Elise watched Des disappear over the edge. Renato turned to her, and she heard a choked sound coming from her. But suddenly, they weren't alone. Men in black descended onto the scene. In their hands, they held chains. The sound of their clash with Renato jolted her back into self-preservation. She had to escape. She tried to run. Her tunnel vision narrowed in on the exit. Someone, a woman, stepped in front of her and tried to grab her. She shoved them away from her and tried to push forward, but she was pulled back. She was released quickly, but she still screamed from the touch. Over the next several minutes, they tried to calm Elise until she could be taken into an office. Elise had lost her bag during the struggle. She tried to get them to go find Desiree, but they reassured her they had her taken care of. Elise insisted she see Des herself, and find her bag, and they only agreed when she could not be persuaded to stay otherwise. They gave her water and had her waiting with the woman from earlier. This lady claimed she was a retired EMT and offered to inspect her eye. When she offered to take her to the bathroom, Elise shook her head, so she made do with wipes. Her eye was swelling, the discoloration beginning to show, and there was a small cut at the edge of her socket from Renato's attack. When she was done running through her checklist, she let Elise stay in silence. Elise's leg jumped up and down restlessly. She held onto a small towel she had been given to wipe the bloodstains on the rest of her off. Finally, the door opened, and Des limped into the room.

"Des!"

Relief flooded her as she saw her friend.

"I'm okay, Elise. I'm okay," Des said. Elise rushed forward to wrap her arms around her friend. She held Des tightly to her chest, the top of her head rested on Elise's collarbone.

"Hold on, I got you. Want to sit down?," Elise asked her.

"No. I'm good. Give me a second."

Elise looked her over after she pulled back. Her arms and knees looked banged and scraped up. Des's hair was wet, and some of her nails were missing. Elise could see small bruises on her face. ' The pattern of Renato's fingers ,' she figured.

Elise said, "Your mouth is bleeding."

"Yeah, your eye is turning a different color, too. He got you pretty bad there, huh?," Des said, before wiping the corners of her mouth.

"Are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere? How did you land?," Elise's questions shot from her mouth in rapid succession. Elise saw small punctures in the side of Des' throat, and she gasped, "Iiiii- te mordio?"

Des brushed her fingers along it, and shivered, "Fucking fanger tried to drain me before you showed up."

"Oh, god. How do you feel? Are you sure you don't want to sit down?"

"I'm said I'm good. I fell on a pile of trash. Which was guacala, pero ojala dios me protegió."

"Didn't you just fall off a building?" Elise blurted out.

"That's how I know God saved me," Des joked.

Des gave her her bag and Elise pulled her phone out to dial 911. Des's hand shot out over hers. She looked up at Des, and Des shook her head, "El, it's okay. I'm okay."

"We have a unit on the way, girls."

The woman in the room spoke up. Elise had forgotten about her until now. She tried to remember her name, Mirabel?

"My name is Miranda Garcia. I oversee the club. Please, let me extend my apologies for tonight. I will do everything I can to help you," Miranda-Not-Mirabel, said. Her eyes were large, expressive, and dark.

Elise didn't release her grip on her phone, "You're the owner?"

Miranda leaned forward, "Yes, I am. You can call me Miranda."

"When are they getting here? And where's the vampire?," Elise said. She didn't know how long she had been up here for, but it seemed like the music from downstairs had died out a while ago. Was it past three?

"We have them coming as soon as they are able. We have the situation under control. You are safe here."

"That's what you call under control?," Elise blurted out. She gestured to Des, "She just fell off your fucking roof!"

"Elise," Des warned her. Pulling her back.

Elise stared back at her friend, "That man tried to kill you."

"He is not a man. Let's just wait for the cops, and go back home," Des said. Elise looked at her friend and noticed how tired she looked. The lines in her face were deep, and her eyes were sunken and strained. Her makeup was ruined, the eyeliner she had carefully applied earlier, now only existed in a small, smudged piece that hadn't been wiped off yet.

Elise considered her friend, then asked where the bathroom was. She took Des with her. Miranda showed them the door of an employee bathroom and waited for them to enter. As soon as the door closed, Elise turned to Des. Des stared into the mirror, before she turned the faucet on, and began to rinse her face.

Elise asked her, "Did you come here already?"

Des made a noise, like, 'hm?,' as she turned the faucet off. She said, "No, why?"

"Your hair is wet."

Des stepped away from the mirror and turned to her. She said, "I cleaned up somewhere else before I saw you. I didn't want to scare you, it looked worse than it was."

"You didn't come find us first?" Elise said. The frustration and exhaustion from the night was building inside her again. She pulled her phone out and saw a text from Danielle. Danielle's message said they had made it to Jaidyns' home, and she was putting her to sleep. She tried calling Danielle, but was sent to voicemail. She said to Des, "You know we were looking for you? You left, again."

Des looked away, "I was kind of fucked up at that point…"

"And you found trouble, again."

"Are you mad at me?," Des' soft voice asked her, "I know you are. I'm sorry."

"What were you doing, Desiree? Before I found you."

Des sighed, "Renato es un desgraciado. He got jealous and he fucking freaked out."

"Jealous of what? Is that what that was? Jealousy?"

"I didn't know he would do all that! He wanted to talk and then he started getting weird on me."

"Weird on you how?"

"Like, crazy mad, really upset. Dude…I just…it's been a lot tonight," Des said.

Elise looked at her friend evenly, "What was up with The Men in Black? Des, you fell off a fucking roof! How are you even standing right now?"

"Thank god, I'm alive! I'm happy you came for me, Elise, really, I owe you so much, but why are you being like this?"

"What's up with me? What's up with you? El cabron se puso celoso. Okay, that shit doesn't explain everything else that happened."

Elise drew her finger in a circle in the air at 'everything else,' her voice was getting loud. So, she forced herself to quiet down.

"How did you even meet a vampire? How long has this been going on? You've been talking about him for months, and you just kept that shit to yourself?," she asked. She wanted her friend to explain what happened to her in a way that made sense.

"I didn't say something was wrong with you! I said, why are you treating me like this? It's been such a shitty night. I'm scared, El! I was so scared up there, and I'm scared now," Des's voice broke. Her face crumpled and her eyes filled with tears. Elise stayed on her side of the counter for a second before softening at Des' hitched sobs. Elise took a moment to calm down. Her eye was still aching, and she was tired, too, and afraid. She focused on getting herself clean instead to give herself time to calm down and talk to Des.

' I look like shit ,' she instantly thought upon seeing herself. The redness, swelling, and bruising had started. Renato had hit her so hard, it had cut her around the eye. A small cut, but it might leave a scar on the high of her cheekbones, if she wasn't careful.

She washed herself, and said, "Des, are you in trouble?"

Des shook her head.

"It's okay if you are. I just want to know if you're okay."

Des didn't answer her and Elise stood there with her for a few minutes, before Des sighed, and sagged against the counter.

Des looked at her, and confessed, "I met him on a night out. He was cute and new to being a vamp, and it seemed like fun. I liked dating him, really, but I didn't think we were anything serious." She took a pause here, before she steeled herself and continued, "I let another vampire feed from me. Renato said I was supposed to be his, just his."

Des took a moment to gather herself. She said, "Renato wasn't bad, before, and I don't want him hurt, or anything like that, I just wanted him off me. I thought I was going to die. I thought we were all going to die."

Tears freely fell down Des's face, but she made no attempt to wipe them away.

"You took us to his job while this was happening, Des?," Elise asked, because she needed to know if Des was that reckless.

"No! Of course, not! I don't even know how he found out all the way down here. Tonight, he invited me out, I asked to bring my friends, and he hooked it up."

"He set you up, and your friends," Elise retorted. She wanted to understand her friend, really, but her patience was thin and raw.

Des looked down in silence. Elise sighed, and pulled her friend into a hug. She held her as Des sniffled softly. There was a knock on the door, and Elise was startled by it.

"I'm sorry, girls, but the officer is here. He's ready whenever you're finished," Miranda's cool voice came through the other side.

"Okay," Elise, awkwardly, yelled back after a moment. She turned to Des, who nodded at her. Together, they left to give their report.

When they were done, it was dawn outside, and Miranda offered to provide a ride home for them. She was waiting outside for Des to return from the bathroom again, when Miranda had asked, and she refused politely. Even though Miranda, the apparent renaissance woman, had been courteous throughout the whole experience, she had been a bit much. Miranda had hovered in the background during the report out of concern for their well being, but Elise had wanted more privacy. When she asked Miranda for space, she had taken two small steps back. Since she hadn't wanted to make it a bigger issue, Elise kept quiet.

"Here, I got us a ride. Miranda felt bad for what happened, and offered us a driver to take us home," Des said, when she came back.

"Tell them no," Elise replied.

"Come on, El. They're trying to help us out."

Des looked at her face, closely, "You're lucky he didn't get your nose. Still pretty, yeah, Amazonia?"

"Tell them no."

Des paused, "They already have someone waiting for us. I gave them the address. Look, Miranda gave use some medicine we can take. It'll help."

She pressed a small glass into Elise's hand. Her head throbbed in steady waves and her stomach hurt. She felt like she had been drained herself. Exhausted and with her nerves wrung out, she gave in and followed Des to the waiting car. She kept quiet on the way home, letting Des complain about her night.

"Are you okay?," Des asked her.

Elise turned to look at her, "Girl."

Des sighed in frustration, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. You were having fun. I really wanted to have a good night with you."

Elise shrugged, "It's okay."

They sat in silence, until Elise couldn't help herself, "This is why I don't fuck with vampires."

Des let that sit, until she chose to pick it up, "Well, I mean, I've had pretty good experiences with other vampires."

Elise pressed her tongue to the inside of her check. This was an old argument between them. Elise had walked in on Des and a vampire in the middle of their apartment when she had come home early from a trip. They were from a time before Renato. Elise never knew their name. But Elise had told Des about not having vampires in the house. She didn't trust them. When she had walked in, the sex they were having looked-...scary. Uncomfortably, rough. And her and Des had had to reopen the discussion on guests after days of uncomfortable tiptoeing around each other. Privately, Elise laughed at the awkwardness of it all, between bursts of anger at Des' disregard for the house rules. But she knew Des had been embarrassed by the event, so she left it alone until Des brought it up. Des liked vampires. And while that vampire wasn't a boyfriend, just a small fling, it had opened up the talk about the possibility of Des having one, one day. A discussion which was left at a standstill over a year ago.

"As long as they stay away from our house, we're good," Elise said.

"Is there something you want to say to me right now?," Des asked, "Just say it."

Elise responded, "I got nothin,' just keep that shit away from me"

Des looked at her, and said, "I didn't make you do anything. I'm grateful you were looking out for me, as my friend.

Elise looked away from her, out the window. She didn't want to start this now, she knew she should just wait till they got home, but-...

"People sure have to look out for you a lot nowadays, Des," Elise said. The words tasted bitter in her mouth.

"What do you mean?," Des said, "I'm good. And you sure were enjoying yourself when we walked in."

"Yeah, I was. Until I saw you crawl out of a bathroom with a vampire on you," Elise burst out.

"I told you I was sorry, how many times do you want me to say it?," Des groaned at her in frustration, "You're gonna hold that shit over me, too?"

"I'm not holding shit over you, Des," Elise said, "Solo quiero llegar a la casa."

"I don't know what you have going on, morra, but you need to stop. You've been having such a bad attitude, lately, and directing it at me," Des ground out.

"Wow, what a surprise. I'm projecting again," Elise said sarcastically.

"I guess you are," Des said, "Wish you could just admit it and stop judging me."

Elise ignored Des for the rest of the ride and fingered the eyes on her bracelet. Des took the hint and stayed quiet.

align="center"*

The following night, a call from Isabel came in for Godric, and he needed to return to office. He was in Shreveport visiting his family, but he set out from his child's home once light had fallen. Eric had been doing well for himself the past few years. He took advantage of an opportunity to move from a DVD rental store to a nightclub, and it had increased his prospects and provided him with a solid base of operations as Sheriff of Area 5. Eric's bar was infamous amongst humans for the thrill and pleasure they found within its walls. Eric's bar was popular amongst their kind for providing access to humans. Vampires patronized Fangtasia as their needs required; older vampires needing to reacquaint themselves with the modern era and young vampires eager to play with their new fangs. True hunting was prohibited, of course, but finding a pet was a free-for-all game in the bar. Conveniently, the vampire grapevine also ran its stream directly through Fangtasia. Their kind had used places of entertainment as such for much of their history. Here in Fangtasia, where vampires were openly welcomed, and many traveled to visit its infamous walls, the flow of information was stronger than ever.

While his grandchild had been as blunt and proud as ever, she clearly held respect and loyalty for Eric. Eric had made his first child around the same age as Godric had been when he had chosen Eric. She was a strong progeny and a well-raised one; he could see her lasting into the coming ages, the fruit of his bloodline, and the direct product of his child's efforts. His beloved child had become a fully-fledged vampire and a successful maker in the past century.

"Far, stay another night. Saturday nights at Fangtasia produce the sweetest crop of the week. I noticed you still haven't fed. I'm sure tonight we can find something to satisfy you," Eric smiled at him, his blue eyes crinkling at the edges.

"I must return to my area. I will find a donor there."

"Are you sure I can't convince you? You could run into an old friend. A lot of old recluses come around this time of year," Eric smiled, his lips tilting suggestively.

Godric refused. Eric had been making offerings and suggestions since two nights ago, seemingly not wanting to allow his departure. He had noticed Eric had started hovering around him a few decades ago during his visits- wanting to see him feed more, fuck more, rejoice more. Eric grew concerned with Godric's lack of interest in his usual pursuits, not understanding the fading appeal they had over time. But he was still young, in Godric's eyes, he would always be young to him.

"I will return to my area tonight, my child. A vampire my age will survive an hour of flight without blood," he teased.

Eric smiled at him, but it didn't reach his eyes, "As you wish, far. Dallas has its own night scene, maybe you'll get around to actually joining it. A lot of new attitudes, new looks. I'm sure you noticed during your visit."

During his stay, Godric had been one of the older vampires who had benefited from Fangtasia's position as an observation point into the modern world, and human and vampire relations. Although, Godric hoped the general human population were not as desperate for something that could kill them as the humans who patronized the vampire bar were. But Fangtasia was a good place to find a pet suitable for your tastes. While Godric didn't have the patience to entertain or train a human for such purposes, Eric seemed satisfied enough with Yvetta. Her blood and her figure were both tantalizing enough to overlook the lack of connection and her obvious intentions for Eric's fortune.

In his area, Godric had basically relegated all social duties to Isabelle in the last four decades, he preferred to do the hands-on portion of their work. This visit with his child had highlighted how out of touch he had fallen with the era. He had been caught by surprise throughout the week by the shift in human culture. It made him think back to the last time he had been somewhat integrated. The mid-1970's? Early 80's at the latest.

"No longer in the 'Age of Aquarius'," he joked.

Eric looked unimpressed, "We are not. Perhaps it's time to consider retiring your culty, commune uniform." He gestured to his Maker's long, white button down and baggy, white pants.

Godric looked down, "It's new."

"New? Are backwater baptisms on your schedule now?"

Godric smiled, amused by his child's gentle jabs. The sun had dipped below the horizon fifteen minutes ago, it was time for him to leave.

"I will be on my way now to relieve Isabel. She's become very good at upholding the sheriff's office during my absences. She will be a suitable successor for the position within the next ten years," he said.

Eric's expression faltered, "Your successor?"

"Yes. I will retire soon."

"You've been the Sheriff of Area 9 for over a hundred years."

"Yes, I have. Which is why I'm ending my time in the sheriff's office- it's long enough."

"Are you leaving for another position within the Authority? Becoming an Arbitrator? Or a King?"

"No, I was not thinking of it. Why?"

"So, you're leaving for nothing?"

Godric titled his head, "Is something wrong, my child?"

Eric shifted before raising himself up, "I'm just concerned with your lack of attachments."

"My lack of attachments?"

"Something to keep you busy."

"I am content."

"Content is not enough for the long-term."

"A sabbatical is long overdue."

Eric perked up at this, "You're taking a sabbatical? What are you going to do? The human cities along the West Coast have beautiful donors, too. Very tasty. Or maybe you want to go across the sea and try gochu-fed blood?"

"I was going back to Europe, once more."

Eric's expression stilled for a beat, then, "You're going back to the Old World?."

"I am reaching the end of my patience for my position as sheriff, and responsibilities to the Authority. A visit to my homeland will bring some relief."

"Jag följde dig till den här världen."

"Jag kommer tillbaka."

"Du borde inte lämna! Du måste stanna här. Jag förstår inte vad som händer med dig-"

"Eric."

Eric fell silent, chastised by the tone of his voice, but the lines of his body stayed hard and rigid. Godric couldn't stay and soothe his child's worries. He had to return to his office tonight. He was still sheriff, and he would serve diligently until he was no longer. He told Eric, "Tell Pam I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye. I may call on her to improve my closet soon."

Eric was satisfied with that. Nodding in approval, he promised to send her to Dallas by the end of the month. Godric took his leave shortly thereafter. The flight to Dallas took a little under an hour at his age. He arrived at his nest shortly after nine. Stan greeted him at the door, and offered for a donor to be sent to his office- a B-negative human with a distinctly butter pecan-leaning taste. He refused. He only wanted to resume his station. Stan took the human for himself, eager and drooling already. Stan's sweet tooth was unmatched in his nest, and it had gotten him into trouble too many times. He hoped Stan would restrain himself tonight with the donor. He could hear Isabel in his office. When he opened the door she stood at attention.

"Sheriff," Isabel acknowledged him with a bow of her head, "How was your visit?"

He said, "It went well. Area 5 is prospering."

She smiled and said, "That's good to hear. I wish my report for Area 9 was as good as that. Unfortunately, there has been an incident."

"What has happened?"

"Last night, a woman and a vampire were involved in an altercation at a nightclub in the inner city of Dallas."

"Any witnesses?"

"Only non-human ones, as far as we can know. Most of the event occurred in a restricted area out-of-sight."

"Where is the offending vampire?"

"It's unknown what happened to those who were involved in the fight. The call came near the end of night. By the time we arrived, there wasn't much time to investigate before the sun forced us away. Too many stragglers were in the area for us to glamour, and the personnel locked up," Isabel said, "But we got to look around the outside. The report says a young vampire lured a woman upstairs, and the sound of screaming began. I'm assuming he threw her off the roof, based on what I found. They left quite a mess when they hit the ground."

Godric asked, "How did the humans fail to see this? What else did the caller witness?"

"She landed behind the establishment. It's gated from general access. Once the young vampire lured the woman upstairs, the others in the area fled to remove themselves from culpability. The woman whose blood I found is a heavy user of V. I suspect that's how she survived cracking her head open- there's almost more vampire than human blood in her. I found a towel covered in more of it from another human thrown away. It may be unrelated- anytime after 2 AM in Dallas is dangerous, even indoors, sheriff," Isabel said.

He spoke, "Were human authorities called?"

This was important. Godric had to respond to this situation immediately.

"Forgive me, sheriff, I do not know. The fight occurred sometime in the last hour. When we arrived, there were a few stragglers, none were suspect. The media appears to be unaware for now. Although the possible reasons behind that are less than ideal," Isabel paused, "There was the smell of burnt vampire in the air, too."

A hiss filled the space in the office. It was an automatic response to a rise in disgust and aggression. Godric's lip stayed curled against his teeth as the sound faded. The trafficking of vampire blood was a persistent issue for their kind. In the modern era, only dealers and witches had truly figured out his kinds' weaknesses. Most of the lore surrounding his kind was useless in reality. But silver never failed to weaken them.

His child's area was currently subduing a V-ring that had expanded across the Deep South. It was another reason why he had visited recently. Apparently, his visit came too late and they were unable to stop it before it spread to Area 9.

"I was waiting for your arrival to give you the report. I planned to track down the humans involved and begin an investigation into the club," she said, then added with a smile, "Their cameras were fake. The ones outside at least. I believe the humans do not want the attention as much as we don't. They almost got lucky."

Godric thought on this, then asked, "Were you going to hunt the humans yourself?"

"Yes, I was. I figured it would be good practice after all the time I've spent indoors with Hugo," Isabel said with a small smile.

Godric approved, and said, "We will begin the investigation. They chose a very noticeable facade to hide behind. It shouldn't take long for their dealings to come to light."

Isabel smiled at him, pleased at the thought of her upcoming hunt, and a future raid. The nest needed to keep busy to find an outlet for their instincts, or else it would internally collapse. Godric's style of authority kept his nest in tight order and Isabel took

"Isabel, did you manage to recover any evidence from the club? Anything with the human's scent?"

She nodded.

"Give them to me," he said.

Isabel presented him first with a small tissue. It was hard and crusted with brown stains. While dried blood was inferior, it still drew attention to itself. Through it, vampires got a strong general impression of the human. They could tell their health, age, and basic taste profile. This one's blood was acidic, citrusy and tart, with a clean finish. Well, it would be cleaner if they took care of their health more, instead of relying on vampire blood. He could smell it wafting from the cloth Isabel had used to recover some of the blood. He waited for Isabel to present the other one. She paused for a moment, before she reached in her bra, and pulled out the other sample she had found. The hesitation was barely noticeable, but Isabel had stored the napkin close to her, revealing her wants clearly. He almost smiled, it appeared that Isabel had her heart set on this one. He would indulge her by letting her take this human for herself during the investigation. One human wouldn't make a difference, regardless of their possible innocence. As his second, Isabel only answered to him. She didn't demand often, so he liked to let her have her fun. When a vampire declared a mark, they could be challenged, but with nearly five hundred years backing Isabel, it would not be an easy fight.

When she passed it to him, all he could smell was Isabel on it, at first. No surprise, considering she had gone to ground with it. Inhaling deeper, he began to pick up the faint remnants of the blood. It was surprisingly mild, and it teased him with its subtlety. It seemed fresh and healthy, untainted by vampire blood. He knew this fragrance, it was one he hadn't come across in a human before: barley. And he could smell the hint of warmth from an herbal licorice, anise, then the scent of sweet earth and crushed sweet clover leaves came to him. It wasn't overpowering or heavy, it was a gentle kind of warmth.

It was unusual how light the scent was at first, but it was compelling once detected. Like a summer drink brewed in spices, it brought to mind sweet, golden summer fields underneath the sun. He felt the disgustingly irrational urge to lick the old thing, and he suddenly became aware of the empty ache in his stomach. When was the last time he had fed? A few weeks ago? Or should he count in months now? The blood had almost become a routine for him. It was satisfying in its familiar dance, but it hadn't truly drawn him in like this in years. He wanted this one.

He managed to pull away for a moment, and noticed Isabel was still standing before him, her expression carefully neutral. Her arms were held in straight lines as her body tensed. She had been watching him. When he locked eyes with her, he recognized her look of dismay before she could recover.

"I will have this one," he said. There was a quiet moment in the office. The low noise from the fully awakened nest could be heard outside the door. The cloth was folded neatly within his hands while Godric waited for Isabel to make her decision.

She averted her eyes in submission. Her posture relaxed and she bowed her head. She spoke, "A good choice, sheriff. I was beginning to worry about your fasting."

"A good choice," Godric said. He kept his eyes on Isabel, before he dismissed her with a small wave. Before she left, he gave her instructions to find the other human and begin a background check into the club. Isabel had sent a nest mate earlier in the night, before his arrival, to the area to see if the place had opened. A sign on the door said it was closed for the weekend, but they would reopen soon. No date was mentioned. The back had been hosed down in a poor attempt to clean the evidence. They were vampires, they could detect blood without human instruments.

In the quiet solitude of his office, he played with the old cloth in his hand. He unfolded it and brought it up to his face. With such a faint scent, and little to no details, this would be a fun little pursuit for him. After all this time, he needed release. His human may be involved with the case or they were just unfortunate to have been there. To spill blood on that same night and have it make its way to him. Either way, he had caught their scent now. He would suppress the V ring, as sheriff, and take what he liked in the process, just as he had always done. And if the humans wanted to keep this quiet, he had no issues with quietly burying them in the ground.

Ch 2 Translations

Iiiii- te mordio?: he bit you? ('iiii' is an exclamation; in Spanish, 'i' is the sound of 'eee' in English)
guacala, pero, ojala, dios me protegió: gross, but thank God, God protected me
es un desgraciado: he's a wretch/disgrace
el cabron se puso celoso: that bastard got jealous
Amazonia: Amazon
Solo quiero llegar a la casa: I just want to make it home
morra: girl (morra is slang/a term of endearment)
jag följde dig till den här världen: I followed you to this world.
Jag kommer tillbaka: I'll be back.
Du borde inte lämna! Du måste stanna här. Jag förstår inte vad som händer med dig-: You shouldn't leave! You must stay here. I don't understand what's going on with you-