"This is unhealthy" Hal said.

"So's talking to a ghost when you're in public but you don't see me giving you a hard time about it."

Hal and Pearl were sitting at a table at the cafe Pearl had worked in. Despite the anger she was feeling towards her unfair and much too quick demise, Pearl also felt somewhat refreshed. She wouldn't have to work in a dingy little place filled with rude or misogynistic customers ever again. She was just content to sit down and put her feet up for the first time in ages.

"What I'm saying is that obsessing over who might have killed you is a bad idea."

"Well what else am I supposed to do?" Pearl asked. "Hang around this world forever until I get my memory back? If that ever happens at all."

"I don't think Leo would approve of all this" Hal said, "you pocking around this whole death business."

"Then it's a good thing he's at work, then, isn't it?"

Pearl sighed and waited for the moment when an idea would pop into her head and set off that imaginary light bulb. She thought something like that happened the moment she laid her eyes on someone who was a few tables away. She found herself smiling.

"Oh no" Hal said, "that can't be good. What devilish idea fabricated itself in that head of yours now?"

"People who aren't like you or Leo can't hear or see me, can they?"

"Afraid not."

"Then you're going to have to help me" Pearl said, gesturing at the table she was looking at. "Mr. Crawford has been a loyal customer for months now and he always has his breakfast at 9AM."

Hal raised an eyebrow.

"That's around the time I died."

"And you want me to ask him what he knows?"

Pearl nodded.

Hal was tempted to tell her that Crawford was a werewolf and he could easily see and hear her, but Hal thought it best if he talked to him instead. Pearl was easily angered and could very well take out her frustrations on the werewolf. And seeing things floating in mid-air in the cafe would cause all the other customers to become confused and erratic.

"If I do this then will you at least postpone this detective work until we talk to Leo?"

Pearl looked a tad annoyed for a moment. "Fine. But you better grill him good for information."

"I'll do my best to perfectly emulate your offensive mannerisms."

Pearl narrowed her eyes. "You know, I might be dead, but I can still hit you."

"Case in point" Hal said, and quickly stood off his seat before the ghost would have a chance to actually hit him.

Hal was still a few foot-steps away from Crawford, when the werewolf began talking. "You must be Leo's friend" he said, and carefully folded the newspaper he had been reading.

"I am."

Crawford smiled. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

"You don't like me either."

"We're on opposite sides of a war, Mr. Yorke" Crawford said, and gestured for Hal to sit down. "It's only natural that we wouldn't get along. But I find it best to stay civil when we aren't on the battle field."

"How do you know my name?" Hal asked. "Leo couldn't have told you."

"You'd be surprised what friends can do when our backs are turned."

Hal shook his head slightly. "You're just trying to pit us against each other."

"Was there something you wanted, Mr. Yorke?"

Hal instinctively looked at Pearl. "A friend of mine was killed yesterday."

"The waitress you were talking to."

"Yes. She's understandably upset about the whole issue and wanted to know if you saw anything."

"Well I was here yesterday, but I didn't see all that much. Just a sharp scream from the kitchen and a lot of people drawing around. It caused quite the commotion."

"You're sure there's nothing else?"

"Well there is something I thought I saw, but I can never be sure because of all the people who were pushing to get through."

"What did you see?"

"Right before they loaded up your friend into the ambulance I thought I saw... two puncture marks at the side of the neck. I didn't think much of it yesterday, but now it does seem a drop suspicious, doesn't it?"

"You think it was a vampire."

The werewolf shrugged. "Could be."

Hal knew that Crawford's end game was to throw wrenches and confuse him, but what if he wasn't lying this time? What if Pearl had really been murdered by a vampire? Hal suddenly realized that there was a vampire in the city who harbored a particular hate for him. William could have easily gone after someone like Pearl just as a message for him. Just as a reminder that they were enemies.

Panic set in Hal's mind, and he quickly got up from his seat without a goodbye.

"So? What'd he say?" Pearl asked, who had waited at their table.

"I... need to be somewhere" Hal said, his mind in a daze.

"What're you on about? You promised you'd help me get to the bottom of this."

"I really have to go and talk to someone."

"Well at least tell me what Mr. Crawford said first" Pearl said, annoyed, "before you just leave like that, you could at least give me something to go on."

"We'll talk when I get back" Hal said, quickly throwing a few bills on the table for his drink, "I promise you."

Pearl was left sitting at their table, with a mix of confusion and aggravation on her face.

It was surprisingly easy to find vampires in Southend, if you really knew where to look. Hal used his instincts to pin-point the best hiding spots in the city, places he knew William would be forced to use once the novelty of living in a new city wore off. He had known the other vampire for long enough time to know the way he thought.

And sure enough, it only took Hal a day to find a dingy little house on the outskirts of the city. It really was always easy to find William by the signs. He liked to kidnap and feed on the neighbors because he could never be bothered to put a plan together and keep himself under the radar. So when Hal stumbled upon a neighborhood that was eerily quiet, he knew his search was over.

For once, Hal didn't have a proper plan. All he knew is that he was angry and he wanted someone to be his punching bag. Thoughts of frustration raced in his mind as he pushed the front door open.

The house was a mess. Hal walked carefully around the dozens of lifeless bodies that littered the hallway. All of them drained. And behind this chaos he saw a door to the cellar. He pushed the door open to see even more bodies, and in the midst of all the chaos, William.

"Ah, Hal!" the vampire said, his face lighting up, "I was hoping you'd change your mind and-"

Hal easily grabbed him by the neck and pushed him into the nearest wall.

"I'm already dead, Hal" the other vampire croaked, "you can't strangle me."

"I wouldn't want to kill you so quickly anyway. Not after what you did to my friend."

William frowned. "What?"

"I'll spell it out for you: my friend Pearl, brunette, blue dress, motor-mouth. She worked at the café you came to a few days ago and now she shows up dead. With a vampire bite."

"And you think I did it? Come on, Hal, you know I don't go for brunettes."

Hal strengthened his grip on William's neck.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Hal struggled to keep his temper in check. "What?"

The other vampire suddenly smiled. "Finally. I thought you lot wouldn't hear me."

Hal slowly turned his head. At least a dozen vampires were standing behind him, looking cross.

"Well come on, then, you know what to do" William said to the vampire group.

Hal found himself being overpowered in the blink of an eye. He struggled to get away, but trying to fight so many vampires without any time to think of a strategy was proving impossible.

"How do you like my new army, Hal?" William asked proudly. "It took me a while to put them together, but I think I did a pretty good job."

The others quickly subdued Hal, tying him up to one of the radiators.

William walked around the room, looking at Hal like a caged rat. "I'll be honest, I have no flipping clue what you were talking about with your friend. I wish I had done it – that would've been a nice message to you and all – but I didn't."

Hal simply looked annoyed. "If you want to kill me, just do it now and spare me the monologue."

"Kill you? Why would I do that? I just managed to round up a small army, and now I finally have someone to place at the front line."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're an Old One, Hal. How do you think it's gonna look to the werewolves when they see me charging them with an Old One in front?" William laughed. "Oh god, the look on their faces... I can't wait."

"If you think I'll fight for you-"

"I know, I know, you'd rather jam a pencil in your eye than work with me, I can respect that. But you showing up today gave me a little inside into who this New Hal is."

Hal frowned.

"You see, you came here ready to stake me because of what you think I did to your friend. New Hal really cares for his friends, doesn't he? He'd really hate to see them get hurt..."

Hal suddenly pulled at his restraints. "If you do anything to Leo-"

"Relax. Nothing should happen to him. Not unless you refuse to help me."

Hal thought for a moment. "I can't trust you. Even if I help you kill the other werewolves, what guarantee do I have that you'll leave my friends alone?"

William looked a bit offended. "I don't see why you'd need those people anyway. We used to be pretty close, you know. Back when we were fighting with Cutler. You're supposed to want to be with your kin, not a werewolf."

"Except that you always tried to soil my reputation."

"Ah, that ol' chestnut" William said, waving it off. "We're vampires, Hal. We're supposed to act unorthodox and try to throw wrenches in each other's plans. That's what we do. We're evil."

Hal looked at him with determination. "But we don't have to be."

"Now don't go preaching your little new holier-than-thou attitude cause it won't work. Now tell me, are you in or are you out?"

"If I do this, then you have to leave my friends alone. Permanently."

"Fine, fine" William said, rolling his eyes, "I'll call off the vampires following your dog."

"And another thing. You don't breathe a word of this to them."

The other vampire smiled. "Poor Hal. Still striving to seem normal and good and trustworthy. How long do you think it'll last before they see right through you?"