Good to see you guys enjoyed the last chapter so much. Here's the much-awaited follow-up!

Note: All works of fiction mentioned in this story are the properties of their respective owners.

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I didn't have any particular destination in mind. I just walked, and thought. Had I been overly harsh to her? Was it because of me that she was crying? Well, maybe she deserved it, said a part of my mind. You said it yourself; she killed people without thinking about the consequences.

But then why is she so upset? asked another part. Maybe she truly regrets what she's done.

She's got an odd way of showing it. Her regret could be an act.

You can't fake what you just saw. Those were genuine tears.

Tears of pain, maybe? You had just punched her in the face.

No, it was more than just physical hurt. She was really upset; she sounded it.

Again, acting. We know she's good at it; she made out well when it came to trapping innocent people.

Maybe she felt like she didn't have a choice. Like being a vampire necessarily made her a certain way.

That was a potentially interesting thought, but the skeptical part of my mind dismissed it. That doesn't seem likely.

But it's possible.

She threatened to kill you and hang your body out the window for your friends to see. She mocked Mom's death!

She was hurting. You had just delivered a tirade condemning her.

And for good reason; have you seen what she's done?

I just think there's more to this whole situation than first meets the eye.

They went back and forth until I looked up and found myself standing in front of Goofy's apartment. How did that happen? Well, I could use a friendly companion. I went inside.

Three flights of stairs and a short hallway later, I found myself in front of his door, and knocked. "Who is it?" came a voice from inside.

"Sora," I called back.

A few seconds later, the door opened. "Sora!" Standing there, beaming at me, was Chip, one of Goofy's roommates. He was somewhat thin, and a very likeable, buoyant man—and rather flamboyantly gay. "How's it going?" he asked, hugging me (we were on good terms, though not terms that would universally be considered hug-worthy. But I didn't mind).

"Okay," I said, wincing slightly as he put pressure on my wounded arm. "Goofy in?"

"Yeah, I think he was just getting dinner started. Come on in!"

Chip led me into the apartment, a modest-sized, multi-room complex with a TV room, living room, kitchen and dining room, and three bedrooms. "Goofy!" called Chip. "Sora's here!"

"Sora!" Another voice came from further in, and in walked Dale, a good friend of Chip and Goofy's other roommate (who was also very nice and very gay). "How are you?" He gave me a hug, as well, though he avoided my left arm, having noticed the bandage beforehand.

I shrugged. "Here and there."

"Okay, okay. You here for Goofy?"

"Yeah. Just wanted to talk to him."

"Sure," said Dale, smiling broadly, as Goofy walked in. "Hey, Sora," he said. "What's up?"

I sighed. "Just some…issues. Mind if I speak with you?"

"Sure," said Goofy, a slightly concerned look spreading on his face.

Chip and Dale looked at each other. "Should we leave?" asked Chip.

"No, that's fine," I said. "But can we just go somewhere…less public?"

"Yeah, we can use my room," said Goofy. "Dale, can you finish dinner?"

"Sure," said his roommate.

"Can I help?" asked Chip.

"Chip, the last time you tried to cook, you burnt the pasta."

"Well, then I should get in some more practice, shouldn't I?"

Goofy motioned to me. "Come on, Sora." He led me to one of the bedrooms, and gestured me to sit down in the chair. "So, what can I do for ya?" he asked, plopping down on the bed.

I heaved a sigh. "I dunno. I just…had a bit of a moment back in my apartment."

"With the vampire?" I nodded. "What happened? Did she do something?"

"No. Well, yeah, kinda. Well…" I sighed again. "It's complicated."

Goofy nodded sympathetically. "Well, why don't you tell me what happened. Take your time."

So I told him, explaining how I had given her the blood and how she had been less than satisfied, which had irritated me and led me to bringing up the subject of Hayner. How I had accused her of not caring at all for any of her victims, or what killing them might mean. How I had antagonized her, and asked her what went on in her head, and her response and my retaliation. Then, I told him how upset she had seemed, how I had immediately felt guilty and confused, and like had to get out of there. "And I just walked, and found myself here," I finished.

"Uh-huh," said Goofy. "So, you're feeling guilty about what you said and what you did?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "I don't know," I said, frowning. "I feel like I should and I feel like I shouldn't. She's killed several people—I don't even know how many—but I don't understand why. And I don't know whether I should feel like she deserved what I said or not." I sighed and hunched over. "I want to know more about her, but she won't let me. As it is, I don't know if it was worth it or not to keep her alive."

"Well," said Goofy after a pause, "it sounds like it all comes back to your ignorance about her, and how you want to turn it into knowledge."

"Yeah, I guess."

"So, then, maybe you just have to try some more things to get her to open up to you."

"But what? She doesn't respond to my threatening to cut her off from food or comfort."

"Maybe that's your problem, then," said Goofy. "You're going about it the wrong way. If you're harsh on her, she'll be less willing to give you what you want."

"So, what, I should be nice to her?"

"Give it a try. You never know what will happen."

I frowned. "How do I do that? I still don't trust her, so I wouldn't be comfortable with letting her go or anything."

Goofy thought. "You don't have to do that exactly," he said. "Maybe…do something with her that she wants to do."

I raised an eyebrow. "What, like a date?"

"Well, not with the same meaning behind it. But, like, watch a movie with her, or a TV show that she's interested in. Or read a book to her."

"Read a book to her? She's not a child."

"Who says she has to be? You could read and she could sit, still tied up. It'd be a bonding experience." He paused. "Pun not intended."

I made a face. "I'm not sure I'm quite going for a bonding experience."

"What are you going for, then? What do you want to eventually do with her?"

I opened my mouth, then shut it. "I'm not sure. I've thought about it a bit, but I really can't tell. I guess I'd like for her to not be a killer anymore."

"Well, then, make her nicer. Become friends with her."

I blinked. "Friends?"

"Yeah, maybe you should give it a try. See where it goes." He grinned at me. "Let life lead you Sora, instead of you trying to lead it."

I thought. Could something like that work? "I'm not sure…"

"Well, why not just give it a try? See where it leads you. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but at least you tried."

I frowned. "Won't it seem a little like good cop, bad cop?"

"Not quite," said Goofy. "Good cop, bad cop interchanges the two, first the good cop, then the bad cop, then the good one again, and it keeps going. If this goes well, you won't have to go back to being the bad cop."

He had a point. Despite his nickname, Goofy could be very levelheaded and sensible at times. And, I had to admit, when I thought about it, I kind of wanted to sort things out with this vampire. How cool would it be to have a friend—yeah…yeah, a friend—who was a vampire? A good one, too. "All right," I said. "I-I guess I'll give it a try."

Goofy smiled at me. "Good. Let's hope it turns out well."

I nodded, agreeing with him, but privately thought that it would take a lot of hope for me and her to get along well.

Goofy's advice in my head, I returned home, stopping quickly at a fast food restaurant for dinner. Shortly afterwards, I stood in front of my door, nervous about what I was about to try. What if the vampire was so upset with me that she would behave even worse?

Well, that was why I had to try and mend our relationship. It wouldn't be easy, but then again, who said life was always easy? Steeling myself, I unlocked the door and went inside.

It was quiet, so at least the vampire wasn't throwing a fit. And when I looked into the living room, she was still there, silently sitting in her chair, facing away from me.

I sighed, and she flinched, but didn't look at me. Sitting in one of the other chairs in the room, I turned to her and said, "I'm sorry."

She didn't respond, and I went on. "I overreacted earlier today. I don't actually know anything about you, and I assumed that I did, and made judgments and said things based on those assumptions. I wish you would tell me some more about yourself, so I could know what you really think." I paused. "But, perhaps I shouldn't pressure you. I thought at first that this might be like a police or federal interrogation, but it really isn't. No one else is in danger, at the moment, so I don't have to use torturous methods to get you to talk quickly. I just wanted to satisfy my own curiosity, and know what you're all about."

She still remained silent. "I realize that I made you upset," I continued, "so you may need some time." I stood up. "I can give that to you. I'm going to go to my room for a bit, and then I'll come back here and check in. Sound good?"

She didn't agree, but she didn't object to it, either, so I went off to my room, taking my computer with me, and did some more research on vampires, just to solidify the facts in my brain. After that, I watched a YouTube video Lea had sent me the link to, and after that, I made my way back into the living room. "I'm back," I said.

This time, she lifted her head and looked at me. "So I see."

Her eyes were red—and I don't just mean her irises. She had been crying. "How are you doing?" I asked.

Her face remained impassive. "I don't know."

I nodded. "Yeah. Neither do I."

An uncomfortable silence passed between the two of us, until I broke it. "So, enough with the interrogations," I said. "What do you want to do tonight?"

She frowned. "What do I want to do?"

"Yeah. I don't have a whole lot going on, and neither do you. So, let's do something."

"Together?"

I shrugged. "We're both here. Besides, in a way, you're my guest."

She snorted. "'Guest' implies that I'm here voluntarily."

"Perhaps. But you're still here. So, any ideas?"

She didn't seem eager to suggest anything, so I did it myself. "I've got a bunch of movies we could watch. Or TV shows." When neither of those elicited a reaction, I tried something else. "How about books? I've got a few books here."

That seemed to catch her interest. "What books?"

"All sorts," I said. "Some fiction, some nonfiction, some fantasy…"

"What fantasy books?"

"Well, let's think." I thought. "I've got the Inheritance Cycle, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter…"

"Harry Potter?"

I nodded. "You like Harry Potter?"

She paused. "I've read a few of them."

"Have you?"

"Yeah." She frowned. "But reading books isn't as easy when you're a vampire."

"Well, then, here's your chance." I got up. "Which one do you want? I've got all seven."

She thought. "It's been a while. Could I just start with the first?"

"Sure." I went to my bookshelf, retrieved my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and brought it back. "Actually, it's been a while for me, too. I should reread them." A thought came to my mind—something Goofy had mentioned. It sounded silly…but it might work well. "Do you want me to read it to you?"

"Read it to me?" she said, somewhat incredulously.

"Sure."

"I'm not six, you know."

"Your point?"

"Why should you read it to me?"

"Because then we can both get the experience of the story. Besides, if I read it to you, then I can decide when we get to stop. You might be good to go all night, but I need my sleep."

She looked skeptical. "This isn't just because you don't want to loosen my hands, is it?"

"Well…that may be a factor. But it's not the only one."

"What are the others?"

"I just told you." That, and I do kind of want to get closer to you. I didn't voice that, though; I didn't know how she would take it.

She continued to frown at me for a moment, then sighed. "I'm going to feel ridiculous…" she muttered. "Fine, go ahead."

I managed to keep my grin small. "All right, let's get started." I opened the book and began to read. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of Number Four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."

I continued to read for the rest of the night, and, to my surprise, found it rather enjoying. I found myself doing different voices for some of the characters. Some made the vampire look at me like I was out of my mind, but others seemed to amuse her. My first attempt at McGonagall's voice, in which I spoke in a comically high-pitched tone, even caused her to giggle slightly.

I managed to get through the first seven chapters before I decided to turn in for the night. "That's as far as you can go?" she said. Was that a note of longing in her voice?

I yawned. "I'm tired, and I have work tomorrow. But, hey, we can keep doing this, tomorrow evening."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

I got up. "Well, good night."

"Yeah, night."

As I went to put the book back, I realized that this was the first time we had actually exchanged good-nights. Granted, hers wasn't a full "good night," but it still carried the connotation.

I grinned. Maybe Goofy had been on to something, after all.

That night, I slept a little easier.

The next day, when I woke up, I found the vampire sleeping, still in her chair. Careful not to wake her, I left silently. I got to work, where, to my surprise, we got another case, though it wasn't one requiring much work: a guy wanted us to follow his wife after her yoga class to see if she was going to meet with another man. However, her yoga classes were only on Saturdays, so we had a full three days before we had to actually do it. Apparently, Riku had sent him our way, but this didn't seem like a supernatural case—I speculated that he was fed up enough with these kinds of cases that he just decided to throw one our way. We did a couple of background checks on the woman, but nothing in particular came up. It kept us fairly busy, though, and so we didn't have a whole lot of time to talk about the vampire. Still, before we left for the day, Goofy managed to get me. "How are things going?" he asked. I noticed Donald turn to me, as well.

"Well…" I gave him a half grin. "Looking up, I think."

He raised his eyebrows. "Did what I said work, then?"

"It might be."

Donald frowned. "You're not being cryptic, are you, Sora?"

"No, I just think it's too early to make judgments." I looked at my watch. "But I should get back."

Donald opened his mouth, but Goofy interrupted him. "Okay. Have fun, Sora!"

"Thanks. I think I will."

I returned to my apartment, feeling lighthearted, yet not quite sure why. I guessed I liked the idea of making peace with the vampire, and pacifying her. Why, though, I couldn't tell you.

I got back to my apartment and checked into the living room. "Hello," I said.

She nodded back a greeting. "Have an interesting day?"

"Kind of. Mainly doing background checks and other various checks."

"On whom?"

"This woman who might be cheating on her husband."

"What, nothing involving werewolves or sea serpents this time?"

I shook my head. "Not by the look of it."

"Hm. Well, my day was boring, as usual." She yawned. "Did manage to get some sleep, though."

"Good. I saw you sleeping as I left."

"Yeah, I must have been asleep then, or else I would have remembered you leaving."

"Right." I changed the subject. "So, how much more blood do you think you need?"

She gave me a look. "I thought you didn't like getting me blood."

I shrugged. "You do what you have to."

She frowned. "What…" She shifted slightly. "What exactly preempted this change in attitude on your part? Why are you so nice to me now?"

"Well…" I debated whether or not to tell her about going to Goofy, and decided to do so (though leaving out a couple of details). "After we fought last night, I felt really restless and confused, so I went to a friend for help. He suggested changing my attitude, and I took his advice."

"But why? What do you hope to get out of it?"

"Well, I do hope to find out more about you. But I also…kinda want to just get to know you better."

She blinked. "Really? How come?"

I shrugged. "You're intriguing. My instincts tell me there's more to you than meets the eye."

She was silent for a moment. "How do I know you're not just playing good cop, bad cop?"

Funny, I had asked Goofy nearly the same thing. "Well, with good cop, bad cop, there's an alternation between the good and the bad, that goes on for as long as is needed. I'm hoping I won't have to switch back to bad cop."

She looked a little skeptical, but didn't question me. "All right."

"Then we'll try being civil to each other?"

She looked reluctant, but said, "Oh, fine."

I grinned. "Great. Did you want another shower?"

She peered at me. "You're being nice to me…and suggesting I take a shower."

"For God's sake, stop trying to make me out for a pervert. Believe me, that kind of relationship is not what I'm aiming for," I said earnestly.

"Do you have a change of clothes for me?"

I blinked. "I must have forgotten. I'll be right back." I stood up.

She looked at me strangely. "You think you can just go out and buy any clothes, and they'll automatically fit me?"

She had a point. "What's your size, then? What do you want?"

After giving me a comprehensive list of clothing items for herself, and after I vetoed several of them, I went to the store. The shopping experience wasn't too bad…except for the part when I had to buy underwear. God, that was awkward. In fact, let's not dwell on it. Let's just jump ahead to the next part, when I returned to my apartment with the agreed-upon items. She took a set, went into the bathroom, and showered. As before, I checked in with her (remember, that means called in), though not as many times as the previous time. "I can't help but notice that you're still having a hard time trusting me," she said when she emerged.

I shrugged. "Can't help it. I can't just do a one-eighty overnight. Trust is something that has to be built, not materialized."

She raised an eyebrow. "Get that off a fortune cookie?"

"Hey, it's true."

"Perhaps. But that means that you have to earn my trust, as well."

"I know. That's what I'm working on."

"Well, if you want to get into my better graces, you can always get me some more blood," she said, smiling sweetly.

I frowned. "What are you trying to do, seduce me? You have hypnosis for that."

"Which, apparently, doesn't work on you." She frowned. "Why is that?"

So, she still hadn't noticed my contacts. "I'll tell you later. What kind of blood do you like?"

"Human."

I scowled at her. "I thought we had agreed to be nice to each other. That means not messing with me so much."

"We had agreed to be civil, not nice." She paused. "But, if not human, then something that's not a small rodent. Dog, maybe."

"Good thing it's so easy to get dog blood around here."

"Are you being sarcastic with me? I thought that violated our agreement."

"Hmph. I suppose so." I gestured for us to return to the living room, and we did so. "I'll see what I can do about getting more blood."

"Good. I can't survive only on your charm and good looks."

I looked at her. "It's not going to be that easy to dispense with the sarcasm, is it?"

"Apparently not."

I made dinner for myself, and while I ate, I tried to get some more information out of the vampire, but she remained tight-lipped. It was frustrating, but instead of railing on her for it, I tried switching conversation topics, trying just to get along better with her. Unfortunately, without any information about her, doing that was difficult, and we ended up sitting in awkward silence for a large portion of the evening. Eventually, I said, "Well, reading worked out well last night. Do you want to try it again?"

She looked at me, but eventually said, "Sure, I guess."

"Great. I'll get the book, then."

And so I read to her again. As I did, I felt myself becoming more at ease. This was the kind of thing that people who got along did, right? So maybe we were moving in that direction.

We got through another six chapters that night. I considered calling attention to the fact that Hermione had become friends with Harry and Ron, even though their relationship had started out very rocky, but decided against it, not wanting to force anything on the vampire. "Getting to the end," I said. "Tomorrow, we'll find out what will happen to the Sorcerer's Stone."

She nodded, though her mind seemed to be on something else. "A stone that grants immortality…" She let out a humorless laugh. "If only they knew."

I blinked. "Knew?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

I frowned, curious, but knew that if I tried to press her for information, I would get nothing, and she would only pull herself further away from me. "Okay. See you tomorrow."

"Mm-hm."

And we continued the next evening, finishing off the book. I had to admit, I had forgotten how exciting the ending was, and as far as I could tell, my captive was hanging onto it, too.

"Well, there we go," I said, closing the book after I had read the last sentence. "As good as you remember it?"

"It was good," she answered ambiguously.

"I loved it," I said. "I'd forgotten just how good these books were."

"How long has it been since you've read them?"

"Oh, a few years. I'm not sure how many exactly." I grinned. "And tomorrow, we can continue, if you want. There's six more books in the series."

She looked thoughtful. "Yeah…okay, we'll keep going."

"Great! Looking forward to it."

I got up to put back the book, but as I turned around, I heard a large sigh behind me. "What?" I asked, turning around.

She looked at me. "Kairi."

I blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"Kairi. My name is Kairi. Kairi Silverstream."

My mouth fell open. "Actually, this time?"

She nodded. "Yes. That's my name. You can look it up; I disappeared back in November 1999. Used to live in Minnesota."

I was stunned; she was actually telling me about herself! This was a major step forward. Even though it wasn't much more than her name, I had broken the barrier that she had thrown up around herself. Or at least chipped it. "Kairi," I repeated. "Interesting name. Much better than any of the other ones."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to butter me up?"

"No, really. I mean, your other names were okay, but not as unique. I like it." I thought of something. "Well, I'm Sora Parker."

She blinked. "You're willing to tell me your name, then?"

I grinned. "Well, it's like you said: you tell me your name, I tell you mine."

A smile spread across her face. "Right."

"Well, good night, Kairi."

"Good night, Sora Parker."

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So, we've finally got her name. (Though you all managed to figure out beforehand who she was; aren't you're all so clever!)

This chapter was a little slower, and the next couple of chapters will be, too, mainly focusing on the developing relationship between Sora and Kairi (though you will get some back stories out of the deal). But don't worry; I've got a good deal more excitement lined up for you all.

Until next time.