Hal shook his head decisively. He wouldn't let himself fold on this one. "Absolutely not."

"Hal, you need to do this" Leo said.

"I already agreed that I need to reintegrate into society as a man and not a vampire, but this is too much."

"You won't even have to talk to anyone. I promise."

"But I'll still be around them all the time, and I can't let myself do that. Not yet."

"It's been a week since you went off the blood and you've been doing really well. Much better than I thought. You can do this."

Hal sighed inwardly, knowing the truth behind why he was doing so well. Knowing that Leo would never forgive him if he ever found about his stash of blood. But he still couldn't let himself agree to what Leo wanted. Working in the barber shop alongside him meant that he'd have to spend all day around other people, and a small voice at the back of his head kept reminding Hal that he was a monster who didn't belong among people.

"It's been really busy there lately, you know" Leo said. "Since I'm the only barber left I have to work extra hard to keep things running. So I wouldn't even dream of turning down any help."

This was it. Leo was pulling out the big guns. Guilt. Hal pressed his fingernails into his palm and tried to resist.

"Besides, it can get kind of lonely there, surrounded by strangers."

Hal knew that this was a lie. Leo loved being in the company of anyone and talking to them about anything and everything, so this was just another thing spilled by the guilt machine. Hal kept quiet, resisting.

"And you'd get paid for the help, too. You wouldn't even need to do much, just help keep things running like a well oiled machine."

Hal kept grinding his teeth, but to avail. He owed Leo so much. He couldn't turn his back on him now. "Alright, I'll do it" Hal heard himself say suddenly.

Leo smiled. "Thank you, Hal. You won't regret it."

Once Leo informed him that he'd start the very next day, Hal spent his afternoon looking to buy proper clothes, ones that would make him fit in and people to overlook him. Hal found it strange that he felt slightly nostalgic at the times he used to live and work with the other vampires. No one really cared or bothered themselves to dress up appropriately then. Even Hal often ended up dressed as casually as he could.

But now he was part of the world. A cog in that great, terrible machine that was society, and he had to look and act the part. Hal began to encourage himself to see this as a new beginning, the day when he'd leave all the horrific things he'd done in the past and reinvent himself. Sure, he still had that business with William to finish up, but that would be over nice and quick and he'd forget all about it. All he had to do was be the poster boy for a bunch of psychotic vampires, probably kill a few werewolves, and then he could go back to living his life. Provided Leo would never find out. Easy peasy. Hal resolved to keep away from any kind of trouble after that. But it seemed like trouble liked to follow him around.

"So I've got another idea."

Hal turned around and saw Pearl had appeared in the shop he was browsing.

"When did you learn to do that?" Hal asked, frowning.

"Well you told me about your friend Mary and the things she can do, so I've been practicing. Leo doesn't really like the idea."

"Why not?"

"Says it's dangerous and I could get in trouble." Pearl looked away. "And I might've accidentally teleported in the bathroom while he was in there."

"Well I can see why he'd be wary. Anyway, what did you mean about having another idea?"

"I've been getting sick of waiting around for my memory to come back, so I've been thinking that I could-"

"I'm already dreading the idea" Hal said, shaking his head.

"Will you listen? It's only been a couple of days since my death, so my body should still be at the morgue, being prepared for the funeral."

"Pearl, you can't just teleport to the morgue."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Because your death has been traumatic enough without you seeing your dead body." Hal looked at her. "Trust me, it's not going to help."

Pearl sighed, frustrated. "Then what am I supposed to do? Just sit at home and— and— what? I can't just go living this un-life without knowing what happened to get me here. If I was killed I want to know who did it. And why."

"And what if the answer won't bring you any solace?"

She folded her arms. "Well I'm just going to have to cross that bridge when I get there."

"If you're dead-set on going, then I can't stop you. But you know as well as I do that Leo wouldn't like all this snooping."

The ghost looked uncomfortable. "He's just trying to look out for all of us, is all."

"I think you need to let it go. If you find something you won't like, you'll just make things harder for you."

Pearl searched his face, curious. "You know something that you're not telling me."

Hal struggled to hide the guilt he was feeling. Luckily, he had had plenty of practice hiding his emotions in his five hundred years. He simply took a few steps towards Peal and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm only trying to look out for you, Pearl" he said as honestly as he could "I know what it's like to die and wake up something that makes no sense. I know what it's like to be angry at the world."

"Except it's not the same thing, Hal. You didn't die. Not a real, proper death." She sighed, and a glint of sadness appeared in her eyes. "People can still see and talk to you. But me? I'm just some spirit, like smoke that can disappear whenever a light breeze goes past."

Hal finally realized what this was all about. "Pearl, we'll never let you disappear. Leo and me, we'll always be here to keep you safe. We'll always be your tethers in this world."

Pearl shifted in place, a bit uncomfortable. The hint of a smile played on her lips. "Well thanks. Did Leo make you say that little speech to make me feel better?"

"No. Why?"

"I thought the order of things was that I didn't like you and you didn't like me."

Hal had to agree she had a point. "Yes, well, Leo seems to care for both of us. And that means we have to try and get along."

"Well that's big of you, Hal" Pearl said, and then looking around. "Though browsing for things in the women's section is kind of taking away from the effect."

Hal frowned and turned around to look at where he was.

"That's a really lovely suit, Hal" Leo said as he was cutting the hair of an elderly gentleman.

Hal looked up from where he was sweeping the floor and attempted a smile. "You think?"

"Maybe a bit too posh for a barber shop, but still very lovely."

Hal should have known that wearing the waistcoat had been too much, but he just couldn't hide how overjoyed he felt at the prospect of living a normal life. There he was sweeping the floor inside a small barber shop, just being part of the working class and not getting into trouble. And being around customers turned out to be no problem. That last part made him a bit wary, reminding him that the only reason he wasn't snapping was because of the blood he still had left in the bottle. Once that would be depleted, what then? Hal shook his head, as if trying to chase away that train of thought.

He was almost done sweeping the space by the windows when he heard the bell above the door ring. Hal turned around expecting to see another customer, but ran face to face with William.

"Well look at you with the posh suit" William said, "you're only missing a diamond encrusted broom and you'd be ready to go."

Hal drew close, menacingly. "If you're not out of here in two seconds, I swear-"

"I gotta admit, this is a nice little business you've got going on here, Hal" William said, draping an arm around Hal's shoulders like they were old buddies. "Never would've pegged you as a working man. You know, since you always made others work for you. Gotta say, big transformation. From hero to ze-"

"You need to get out of here before Leo sees you" Hal said through gritted teeth.

"Why? He never saw my face, remember? You were the only vamp who went down to the cellar to antagonize him. I just had ringside seats to the brawls."

"Ah, a customer, come right in" Leo said with a practiced smile. But his grin soon disappeared when he realized that he was a vampire. "Hal, is he a friend of yours?"

Hal shrugged away from William's arm. "Actually, we haven't been friends for a long time."

"Yeah, Hallie here just sort of... changed after a while" William said. "Me and the boys don't really like him anymore."

"Well there's no point not being civil with each other" Leo said. "Can I offer you a haircut or a shave?"

William smiled. "He's really friendly" he told Hal, "I wouldn't expect that of him after-"

Hal swiftly grabbed him by the back of the collar and led him towards the exit. "Don't worry about him, Leo. He was just leaving."

"Right, sure, I just popped by to annoy you anyway." He lowered his voice. "And to tell you that some of us will meet tonight to discuss a few things." William jerked back and released Hal's grip. "You'd better show face if you know what's good for you."

Hal gave a half-nod, making sure that it was subtle enough for Leo not to see it.

"Alright, then, it's a date" the other vampire said with a smile.

Hal just stared ahead, trying to keep his temper from exploding as the door shut behind William.

"He didn't seem like such a pleasant young man" Leo said.

"You should've seen him when he was recruited, all those years ago. He was never content with just dog fights, he always wanted the werewolves to fight each other in human form." Hal ran a hand through his hair. "William was always a loose cannon. Really hard to control."

"I don't remember him being there when I was captured. How come?"

Hal tried to think fast. "Like I said, he's a loose cannon. More often than not he likes to run off and follow his own plans."

"But you haven't severed all ties with him yet."

Hal sighed as he looked through the window. "Trying break contact with other vampires can be fairly... problematic."

"Because you were so close?"

"Because they tend to be homicidal."

It took a whole afternoon of tries, but Pearl had finally done it. She had successfully teleported to the morgue. As soon as she appeared inside the building, the ghost began to regret it. Being so close to dead bodies reminded her that she wasn't of this world anymore. She didn't really belong here. But she gritted her teeth and began to walk around, searching for her own body.

Pearl was surprised to see that she wasn't the only ghost walking the corridors of the morgue. She spotted another one running through the halls, looking more scared than anything, as if he had seen something he shouldn't have. But despite the fear that was slowly creeping up on her, Pearl told herself she wouldn't back down. She needed to do this.

After a few more twists and turns in the building, the ghost had finally found where her body was placed. She gently walked up to the table, trying to keep her paces even. A part of her intended to just run right back out, but she pressed on. It was then that she spotted a chart at the foot of the table. Pearl picked it up and realized it was her autopsy report. With her hands shaking, she began to read.

Hal knew that his heart had ceased beating a long time ago, but he still felt like it had stopped in place the moment he opened the door to William's lair. The entire house seemed flooded by new faces who were just talking and ambling about. And they were all vampires.

All the new recruits turned to face Hal the moment he opened the door, staring at him like he was a cockroach who had just crashed their party.

"It's alright" William's voice sounded a few feet away, "It's alright, he's with me."

The other vampires casually went back to their business as Hal stared at them, dumbfounded.

"So, what do you think?" William asked, proudly. "Not bad for two days, eh?"

"You did all this?"

"Well not by myself, no. Had a little help from uh..." he gestured vaguely towards a few of the vampires, "... Cowboy-Boots and Freckled-Face."

"You built yourself an army but you don't even know your soldiers' names?"

"Does it matter? This is all about numbers, Hal. Quantity over quality. See, that's the thing about us and why we're better than werewolves. We can build ourselves an army in a few days. But the dogs? They have to search and find each other. And that can take years. Meanwhile, we're growing stronger and stronger with each day." William suddenly placed a hand on Hal's shoulders. "Don't you get it? We were meant to be dominant in this world."

Hal jerked away from his grasp. "I said I would help you. Not that I'd share in your delusionary goals."

The other vampire almost looked hurt. "There's no changing your mind, is there?"

"No. And why would you want to? We don't exactly get along."

William shrugged. "Maybe I miss the old times. Just you, me, Cutler and the boys standing around a table and discussing plans to take over the world. Things always go better when everyone has the proper mindset."

"Let me guess..." Hal said, inspecting the vampires "these fresh faces aren't really thinkers."

"They're in the excitable phase" William said, sighing, "I mean most of them still think it's mind-blowing that their incisors pop out whenever they like."

Hal smiled and shook his head slightly. Vampires could always build a large army in a matter of days, but getting those soldiers to think properly and not screw up? That was another thing entirely.

"You'll need to show them the ropes before you can even think about attacking anyone" Hal said. He suddenly felt stupid for giving pointers.

"You know, you're right" William said, rubbing his chin. "Care to lend a hand training these dummies? It would be just like old times."

Hal was horrified to realize that a part of him was still tempted to agree to William's offer. Being the leader and having people looking up to him was something that Hal missed dearly. And it wasn't just because of the power. It was the respect. The way the others would look at him and listen with intent.

Hal found that his head was becoming dizzy, and he stumbled backwards. He ran out of the house, leaving William confused.