(Amelia's POV)
It was almost midnight and AJ still wasn't back once again. Amelia was a little worried, but she assumed that if her friend needed help, she would call her. Just as she was about to fall asleep on the couch, she heard a knock on the door. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she went to answer it.
She opened the door and there stood Charlotte, supporting a barely conscious AJ.
"Jesús Cristo, what happened to her?" she demanded as Charlotte stepped over the threshold.
"Long story. She passed out a while ago. Can you take her from me? She's practically like dead weight," Charlotte asked and Amelia took her best friend and, with a little help from the demon, dragged her to the couch.
She threw a blanket over her and walked over to where Charlotte was rubbing her arms, trying to get feeling back into them.
"Jeeze, how much did she have to drink tonight?" Amelia asked.
"It's not so much how much she had to drink, but how much someone drank from her."
"What does that mean?"
"Never mind, just keep an eye on her," Charlotte said as she walked toward the door.
"Oh yeah, I will. Thanks for bringing her home," Amelia said, walking her to the door.
"No problem."
Once Charlotte had left, Amelia walked over to her friend who was snoring slightly and shook her head.
"AJ, AJ, AJ, what am I going to do with you?" she mused.
She noticed that one of AJ's arms had slipped from under the blanket and as she went to put it back, she saw something strange. There was a bandage tied to her wrist, and from the looks of it, not very well.
Amelia carefully undid the wrapping and was shocked by what was underneath. On her wrist, there was a set of bite marks that no doubt came from a vampire. Amelia cursed to herself and went to get a fresh wrap from the medicine cabinet. She bandaged her friend's arm and tucked it back under the blanket.
That really got her thinking. If she was trying to hide that, what else was the hybrid hiding from her? She crept quietly into AJ's room and looked in her closet. Sure as shit, sitting on the shelf in her closet was a hat. And not just any hat, but a brown derby hat. Amelia's eyes widened as soon as she realized to whom that hat probably belonged.
"AJ, what have you gotten yourself into?" she asked herself.
Trying to push all of the horrible thoughts out of her head, Amelia got ready for bed.
Before she knew it, the alarm was ringing and it was time to go to work. Amelia quickly got up and got ready for work. She tied her long hair into a ponytail and put on her classic green smock that bore the words "Organic Natural Grocery". She walked quietly out of the apartment and then walked the two blocks to work.
As soon as she got to work, she got herself some coffee and a doughnut from the bakery and began to work on opening the store. Once the store was open, it was pretty much like any other day. Amelia was a cashier, destined to serve the legions of people who visited the store.
She finally finished work around six that evening and the sun had just began to set. She sat down in one of the booths and waited for AJ, who usually would come and walk home with her.
As she was sitting there, lost in her thoughts, a voice roused her.
"Disculpa, señorita, puedo sentarme aquí?"
She looked up and saw a tall man in a white Armani suit. All of the other booths in the cafe were, unfortunately occupied. She nodded and he sat down across from her.
"Díme querida, de dónde eres?" the man asked, obviously wanting to strike up a conversation.
"Señor, por favor, no me hables," she replied, clearly not in the mood for talking.
"Ay, qué lástima. Yo quería que conocerte."
Amelia didn't say anything, hoping he would just leave her alone. Where the hell was AJ?
"Qué pasa, chica? Me parece que eres triste."
"No soy triste. Estoy enojada por mi compañera."
"Y qué hizo su compañera?"
"Pues, ella es inteligente pero algunas veces, ella es demasiada tonta," Amelia said, finally giving into this stranger's need for conversation.
He nodded as if he wanted her to continue.
"Ahora, mi amiga está jugando un juego tan peligroso con un vampiro."
He raised his eyebrows. "Un vampiro? De veras?"
"Si, y creo que este vampiro, es el vampiro más peligroso en todo la cuidad. Creo que este vampiro es un Dandie!"
"Ay dios, no me digas!"
"Si, y por eso estoy enojada. Serías tan estupido para jugar un juego con un Dandie. Y ahora, mi amiga está. Ya me voy. Adios, señor," Amelia said as she got up and left.
Unbeknownst to either her or AJ, the man in the white suit followed them.
Once he had found out where they lived, he called William.
"Hey Bill, it's Gabe. I think I have an idea as to what you can take from the hybrid," he said with a smile in his voice.
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"Who was that guy you were talking to?" AJ asked once the girls had gotten settled in at home.
"I don't know. He just came up to me and started talking to me. It was kind of creepy."
A silence fell between the two.
"So AJ, how's your wrist?" Amelia asked nonchalantly.
AJ turned to look at her.
"How do you know about that?"
Amelia rolled her eyes. "Charlotte brought you home, passed out, and when I put you on the couch, I noticed that the wrap on your wrist was coming off, so I re-did it for you," she explained.
"Oh. It's better today, thanks."
"So," Amelia continued, wanting to get it off her chest, "I was cleaning last night and while I was cleaning in your room, a hat fell out of your closet. I didn't know you had a derby hat."
AJ tried to keep her face emotionless. "Oh that? I uh, got it from a friend."
"Mhmm, sure. And was that friend the same one who left those bite marks on your wrist yesterday?"
"What?! That's ridiculous. That's - "
"Come on AJ, I know you too well. Just tell me the truth."
Begrudgingly, AJ told Amelia about the game that she was playing with the leader of the Dandies.
"Okay, so you stole something of his and now he has to steal something of yours. Do you have any idea what he'll steal?"
"Nope, no idea. I just have a feeling it'll be something personal."
Oh how right AJ was.