Lisa had to face down several pompous superiors to get the clearance to see the female.

"I am quite recovered thank you...Yes, I know...If I thought I wasn't recovered I wouldn't be down here now would I?!" This last statement was shouted—and it was the one that got her through in the end. Her temper was infamous among her coworkers and she knew it.

Not many were willing to face her down when she got angry.

She stepped across the threshold of the observation deck. There was no security in this section of the building, so she did not have to worry about anyone overhearing what she said—or seeing what she did.

She flipped the switch that would let her talk to the—now restrained—Alexandra. "Can you hear me?"

She was hanging by her wrists from the ceiling; it was a crude, but effective, way to limit her movement. She made no response.

"Alexandra, can you hear me?"

Still no response.

She quickly skimmed the recent history of the project. Since everything was meticulously documented, Lisa thought she could find the reason for her lack of response. There was nothing.

She heard a quiet moan from behind the glass, and Alexandra lifted her head. When she saw the other woman's face, she was horrified.

Her lips were cut and bruised, as were her eyes, and she was barely coherent. She didn't even have the strength to hold her head up.

Lisa quickly found the controls to lower and release the cuffs.

Alexandra collapsed bonelessly to the ground and did not move.

Almost before she knew what she was doing, she found her hand poised over the button that would open a doorway into the chamber. She stopped. Caution made her think about what she was about to do: enter a closed space through a one-way door with a possibly dangerous creature inside. Her hand eased away from the button. She tried to talk to Alexandra again. "Can you hear me? Please, say something." Nothing.

She pushed the button.

Lisa softly walked over to the other woman's side and touched her back. When she groaned in pain, Lisa flinched. She lifted the hem of Alexandra's shirt to find bruises. Many of them, some new, some several days old. They covered her entire back, and Lisa was willing to bet that her front wasn't any better. She was stunned. She couldn't believe the amount of damage that this woman had suffered, repeatedly.

Alexandra tried to push herself up, but she was too weak. Lisa gently rolled her over onto her lap, supporting the other woman's head and shoulders as though she were one of her own children.

Suddenly Alexandra went rigid, her head craned back as far as it would go. Then her head snapped up, her eyes were glowing red, her pupils were narrow like a cat's, and her canines had doubled in size. She was growling deep in her chest, an inhuman, feral sound that send chills down Lisa's spine.

Her hands latched around the back of Lisa's neck and pulled her down. Then she felt a sharp pain on the side of her neck, and then something lapping at the blood pouring from the wound. She tried to push Alexandra away, but her arms were like steel girders.

After a while, she stopped struggling; she was too weak to fight the other woman's strength. She felt cold, lightheaded.

Lisa collapsed.

Alexandra desperately wrenched her jaws off Lisa's neck. She hoped she had not taken too much, but she hadn't been able to stop; like a man dying of thirst finding water, she had been half crazed.

Someone was bandaging the raw spot on her neck, it felt nice, and when it went away, she groaned in complaint.

Lisa felt very weak. But when her eyes finally blinked open, she sat up...only to nearly pass out again when the blood rushed downward.

"Are you alright?"

A jolt of adrenaline shot through Lisa, and she scrambled away from the female as fast as she could.

She stopped when her back hit a wall. Her heart was pounding franticly as she spotted the female across the room. When she didn't move, Lisa calmed down somewhat. "What are you?"

Alexandra hugged her knees closer to her chest and continued to look at the floor as she answered. "What do you think I am?"

Lisa reached up to her neck...and cloth instead of raw skin.

"Thank you."

Alexandra finally looked at her, surprised.

Lisa looked at the floor as she spoke.

"For stopping. And for this." She said, touching the cloth on her neck.

Neither woman spoke for several minutes.

Thoughts were spinning around Lisa's head like paper caught in a tornado.

Vampire? No way, not possible...but what else could...The only thing I can think of...but entirely impossible...aren't they ancient myths?

Then that little voice in the back of her head spoke up. Girl, that woman punched through a so-called 'unbreakable' barrier yesterday and had you in a headlock, and you are doubting still? Maybe she whacked you a little too hard.

Lisa marked down a point for the little voice.

She looked up into Alexandra's eyes. She whispered, "Vampire?"

She did not say anything, and Lisa took this for a 'yes'.

Strangely, she felt no fear. She got up from the floor, walked over to Alexandra, and she crouched down to look her in the eye.

"Let me see your back."

"What?"

"You heard me, turn around."

"Why?"

Lisa cocked an eyebrow, "One, I'm curious to see how much good I did you, and secondly, you were in pretty bad shape and I have some ointment that might help whatever is left over."

***End Chapter 2***

Oooh, there were sooo many places I could have stopped, like after Alexandra bit her (that would have been mean of me), but I figured I'd be nice.

Thank you VERY much to The Sinless Nurse and Airyie for being the first to review

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THAT MEANS YOU TOO!!!! (anonymous reviews welcome)