I decided to cut this chapter in half…well because I'm being mean and string it on a bit more, but I also didn't like 4000 words in one chapter.

So!

Enjoy this, and leave me some feedback. It helps me write when I know what people are liking and not liking in my stories.

Thanx

-Calamity-

"Open your eyes, Mira."

I woke up with a soft gasp; the last remnants of my nightmares clutching tight to my mind. For a short moment, I could still see the others gathered around me. Some holding their mangled bodies together, bloody and furious. They promised me that Hell was waiting, that they knew its horrors and would meet me on the other side to teach me their suffering.

My gaze went to the black haired vampire at the end of the bed, watching me as he laid some kind of garment bag across the comforter. Even if it had been a dream, I knew they must be speaking the truth. Each hunter had gladly ended the life of Shadows and shot a begging wolf victim, just in case. They had openly accepted their evils, but deemed them necessary. As Michael had once told me; the public was unable to do the hard things for themselves, the Hunters took such burdens away so that they could live happy, ignorant lives.

Isaac took my wrist and pulled me upright and halfway off the bed, despite my protests and struggle. He arched a brow and stared at me a long, frightening moment before speaking.

"You've been through a trauma, little one; I am not so heartless that I do not understand. But now is the time to put such horrors behind you. We have much to do tonight, and you still are not presentable."

"Don't you mean today? How long was I sleeping." I slid to the floor on my toes and moved back a step from him, rubbing my wrist. The vampire ignored it, instead unzipping the garment bag and laying out a long, black satin dress. My frown deepened before I glared at him.

"What do you mean presentable?" I demanded suspiciously, "For what?"

"Who." Isaac corrected with a smile then his hand whipped out and he ripped the robe away from my shoulders. Instinctively my arms went around my breasts to cover them and I turned away. After a thought, I grabbed the comforter and pulled it across my waist. Isaac rolled his eyes and went back to the dress.

"Forget your modesty, Mira. We don't have the time." He pulled a tiny hidden zipper down the side of the gown and motioned for me to step forward. "You can cooperate, or I can force this thing onto you. Choose quickly."

Scowling, I lifted one leg to step into the dress, still gripping the comforter. He sighed in irritation, but let me shimmy into the silky material. Once he pulled it up my thighs, I released the cover and hurriedly slipped my arms into the shoulders. Isaac moved around me to zip the thing up and adjust it to his liking.

The front dipped to display the tops of my breasts and opened to my lower back. Tossing my hair over one shoulder, he clipped a tiny silver chain around the back of my neck and skimmed his fingers down the links, brushing my spine and leaving chills in his wake. I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath until he stepped back around and I released it.

"Your hair should be combed; it will be up when you meet Colette."

"Whoa!" I held up my hands, "Who is Colette? Why am I meeting her?" What, was I a prize dog now? Was he going to walk me around town and show me off like his little trophy? Fuck all kinds of that. I wasn't his new toy, and I wouldn't be treated like a thing. My mouth opened to tell him exactly that, but he placed a finger over my lips and shook his head with a chuckle.

"This is not up for discussion, Mira. As my elder and creator, she has requested your presence."

"And you can't just tell her no?" Even as I said this, a morbid curiosity tickled me. The vampire who had sired Isaac was close enough to visit. And she was old, more so then him. One did not often come across such interesting creatures. She would be powerful, but from what I'd heard, lacking in humanity.

Isaac smiled. "It would be unwise to refuse such an invitation. I have no desire to insult her."

Which probably meant "Invitation" stood for "Command". She was Isaac's superior and could not be ignored. It made me wonder.

"Does she meet all of your…"it was hard to make myself use the word, "Shadows?"

He looked at me a moment, eyes shining as his grin widened. "Never before you."

"Wonderful." I sighed, frowning anxiously at the floor. Then there was something about me she didn't like or found curious. I hoped for the latter.

xXx

When we'd gotten into his car, a sleek black sports thing, (I had no eye for vehicles) he informed me that I'd slept away the night and all of the day. It was around 7:30 when he'd woken me and already the sun had disappeared. As we drove, I shifted uncomfortably in my dress. It clung to me invasively, draping down my legs. He'd put me in heels, tall and uncomfortable and twisted my hair, piling it above my neck. This had not been without my comments on his ability to style so fabulously. He'd ignored my stabs at his sexuality and hurried me out the door.

My arm shot out to brace myself when he took a sharp turn into the on ramp of the highway. When I turned to glare at him, however, I found the rearview mirror tilted right at my exposed chest and instead I grit my teeth.

"I thought vampires were supposed to be suave and gentlemanly."

"They are when they're trying to get laid." He laughed, "I just noticed how much I liked that dress. It didn't look half as good on the mannequin…or the cashier who modeled it for me."

My eyes rolled with my heavy sigh. "See, that was almost a compliment. Fix the fuckin' mirror. How are you supposed to keep track of the car behind us?"

His eyes remained on me but his answer startled me into silence. "I don't need the mirror, I can hear the driver breathing."

It took a moment for that thought to fully process along with the implications of the statement. He could hear into another man's car, behind us, on the fucking highway?! That was…impossible.

"There's no way." My voice was breathy so I cleared my throat. "We're on the fucking highway, surrounded by trucks and other cars. If you're hearing was that sensitive, wouldn't it be too much for you?"

His eyes drifted back to the road and he cut between cars, playing leapfrog to the front. "One learns to focus and control it."

My fingers curled into the cushion of my leather seat as I searched the floorboard as if it held the answers. "What else can you hear?" The question sort of popped out before I could think it through. Isaac smirked signaling to the exit lane.

"I heard your heartbeat accelerate when I told you."

"Oh?" I swallowed and tried not to look at his face in case I met his eyes. Cobalt and emerald and too intense to handle. Like gazing strait at the sun.

"Do I frighten you, Mira?" He chuckled, glancing over at me. "That's cute."

The patronizing quality of his tone turned fear into anger…most of it…and I clenched a fist.

"Don't get excited."

He grinned, looking back at the mirror and my breasts. "That might be rough if you'll be wearing that dress."

I groaned and hit the headrest. "Just get us there, you prick."

"Ooho." He fixed the mirror as we pulled onto a wooded back road just out of town. "Best behave when we get there, or I'll have to do something very rude."

"Yeah, ok." I stopped paying attention to him after that and focused on the road.

Now we were pulling up to the iron gates of a large manor, and I begun shaking.

"Someone's pushing the stereotypes." I murmured, to cover my fear. Who would be waiting for me in there? If this old vampire, Isaac's fucking maker, did disapprove of me, would it mean they would kill me on the spot? There was no reason to believe that Isaac would stop them. I was a temporary amusement, the spoils of war, and nothing else. If his maker demanded it, he might even kill me himself. I'd heard that vampires sometimes amused themselves by killing their playthings in front of an audience of their Seethe. My fear graduated to trembling as we stepped out of the car and approached the front door.

Isaac's hand went to the center of my back, guiding me along beside him. My fingers shook at my sides until I began fidgeting with them.

"Will there be others in there?" I asked as we waited on the large front porch. My nerves got me talking even though I knew I shouldn't. Letting him know I was afraid was like showing weakness to a pack of wolves. They'd eat you alive, because fear meant prey. Isaac looked me over with a grin and nodded, gauging my expression, so I tried to act like my normal obnoxious self. "Is that why you're showing off my neck-cleavage?"

He laughed. "Your what?" But the door opened suddenly and we were greeted by a tall black woman in a business suit. For a moment I thought she might have been some sort of movie star or an heiress because she was absolutely, jaw-dropping gorgeous. She had clear, green almond shaped eyes which spakled when she looked at Isaac. Her hair was long and dark brown, styled to flow down her back beneath complicated braids. Her legs were long and shapely, making me glad that my dress was draped at the bottom. She smiled at Isaac warmly, completely ignoring me and stepped out to embrace him.

"We've missed you, Isaac." Her voice was a low, sensuous purr and she kissed him on the cheek, lingering long enough to let me know they were perhaps more than friends. Or at least she'd like to be. Isaac, smiling back devilishly, smoothed the front of his own suit. Black on black, and tailored to his slender build. Everyone was in their best dress tonight it seemed. Did vampires usually do this? Was there some kind of special occasion?

"Always a pleasure, Sanura."

"How long will you stay with us this time?" She leaned against the door frame, boldly looking him over and tracing the line of her collar with sharp, dark blue nails. I looked between the two, feeling like an intruder. If I could, I might have slunk off and away. Leave the vampires to their reunion, but Isaac was strait to business with her.

"Colette has asked that I bring Mira to her. I will only stay as long as courtesy demands."

Sanura pouted, standing strait. "Pity."

As she stepped aside to let us through, her clear green eyes snapped finally to me and her kindness leached away. She looked at me like I was a bug she'd be more then happy to squash. Something told me, that I should stick close to Isaac inside, or things might end badly.

"She's in the library." The vampire nodded fiannly over her shoulder. Isaac nodded mutely, and took my hand, lacing our fingers. I stared hard at our hands, threaded like lovers and wanted to jerk away, but he was already pulling me across the huge entrance hall to a dark oak door between the set of wrap around stairs.

"What kind of a name is Sanura?" I whispers, leaning in close to him. I jumped when the woman answered me.

"Egyptian." She said coolly, "It means kitten." At that she gave tight smile, revealing canines slightly longer than they should have been. I chose that moment to look back ahead of us and follow Isaac as he pushed open the large door and pulled on a smile.

Here we go.