Sorry about the wait for this chapter. I am really busy this week, since I'm recording my bands first album live this thursday, and is planning the the event. There's so much to do. However I will do my best to at least publish one more chapter this week.

I hope this one isn't too boring or too short. We get to learn a bit more about Kirya's past. Please review! If it hadn't been for Dark-Lelu and bettingonalice01 this chapter wouldn't have been written yet. And Merry Christmas to you all :-D

She was in a daze the rest of the day, as she absent-minded cleaned the apartment, and then just laid down on the couch. Her thoughts kept spiralling back to that moment in the car...

She wasn't allowed to lie down for long though. Yuki jumped her, making her shriek in surprise.

"I see you've changed your mind," he said smiling, as she swore loudly and tried to make her heart go back to its normal steady rhythm. She glared at him.

"Fuck you, Yuki."

From behind someone chuckled. They both turned around. It was Damon, leaning against the wall with a mocking smile on his face.
"It's nice to see that there's someone who doesn't fall for your charm," he teased Yuki, as he retrieved the bottle of scotch.

Yuki shrugged. "Well, sometimes it just takes a little time. Right my love?" He said to Kirya, who eyed him angrily.

"Yeah, or a couple of centuries!" It was hard to hold onto her anger though. That relieved feeling just kept filling her, making her want to smile. She sighed.
"Does anyone want a sandwich or something?"

"We were actually just about to leave, got a meeting downtown." Damon sounded almost apologetic. Kirya looked at him with surprise, but quickly made her face blank. He had never told her were he was going. Normally he just left.

Wonder if he's also got this weird feeling?

Yuki eyed his watch, an old battered Casio.
"And we're already late. Again." He went over to the door, gripping Damon by the arm.

"See ya."

And then, like that, they were gone.

Kirya stood for a moment lost in thought, then she shrugged and went into the kitchen. She was hungry.

Emerging from the kitchen with two gigantic sandwiches and a can of coke, she sat down in the couch, and flicked on the television. She zapped through the channels while eating the first sandwich. Finally she left it on the news.

The speaker told about a new gang terrorizing the streets, then the image changed and showed pictures from some kind of memorial. Kirya paid little attention to the TV, until a familiar voice suddenly ripped her back to reality.

Her blood froze. On the screen was a tall middle-aged man, in a dark suit. He was holding a speak of sorts in a solemn voice.
Kirya was paralyzed. The image changed to an altar with pictures on it, zooming in on one of them. Kirya couldn't rip away her gaze.

On the screen 14-year-old Kirya was staring right back at her. Her hair was longer, and she looked slightly bored.

"...Now, four years after the disappearance of Michelle Kyriana Black, the search has finally been closed, and the young girl declared dead. A big memorial is held here in Chicago, and lots of important people has shown up today, to pay their respects to her father Michael Black, billionaire and oilmagnat..."

The image shifted to a panorama of the attendees, and Kirya recognized several faces.
The news moved on.
Slowly Kirya grabbed the remote, and turned the TV off.

So he had finally let her go. She sighed with relief. Things would be a lot easier now, she guessed. With no price on her head, she would be able to let go of the fear of being caught and brought back.

She started to eat again. It was for the best being dead. It did shake her a bit though, that her father had chosen to hold the memorial here in Chicago. It could have been anywhere.
Last time she'd checked up on him on the net, he had lived in New York, before that he'd been in Japan. She shook it of. He moved all the time. There had always been a new town or country, a new business, new banquets, new faces.

She had hated every second of it. He wanting her to be his little lap dog, showing her off to his clients.
She had learned to live with it. Being polite, not letting her true feelings and thoughts escape through her facade. But at some point she'd had enough.

Suddenly a terrible thought sprang into her mind. The last bit of sandwich dropped from her hands, landing on the floor.

What if someone else had seen the news? Damon, Yuki, Bjorn or some of the other vampires? Did they even watch the news? She looked different now of course. She had started wearing glasses instead of contacts, and cut of her hair. But still, it wasn't like her face had changed that much.

She bit her lip. Suddenly her relief and her appetite was completely gone.