. "Do not fear me child nothing will happen to you I promise." Since he fangs were still out I didn't relax anymore. "But down to business. I have been informed that you my dear are a telepath. Is that true?" He sat down to face me. He cross his legs while resting his tanned fingers on top of his knees.

I thought about how I should answer that, or if I should. I could deny the whole thing and then what? They didn't seem like the type of vamps to just let me walk out of here. And what would happen to Barry if I lied? He might be valuable, but they could still hurt him without killing him. I sighed, "Yes I am." I told him point blank. No sense in lying. They found me in short order, no reason to think they couldn't track me down again if they really wanted me.

He leaned forward as he looked at me. "You know Barry of course is a telepath," he waved at Barry in a dismissive manner. "And one of my sheriffs has a very unique little telepath under his thumb, and I was lead to believe the ability was rare, but here I've met three of you." He spoke as if we were all conspiring together to keep the truth from him. I had just met Barry last night and I didn't know who this other girl was.

I lifted a shoulder. I couldn't explain it. "I've never heard of anyone else with the ability and it was a shock for me when I met Barry," I explained. I mean it wasn't like we had a convention every year to swap stories with each other.

He nodded at my explanation, "Well enough of that. Tell me about your ability." He seemed positively gleeful at the prospect of me.

I looked at the hungry look of the other vamps in the room and it was making me nervous. "Wouldn't this be a conversation better left between friends?" I asked him sweetly. He seemed to ponder the thought and with a nod of his head he dismissed everyone. Someone had to help the disfigured Stan out of the room and I almost sighed when he was gone. "You already know what Barry can do, but I can do it better. Barry doesn't have the mental control that I do." I told him flat out. He looked at me as if he didn't believe what I was telling him.

I minded my manners and didn't offer a snappy comeback. Something told me he would only accept my forthrightness to a degree and now was not the time to test that. "Give me something from this vamp with the other telepath." He stood up and moved with such speed that he was a blur and I had to blink back the tears from the wind disturbance he caused when he finally sat down.

He set down a bejeweled box and motioned for me to open it. I shrugged and tipped it open. As soon as my fingers touched the dagger my mind was warped a thousand miles away. It was like I was flipping on a movie and I was looking into someone's head with such clarity I could almost smell the french fry grease, "Her name is Sookie Stackhouse. Right now she is walking around in a bar where she works. Merlott's or something. Her boss Sam has some new girlfriend, and Sookie thinks the girl is a bit too ferocious for him. She wants to warn him off, but then she doesn't think its right because she hasn't been doing too well in the love department. Her Eric has been distant from her and she's worried he will stray from the relationship. She is feeling something through this blood bond with this Eric. He's agitated about something. Someone called Victor is upsetting him." I couldn't hold the connection and it slipped. I was seriously rusted. I stopped talking and looked up.

If a vampire was ever speechless this vampire was.

His eyes were dark. "And you can tell all this?" he asked. "You aren't a witch or something with a few scying abilities?" I had no idea what the hell he was talking about.

I shook my head just the same. "Everything we touch, everywhere we go we leave a piece of ourselves. Not anything physical, but just like a fingerprint its ours alone, and it can't be confused with someone else. So I can connect with a person through something they have touched or where they have been. And it gives me something like a key into their mind. I don't know how long ago they can touch something or go somewhere and I can still pick up a thought, but I can." I had never really put what I did into words like that. Hell I had never talked to anyone about what I could do.

"How far away can you do this?"

I thought about it, "I can hear some of the people on the street and across the street. I've never really thrown out my net to see how far this goes. And I.." I started to tell him I could hear vamp brains, but something in the fangy way Felipe was looking at me killed that sentence. I didn't think he would like that a whole lot. "And I can go back in someone's memory, and see what they were thinking about yesterday or last week or even last year." I told him to cover up my faux pa.

He didn't say anything. And I didn't have anything to do so I leaned back into the sofa with my legs crossed and my hands in my lap and looked at him. He was thinking of all the possible ways to use me. He was a clear broadcaster and it was a total workout to keep him at bay. He knew Sophia- Ann had been using that Sookie Stackhouse for her gain and he knew that Sookie and Barry had found out about the bombing in time to help a few people and vamps get out though a few did die. Though that left Arkansas and Louisiana opened for a take over. "How did you come by this?" he asked finally.

I shrugged, "I was born with the ability, but I got some training during my time in Japan. The man that was holding me knew of my ability and he wanted me to learn how to harness it and he wanted to use me. So that helped me to I guess develop my ability. He was a very demanding task master." Never mind he kept me chained up like a dog and had been having sex with me since my 6th birthday. That just wasn't polite dinner conversation.

"You were a whore in Japan yes," I glared at him. I did not like to talk about that. He seemed amused at my expression. "Forgive me. I mean no disrespect it is just a simple question. I am not asking for you to bed me. Though if you wish I certainly would not turn you away." He stated simply.

I disregarded his invitation into his bed. Those days were over, thank you very much. Well he wanted to know the full story, "I wasn't a whore as you put it. I was too young to really remember my parents, but I was kidnapped while we were on vacation and sold. I was four and he didn't start screwing me till I was 6. I ran away from him when I was 11. Made it back to the States by the time I was 12 and spent some time in New York. I didn't want to be turned out and put on drugs so I left and I've been in Las Vegas ever since." There he wanted my damn life story well now he had it. And if he had been human I would have cringed when I saw that flicker of pity dance across his face, but his face didn't change. I might as well have told him the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

"This is why it is so hard to find anything about you." He wasn't saying it like a question just more of a statement.

"I don't like records. And I never use the name my parents gave me. I'm not that girl anymore" I told him.

"Well young lady I want you to work for me." He said that like I was supposed to drop down in front of him and suck him off just for the offer. I wasn't a fangbanger. "I can pay to where you never have to worry about money again." I smiled at him. So he hadn't been able to get into my bank account.

"I have a job Mr. de Castro, and I have enough money to live." I told him kindly.

"You're a stripper and even in my time that sort of woman wasn't well respected. Besides once word of your ability gets out there are those that won't be as nice with their offers. I can protect you Ember and you can have a good and long life because of it." I noticed that little threat. "I want you Ember and I will have you. Now we just need to agree on the terms." I didn't like being man handled. Not by anyone I didn't care if they had fangs or not.

"Mr. de Castro I appreciate your offer. I really do, but I do like my job.

He waved his hand and cut me off. "Ember, Let me be frank. When I want something I get it. I am a nice enough man to make this offer to you, but make no mistake that I will take you if I have, and I promise I can make the experience last for decades." I nearly shuddered off the couch. "But I would rather we be civilized and you take my offer for employment." Well there was no getting out of this. I really didn't want to know what experience he had in mind for me.

I looked at him, the only thing he could take from me was my life. I didn't have any family or friends and frankly I didn't have a lot of apathy. So he could torture someone in front of my and I wouldn't give a damn. But I really liked living, damnit I had worked hard to keep breathing and I was giving that up for anyone.

So it looked like I was going to be working for the vamps. "First, I get to stay where I am. Second, you don't treat me like a whore and none of your friends or associates get to either. I'm not an object to be passed around. Third you will pay me seven figures for my services. High seven figures." There, I had laid it out. If he wanted me to work for him that was the only way.

He stood up and offered his hand to me. I looked up at him to make sure he wasn't going to kill me. His fangs retracted and I grabbed his hand. His hands were ice cold. I was on my feet so fast he had lifted me almost out of my shoes. He was smiling at him and leaned in close to smell me. He actually inhaled deeply and held it for a few moments. Then he leaned closer till I felt his cool lips in the dip of my collarbone, where my shoulder and neck met. I tried to keep from shivering in fear that he would bite me.

I knew girls who did vamp clubs and they said if the vampire doesn't care getting bite hurt like hell. Though the idiots kept going back to the vamp bars. Yeah, real smart choice. But he didn't bite me but his nearness was making me nervous. "Mr. de Castro," I said hating the tremble in my voice when I spoke.

I felt his fangs grazing up my neck and it took all my self control not to scream and try to run. Finally his lips stopped and he kissed my neck, "I agree to your terms Ember," he said slowly. "You smell fantastic. You have my body absolutely tingling. I find it hard to resist the urge." Well I had heard enough. I wiggled away from him.

"Now Mr. de Castro. I'm not a snack. I'm an employee." I walked around the coffee table and he shook himself from whatever hold my smell was having on him. He shook himself again as if I made his head cloudy. And I was glad that was over. I certainly didn't want to get bite. My skin was too pretty to be sucked on.