He smiled before she told him yes.

"Where are we headed?" she asked.

"Do you remember Bergen Swamp?"

"What? Bergen Swamp? Did the—" she said, before lowering her voice "—did the vampire die?"

Michel grabbed hold of her shoulders. "No. Someone saved her. A human." Kerry's eyes bugged up and her mouth dropped.

He smiled. She is truly amusing. Maybe she recognized his smile, because she frowned, and looked almost angry. His amusement grew even more.

"Are you going to tell me why it is that I have to go with you to meet a vampire?" she asked, testily.

He liked the amusement she brought him, but he still loved the sound of her heartbeat more. And there were two ways…

"Did you forget what I am?" he told her, holding the back of her head and putting his lips on her throat. Ba-thump-thump-thump. There. He waited for her to say something. She would. She would say a smart ass remark.

"Hard to forget when I can all but feel your teeth," she said with a shaky breath.

"Then I'll have to remind you, eh?" he said, going for way number two.

He kissed her. It was quickly becoming custom to him, though this was only day –or night—two that he has seen her again. He recalled his feeble attempt to try to amend his mistake two years ago, knowing he would have never carried it out completely. He would only go as far as going back to Brockport and maybe stalk her for a while –nothing serious, albeit creepy.

But no. Here he was, kissing her as if they have been lovers for years, decades, centuries; as old as America.

He could feel Kerry smiling, and pulled back.

"What?" he asked.

"Nostalgia," she said. She looked at him for a while, and he was almost willing to lose himself in her hazel eyes.

"We should go," he said, noticing that the two men were starting to go back to their car, no doubt to follow him.

"Won't they follow you though?" she asked him.

He remained quiet. He grabbed her hand and led her to her car. He opened the passenger door for her, and she got in silently, knowing that he wouldn't answer her questions anyway.

He got in the driver's seat and held out his hand to her. She began to look for her keys and couldn't find them.

"I don—" she said, before she saw that he already had her keys. She looked at him confused. He kept his hand out for her, and she warily gave him her hand. She obviously didn't know what he wants.

Once her hand was firmly in his, he looked at her again for three deep seconds, and a hint of a hint of a smile showed on his face.

He drove with one hand in the direction of Buffalo, seeing that the men were still following him.

Could be more than them, he thought, learning the last time not to underestimate human vampire hunters –the hard way.

He would lead them to Buffalo, and get another car. He would go to Rochester, and get the Monte Carlo under Regina's name, which they used last time, except that another vampire now had custody to it, though they hardly ever used it. Next he would go back to Buffalo, losing them, and get Kerry's car back. This would be driven by another vampire. Complicated, but the simplest under the circumstances.

"Where are we going?" asked Kerry after fifteen minutes of riding. He had still not let go of Kerry's hand.

"Buffalo," he said after a minute. "We need to lose the people who are following us. As well as I don't want this car in Bergen Swamp. Must I review why?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Why Buffalo?"

"The farthest location from anyone you might know, as well as a lot of back up shall we have to confront them," he said, knowing she would react.

She did. "Back up? As in vampire friends? As in…non-human friends? I thought we were going to Bergen Swamp," she said, her voice getting louder.

He could tell she was trying to get swallowed by her anger, and she tried to pull her hand away. But he just couldn't let her.

"Would you rather have your friends facing danger?" he asked, seeing that she was getting madder than he would have thought. Had she developed a temper?

"Are you threatening me?" she asked.

He was shocked at her question. She must have seen it, because she relented. "No," he said, shaking his head for emphasis. "I'm trying to protect your friends and family. I don't want you blaming me for something that can be avoided by doing what we are doing right now."

She couldn't argue with that, and sighed. "Where in Buffalo?" she asked, calmly.

He smiled. "You won't like it, so—"

"—you'd rather not tell me," she finished.

"No, I'll tell you, and you'll decide if you will be my accomplice once again."

"I already told you I would," Kerry pointed out.

"Alright," he said breezily. "In that case: We will lose them by going to Rochester to get another car, then back here in Buffalo to retrieve your car—or on second thought—I'll just ask someone to drive it back to Brockport for us, saves us time, and that way the men won't be going back and recognizing us in your car."

"Doesn't sound that bad."

"I don't know how long it would take to lose them," he said.

"I've been in worse," Kerry said calmly.

"I don't know if they will try to attack us," he pressed.

She stayed quiet or a while. She then looked at him, daring him to keep testing her.

She's definitely changed. This new air she carried with her was that of confidence, similar to that of the Laundromat when she rescued him, though she did not realize her confidence back then, but different in that she faced her fears a little fearlessly, as paradoxically as it sounds.

He liked that. She is funny, smart, beautiful, and confident. They don't get much better than that.

"Have you fed?" she asked, her heartbeat speeding up at the thought.

Hmm…how was I looking at her? he wondered. He went from serious to amused quickly. He would be hungry for her blood when the time came.

He had not forgotten his goal. She will be his eternal companion of the night.

"Recently," he said, phrasing his word carefully. A slight relief came in her face, then resentment, no doubt for feeling that relief.

"Uhmm…" she said, a little nervously. "Can you please watch the road?"

He rolled his eyes, and laughed quietly. He turned his eyes to the road, but not his attention. He has gone through speeding freeways with less attention than that.

"This is my car," he said, once they parked next to a brand new Lexus. It was customized, of course, with black tinted windows. Literally, black inside, except the front windshield, though he could have seen with no problem if it had been darker. He knew she knew enough about cars, even if her vocabulary about them referred otherwise.

While he was getting her books in his car, he heard squeals, and the opening of cars, as well as two sets of feet running towards…Kerry.

He couldn't do much, since he knew humans would see his unnatural speed and strength, but then again, what would it matter if she died? Or if they hurt her? He would kill them on the spot. Or torture them in the most inhumane ways he could think of, and he is old and has seen many, many, many ways people have been tortured. He came close to being tortured for…never mind.

He was quickly behind one of the men, the one who wasn't holding Kerry, and got ready to yank heads off.

"Let him go or I'll kill this bitch," he said.

"Kill her, I kill everyone who means most to you, and trust me, I'll make it so that you won't be able to kill yourself. And your friend will die, on the spot," he said, in a serious, vehement voice.

Usually, he kept his voice low and even, but not today. He could see Kerry's panicked face coming close to hyperventilation.

The man who had Kerry relented. Finally, he let her go, but tried to draw out a gun.

Before anyone –human— could react, someone else got into the situation.

The man's gun went flying towards the apartments near where Michel had parked, and a goddamned incredibly good looking guy came out, holding the man's shoulders.

"Mike, how ya been?" he asked, in a slight southern accent.

Feels weird adding new characters, but might as well make them slightly funny, no?