He would never admit it. He would never tell her the truth. There was no way he was going to hear her say it. He would never admit that she was challenging him. He was never going to admit to her that she was winning, and he was never going to say that she won, even if she did.

The end of his hour was approaching swiftly and he couldn't find her anywhere. He had five more minutes, and he didn't see himself finding her in that time. He was screwed.

"Alexandra," he called down the hallways. He was met by no response. Worse yet, any of his men that he ran into was sworn into secrecy, and not wanting to get too serious with this game, he let them off, but he wanted to find her more than he was willing to let on. She was sneaky, and that was her strength. She was good at moving around unnoticed, and in this game she had the upper hand. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying.

"Alexandra, I'll by you ice cream if you come out." Still nothing. If that wasn't going to work then nothing will. She wasn't going to just pop out of no where. "Dammit."

Finally, the hour was over, and he had lost hope. His hat was gone. He had lost fair and square, and it pissed him off. Damn that girl for besting him. She had won. A red blood had beat him; him! The Crimson-Eyed Butcher lost to a red blood. How humiliating. He turned on his heel and left the hallway and went down the stairs to his room, where he'd wait for her to come and brag that she had won.

Then it hit him. The one place he didn't think to look because it was the one place she had never been in. His room. She was in his room. He sprinted through the halls at lightening speed and navigated his way to the room that held the girl. With great haste he threw open the door, and saw her standing in front of the fire place, poking at the wood that was still burning.

"Oh hey there," she winked with a sly grin on her face. "Fancy meeting you here."

He growled. "I would have thought it was understood that my room was off limits. You've never been here before."

She laughed at that. It was a maniacal laugh. Had he not been the one being laughed at he would have commended her for such a laugh. Surely if she were a black blood that laugh would have struck fear in the hearts of many.

"It was not in the rules, Zelman. You agreed after all." She was something else, that's for sure. "That stupid hat of yours is no more, and words cannot express how happy I am."

He grinned.

"You are aware I can buy a new one, correct?" All of the amusement left her face. Obviously she had not thought of that possibility. Anger filled her as she stood in front of him in defience.

"No way, that's not allowed!"

"It wasn't one of the rules."

She hated it when he outsmarted her. In a fit of rage she leapt into the air, effectively knocking him over. He had not expected such an outburst. Sure, when she was younger this was a common occurence, and he had thought she was over it, but apparently not. She was about to hit him when he flipped them over so he was on top. He had her hands pinned and his legs between hers to avoid getting kicked.

"Here I thought you were over such actions." He smirked as she glared at him.

"Oh, bite me!" She didn't realize the repercussions of her words. She constantly forgot that he was a vampire because it was just never brought up. The whole subject was taboo and they avoided if at all possible. Even when she was younger she avoided asking any questions about him or what he was.

"Would you like me to?" He leaned in close and his breath brushed her neck lightly, causing her to squirm. She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it. After 'the talk' she started to feel things she had never felt before, and some of them had centered around the red head on top of her and those sharp canines of his, but that didn't mean she wanted to get bit. Everyone was turned on by certain actions, and her weak spot happened to be her neck; how ironic.

"You should stop." Her voice was airy as she had trouble finding the words. She didn't want him to stop, but this was still wrong. She did want to experience some of these things, but if he did this, it wouldn't mean anything. That was the thing that struck her the most. Everything he did didn't mean anything. She wanted things like this to mean something.

"But I don't want to." His lips started grazing her neck as well and left feathery kisses. She was trying to get away but she was started to realize that her actions stirred him on more. Just as she was sure he was going to follow through, they heard a knock on the door.

"Lord Zelman," Sayuka said as she began to turn the door knob. In the blink of an eye Zelman had not only gotten off of her but pulled her up so that she was standing next to him. To anyone else it probably looked like they were having a normal conversation.

"What is it, Sayuka?" His voice changed in the way that it does whenever he was talking to other people. Alexandra had noticed it when he first hired the woman, and she continued to notice it as he talked to anyone that wasn't her. It made her feel a little bit special that he was so different around her, but it made her wonder why. She would never ask though, knowing that he would never give a straight answer; not that he ever did.

"Forgive me for interupting, but Sei has requested you." Zelman nodded.

"I'll be back later, Alexandra." He was about to walk out of the room when his assistants voice stopped him.

"Actually, he requested both of you."

.

Alexandra had never met Sei, or Lord Dragon as some had called him. Nor had she met Cain Warlock, or anyone else of importance for that matter. She hung around the company a lot but never with any high end people. She didn't do it on purpose, but generally to be around them you had to schedule an appoitment, and she never saw the need to. This whole experience freaked her out.

They made their way into the building and saw Sei sitting in his chair, along with Cain and other members of the council she had heard about. She was intimidated by them to say the least. Even with Zelman here she felt uncomfortable.

"Welcome, Miss Alexandra Clock. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Sei was the first to speak, and it made her jump. She was obviously very nervous, and she really didn't want to be here.

"Thank you, Sei." She bowed. She may have been raised by Zelman but she knew manners. Zelman had made sure she understood those at the very least. He didn't tolerate any disrespect.

"We've heard stories about you." Jinnai commented. He made it sound like a joke, but she could tell already that he wasn't particularly fond of her. She could already guess why, but she didn't want to instigate further.

"Likewise," was her only response. She didn't want to talk too much. Zelman chose now to speak, making her jump. She forgot he was there.

"Was there something you needed?" She noticed Cain scowl at Zelman's attitude, but no one else seemed to care how he spoke. She could only assume that this was normal behavior for the ancient vampire.

"Yes," spoke Cain. "It seems that Miss Alexandra here has been training with some of the men from the supression team." Alexandra went stiff as a board. "The men seem to think very highly of her." Zelman glance at the blonde before him. "She apparently has better aim than some of the best shots on the team, and has no trouble keeping up when she joins some of their drills." Alexandra didn't dare look at Zelman, for she was too scared of how he might look. "They have requested that she is trained properly to join the forces."

"What's that?" Zelman didn't even bother hiding the shock in his voice.

"I beg your pardon?" Alexandra sounded just as shocked as he was, if not more so.

"The choice is entirely up to you, Miss Alexandra. We will not force you into anything." Sei's voice was calming, but it still didn't ease the girls tension. She was freaking out. This was not what she wanted out of the training, and it sure as hell wasn't the way she wanted Zelman to find out.

"Do I have a say?"

Everyone looked at the crimson eyed man as he ground out his response. He was not happy, and Alexandra was scared now. She wasn't sure what she wanted, but was very sure that Zelman would not allow it. If he could help it, he would keep her home where he could watch her and keep her safe, not send her out to go fight vampires with nothing but those guns that red bloods hid behind.

"What is the problem, Zelman?" Jinnai seemed to be just as upset about this decision but obviously his say was not what mattered in the situation.

"She's too young." Zelman would be dammed if he said he was worried. He could hide behind the statement that he never outwardly admitted it, but it was painfully obvious from the beginning.

"Most start their training around the age of fifteen."

"She's a woman." Alexandra felt her eye twitch.

"So what, Zelman? How does that change anything?" Alexandra was a little pissed off at his comment. No, more than pissed: offended. "Don't you rely on women to provide you with that thing you need to live? Wasn't it a woman that pushed you out of her body and brought you into this world? Let's not forget that busty assistant of yours that you rely on for reports."

"Yes that may be true but none of those are things that you do or have done and none of those are half as dangerous as fighting a black blood with a gun loaded with silver. That only gets you so far." She was pissed now.

"You don't control me, so why can't I do this?"

"Because of the Kowloon children. Have you already forgotten the creatures that destroyed your home?" They felt an immense power crash down on them, causing Alexandra to feel light headed. Zelman gritted his teeth as he looked at Sei, who wore and angered expression.

"Zelman, control yourself. This is not your decision." Around then is when Alexandra couldn't herself up any long and fell into Zelman's arms. Zelman didn't appreciate seeing her like this, and his face softened slightly as he looked at her helpless form. She gripped fruitlessly at his sleeves trying to pull herself up. She had never experienced such a pressure and it was overpowering.

"Please, stop." Zelman's voice was low, and the only one who heard it was Sei, who instantly relented his aussult. His face softened as well looking at the girl Zelman gripped tightly and possesively. Sei could see how Zelman felt and began to understand why he was so against Alexandra taking on this job.

"Please forgive me, Miss Alexandra." She was panting as she barely managed to balance herself. Zelman held her around the waist to keep her steady. She gave him a nod to say that she accepted his apology.

"Discuss this in private, and come back to us with you answer."