Pam was the first to leave the narrow strip of land between Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain. She launched herself, exhilarated, into the night sky turning towards New Orleans.

Landing on the slender strip of rubber atop the old Louisiana State Bank building now utilized as the vampire HQ, she slid the heel of her favorite pumps into one of the holes in the mat and depressed the lever which slid the iron and silver roof tiles out of her path. The security measure had been added in the early night of her rule and while the anticipated threats had never materialized, Pam saw no reason to invite trouble. Somewhat surprisingly, Bill agreed with her caution, restricting even the number of local vampires who could fly in.

A door behind one of the dormers opened as she approached. No light escaped to betray the access since neither she nor the guards (one vampire and one shifter) needed more than the ambient light or the city to see by. Only when the door closed behind her did any of them speak.

"Pam," Karin greeted her younger sister first.

"Karin," Pam responded. "Bill has you on door duty?"

"Only for you," Bill himself said stepping into the darkened room. "Welcome to Area 1, Majesty. I am suprised you are alone."

Pam turned to face her Sherriff, her smirk in place but an eyebrow raised.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

Bill and Karin both let their silence speak for them. Pam didn't break it. Bill did.

"Our phantom is downstairs," he told her.

"Cataliades?" Pam asked.

"Returned to his office when I mentioned you were on your way," Bill said.

Something about the way he said it made Pam want to pursue the topic so she did.

"I'm surprised he didn't stay," she admitted. "After all, I'm the one who can grant him access to our guest."

"I believe he wanted you to form your own opinion of our guest and decide what to do without his influencing you," Bill replied.

"He overestimates his influence," Pam asserted.

"Perhaps," Karin added her perspective to the conversation. "He wants access very badly. I cannot say why. But I do know that when a demon has very strong feelings it can affect those around it even without intending to."

For Karin that was quite a speech. Pam chose not to question how her elder sister had come by that knowledge. Neither did Bill. Or he already knew.

"Which raises the question: who doesn't he want to influence, us or our guest?" Pam wondered aloud.

It was an excellent question. Hiding a vampire from other vampires was not as easy thing. A demon, however, could do it, if it wanted to. Which begged the question, why would it want to?

No one in the hallway had an answer for her but perhaps someone in the building did.

"Where are you keeping our vampire ghost?" Pam asked Bill.

"This way," he replied leading the way downstairs to the old banking floor.