 
Forever Young Irina

Gerald Simpkins

Published by Gerald Simpkins at Smashwords

ISBN: 978-0-9665434-5-2

LCCN 2013903908

Copyright 2013

Neither this document nor any part of it may be copied, reproduced, stored, or transferred by print, electronic, or any other means without the written consent of the author.

Table of contents

Chapters 1-62

Glossary of characters

Glossary of terminology

# Chapter 1

AUTHORS' NOTE: This novel is a future sequel of sorts; a stand-alone story. It is not intended to be part of the current sequence of the _Forever Young_ series.

April 2000, Seattle, Washington

Around eight PM Irina was through with the books and called Zoe, who said she would be there in twenty minutes. After some ten minutes, she was surprised to hear tires crunching on the gravel outside, so she turned off the last light and wheeled herself through the door, locking it. No car was in sight, so she assumed that someone had just used Ike's parking area to turn around. It was balmy and pleasant, and not raining at all, so she decided to just wait there under the porch light for Zoe. Ike had painted the office that day and she was glad to be away from the smell.

The sound of feet walking in gravel caught her ear and she turned toward that sound to see who might be walking along the road in the dark. From the gloom beyond the small circle of light she began to make out a form moving steadily toward her. She called out "We're closed. Do you need to make a phone call?"

The figure stopped and then to her horror, its eyes began to glow and it rocketed for her at an unbelievable speed. In a flash it was on her, toppling her wheel chair and spilling her out onto the ramp. She screamed. Her stomach churned at the fetid odor of its breath even as a sharp stabbing pain shot up her shattered and cast-bound leg as she hit the ramp, the creature atop her. Irina screamed again. With an iron grip, it crushed her toward itself as it bit her neck, fastening its ghoulish mouth there. Irina struggled mightily in spite of the stabbing pain from her injured leg. As the creature grunted in pleasure while noisily sucking blood from her, it sought her carotid artery.

As she screamed and struggled in its grip she realized that it was going to kill her. Her mind flashed back to that awful day at school only two months earlier that had brought her to this horrible moment. Why didn't I just stay home that day? So this is what it's like to know that you're about to die.......

Her mind flashed back to the beginning of that fateful day.

# Chapter 2

March 2000, Seattle Washington

The electric alarm buzzed angrily prompting Irina to burrow down into the covers, trying to ignore it. As the grogginess of a truly sound sleep receded, she realized that it wasn't the buzzer telling her she had answered the $100,000 dollar question correctly on the game show she had just been dreaming about. It was only the reality of her bleak life in the real world intruding, signaling rudely that another school Monday was beginning.

Slapping angrily at it she finally silenced it on the fourth try and nearly succeeded in nodding back off within some thirty seconds when her dog Pepper bounded up onto the bed and began to nuzzle and kiss her.

"Mmmm! Go 'way, Peps! No kissy now! No! No!" and then she opened her eyes to see her best pal standing over her, head cocked and eyes locked on hers as his tail wagged at a furious pace. Now hopelessly awake she reluctantly accepted that it was indeed Monday and that she was going to get up and go to school again.

An auto-pilot of sorts took over as she swung her long legs over the side of her bed, sticking her feet into her badly-worn house slippers and trudging off to the kitchen. Pepper followed and was prancing in circles as if to say 'Hurry up Irina! You are not the only one here that needs relief!' He bolted out the back door as quickly as she had opened it a crack, on his way to water the neighbors' bushes.

Soon she emerged from the bathroom having washed her hands and face in cold water, and her auto-pilot began to speed up her weekday routine. Coffee was percolating in the ancient Dormeyer coffee pot, one so old that it was actually made in America. Two eggs were boiling as she took two carrots and an apple from the refrigerator, putting them in a paper bag to await the two boiled eggs. She broke and fried three eggs in butter in a cast-iron skillet that she was sure had come over on the Mayflower as she poured herself a half-cup of coffee and added a dribble of half & half. Never allowing herself more than a half cup of coffee a day, she sipped it gingerly as she added salt and pepper and flipped the eggs perfectly, thinking I could always just drop out and get a job as a short-order cook at Harold's Diner.

The reality was that she was sometimes tempted to just quit high school and do something like that, but she had dreamt of becoming a successful accountant and even of opening her own firm one day. If she succumbed to her desire to escape the hell that her high school had become, she was doomed to a life of mediocrity and want. That was not acceptable to her and regardless of the exceptionally hellish week she had just endured, she only had three months before graduation. After that she would forever be removed from the daily dread of attending a school where she was often the focus of cruel taunts and pranks.

She could put in for a transfer, but the idea of doing that was nearly unthinkable to her. The thought of finishing school back in Delridge was not anything that was bothersome to her, but the thought that the Clique would count it a victory that they had finally succeeded in driving her out was more than she could take. No matter how bad it got, she was resolved to stay the course to deny them the satisfaction of seeing her leave.

Last week had been a tough one as she nearly went over the edge and came close to punching out one of the girls in the Clique. Instead she calmed herself and made her countenance neutral, enduring the insults with no sign that she had even heard them even while she seethed with indignation inwardly. In her heart, she knew that she had galled them all that much more, being as they got no discernible reaction from her, as always.

Still in the groove of her weekday morning routine, she finished her breakfast, drank the rest of her orange juice, rinsing her plate, cup and utensils. Then she peeked into her mother's room and saw her passed out across the bed.

She had obviously gotten up during the night because as usual, Irina had half-carried her to bed the previous night and had tucked her in. No doubt she had used the bathroom and had taken yet another couple of rounds of the cheap gin she kept hidden in the bottom drawer of her dresser.

Picking up a few things that her mom had strewn about as she made her way to the back door, she turned off the boiling eggs and automatically put the things where they belonged as she made her way through the kitchen, noting that the rest of the house was picked up just as she had left it before turning in last night.

Pepper was standing there patiently, and began to wag his tail vigorously as he heard her approach the door. "C'mon Peps" she said as she turned back into the kitchen and gave him the last egg she had fried along with a slice of cheap bologna.

Off to the bedroom she dressed rapidly yet carefully, selecting an outfit assembled from the best clothing that the local Goodwill store had to offer. Satisfied at last, she saw herself in the cracked mirror of her dresser, wearing her only school jeans and a cream colored blouse with a slightly frayed left cuff. Cheap but clean white sneakers, saved for wear only to school were her everyday footwear. A champagne colored cardigan style sweater draped over her shoulders and held in place by a cheap brass chain-clasp finished her outfit for the day.

Staring back at her was a tallish honey-blonde girl with an athletic yet decidedly feminine figure, and a creamy complexion. Violet-blue eyes sat behind rather thick eyeglasses, framed in the cheapest plastic frames available at the Wal Mart vision center. A pert nose slightly turned up at the tip blended with high cheekbones in her oval-shaped face. Her sensual lips had a pronounced pout, giving her a petulant look unless she smiled, which was rare.

Satisfied, she walked briskly to the bathroom once more to brush her teeth and apply the little bit of lipstick she customarily used. As she did due diligence on her protruding teeth, she thought longingly of the day that she would finally be done with wearing the braces that she hated so much. No doubt those braces and her upper teeth contributed greatly to the pronounced pout she seemed to always display.

They had been painful last week when Mr. Minkus, her dentist had finished adjusting them. Nonetheless, she was thankful that her best friend, his daughter had known of the special social program for dental work of this type, and had helped ensure that Irina had qualified for it. Truth to tell, she should have had braces shortly after her permanent teeth had come in, but her dad had been saving money for that when he had died, and the badly-needed braces had been forgotten by her mother as she settled into a life of work from 2 PM to 10 PM Mondays through Saturdays. Drunkenness in her mother's off hours competed with brief periods of sobriety and usually won out, with some sobering up on Sundays if the weather was nice enough.

Feeling a warm regard for Zoe Minkus, she finished her teeth and used hydrogen peroxide first, and followed with mouthwash, even as she combed her naturally wavy hair. She was losing the lighter blonde hair she had had throughout her childhood as her hair had begun to gradually darken slightly after puberty. Still there were some pale blonde highlights scattered throughout her honey-blonde hair, reluctant remnants of her younger days which stubbornly refused to change color. She hated them because of the taunts she received, The most common one being 'Calico cat, the bucktoothed bat' which pretty much described her hair color, her dental braces, and her nearsightedness. Wishing that her hair was one color so as to be one less thing that the Clique could tease her about, she vigorously brushed the thick wavy mass and clipped a barrette into place.

Ready at last to catch the special bus, she wrapped her two boiled eggs in wax paper and policed the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of her breakfast. Then she let Pepper out to fertilize the neighborhood lawns, if they could be called that. The tired blue collar neighborhood truly only boasted four lawns worthy of that designation along her block, being fenced all of the way along the aging sidewalks of the western peninsula area of Seattle known as Delridge.

As she rode along in the special bus, Irina realized how badly her neighborhood had deteriorated since the Free-Trade legislation had passed in congress years earlier.

She was grateful that she had qualified to be taken across town to this school as part of a special program, and even more grateful that she had qualified for the college tuition-aid grant. Amazingly it had seemingly dropped into her lap in her freshman year after the first semester when she had posted a perfect 4.0 average. Kids who commonly attended school in Bellevue were likely to be from posh neighborhoods such as Windermere and Laurelhurst. There were only eight kids on her special bus which was really only a large Ford van, furnished by the Elsie Foundation.

It could have been a truly good experience attending this school but for the Clique and their ceaseless cruelty. Still, she had maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA and was on-track to get her scholarship in only three months. With that thought foremost in her mind she girded herself for another day at school, already planning to circle the campus and enter through the cafeteria supply door to avoid the Clique.

As the small special bus came to a stop and the driver operated the special electric sliding cargo door, she sat in the back, slumped down in her seat as all of the others got off. The driver Mr. Glover waited patiently, reading the newspaper while Irina peeked now and then to see if any members of the Clique were lurking nearby. If so they would pounce on her with whatever cruel remarks they had thought up over the weekend while at their parent's country club, whether playing tennis indoors, or golfing or sailing on Puget Sound or whatever rich kids did. "Can you take me down the way some, Mr. Glover?"

"Sure can." Glover closed the doors and moved the bus up some three hundred feet and opened them again, saying "All clear, Irina."

She rose from her seat and on the way out she looked at him and giving a rare smile, she said "Thank you, Mr. Glover."

Pulling his sunglasses down on his nose briefly he smiled and said "You're welcome, Irina. Don't let 'em get you down, girl. You belong here."

The cafeteria service door was propped open due to the delivery service and Irina scurried to it as fast as she could, thankful that today at least, she could enter her special high school hell unnoticed.

# Chapter 3

"This is N two niner zero tango easy fox requesting permission for takeoff."

After a brief interlude, a tinny male voice replied "Tango easy fox cleared for takeoff runway three."

"Roger that, control." replied pilot Dominique Delaine as she nodded to the man beside her in the co-pilot's seat. He shoved the throttles forward to full power and the plane accelerated smoothly. Shortly they rotated gracefully and became airborne in half of the length of the runway. In two minutes the sleek Gulfstream had climbed through the cloud cover, leaving Seattle's Sea-Tac international airport as it banked and turned gracefully south over the Pacific. Shortly they were at cruising altitude and had been handed off to ARTCC. Dominique turned to Ian, saying "You can switch to autopilot now."

"I know Dom, but I like flying her myself."

Dominique settled herself a bit more comfortably in her seat then, removing her headset and adjusting the loudspeaker volume as Ian scanned the instruments like a pro. "You could easily get your license at any time, you know."

"Mmm, yes. I need to do that really before personal ID's become more sophisticated."

She knew he referred to an alias that he would use for any such thing. Members of her vampire family were highly secretive about such things, as she had learned even before being invited to become a member. In fact any of the eleven other vampires riding in the passenger area could easily qualify for a license to fly a Gulfstream jet, but none save Ian could as easily take lessons and in-flight tests during daytime hours. Indeed, had not she been a qualified commercial pilot before becoming a vampire, she would have had the same problem on account of her limited tolerance to daylight.

She reflected on her past and how she had unwillingly become a vampire, being bitten by a rogue and rescued by a member of the family and brought over to eventually become a member. What had seemed like a disaster to her at the time had in fact become at the least an acceptable and often even enjoyable way of life. At age twenty-six she had entered a lifestyle that she could never have dreamt of. Speculating on that, she sat lost in thought as the Gulfstream bored its way gracefully through the bright blue sky, heading to the southeast.

***

Having landed at Sao Paulo, Brazil four hours ago they had easily cleared customs, via special VIP treatment skillfully arranged in advance by a family member. The group of thirteen vampires was enroute to Rio de Janeiro in a special small bus, a custom chassis version featuring window shades and which was leased anonymously. A carefully planted story was that they were a group of wealthy tourists from Hawaii who owned businesses both along the way and in Rio itself. They had passed through Taubate over two hours ago and were now in the most mountainous part of the trip, the last fifty miles.

Dominique knew that a leased Gulfstream was awaiting them at Rio's international airport. What she didn't know was that the lease was in the name of a shell corporation domiciled in the Nevis Islands of the Caribbean. She had asked Ian why they were changing planes and he had explained that owing to the resources available to the vampires they were going to attack, no precaution was too great to take. So it was that they were taking a roundabout way to Italy on a clandestine killing mission.

She hoped to be included in the final phase, but she had a feeling that she would be refused, having never done any real fighting since becoming a member of this clan. To be sure, she had endured and even embraced many hours of training, whether it be unarmed hand-to-hand combat, or with special weapons ranging from swords to small arms. To date though, the clan had been unwilling to risk their only international pilot on missions to take down covens of rogue vampires.

In an hour and a half, they were wheels-up and turning out over the Atlantic under a sickle moon, bound for Venice, Italy. As the miles slipped by, Ian sat in the passenger compartment with the others, studying maps of the Adige river valley and the area east of Verona. He thought we can't plan too carefully for this raid. The Verrazano Coven is not to be underestimated. Thinking ahead to the rendezvous to be made with their allies from Germany and Austria, he was warmed at the prospect of renewing old friendships. He had not seen some of them since the Balkan conflict in Serbia in the mid 90's. So it was that he sat lost in study as he pored over the maps and mentally went over a list of the weapons that would be waiting for them after they had departed from Venice.

# Chapter 4

The day hadn't gone too badly for a Monday. Irina had seen members of the Clique twice, but they seemed to not be looking for her and as usual most were parading about with their boyfriends between classes, each vying with the other to be seen by as many people as possible with their chosen jock.

She had an economics class coming up which she now dreaded due to two of the Clique being enrolled in that class at that period. After that it would be lunch time and she would have lunch with Zoe, eating outside if it was not raining, which was dicey in the Seattle area in March.

Economics was not as bad as she had feared, but twice Mr. Woods had called on her to answer two tough questions when no one had raised their hand. Irina never raised her hand except to ask clarification of some point. She dreaded being asked to furnish an answer because she knew that she would be ridiculed in some way for knowing the answer and daring to show anyone that she did.

The first time it happened, Sharon, one of the Clique muttered something and students near her tittered in laughter as Irina blushed. Just as she had thought she would get out of that class with just that one barb she was again asked by Mr. Woods to answer a question. She did so and he said "it seems that there is at least one person in here today who read last week's assignment. Very good, Irina." He reached and pulled the retractable screen so that it returned to its housing near the top of the blackboard, revealing tomorrow's assignment. "This is what we'll cover tomorrow and yes, there'll be a quiz."

About then Sharon muttered something and again some of the guys near her laughed, causing Mr. Woods to stop what he was doing and say "Sharon that's the second time this period that you've interrupted class. Would you mind standing up please and sharing what is so funny with me?

Now the unintended focus of the entire class, Sharon blushed and said "Ummm....I have nothing to share, Mr. Woods."

"I see. Then do you not have an apology to make to the class, Sharon?"

"What! Apologize? I...ummm...I am sorry Mr. Woods." she said as she blushed and sat down. There were scattered laughs throughout the classroom then, as she blushed and riveted her focus on the top of her desk. The moment hung there, seemingly prolonged by the silence until finally, the bell rang and everyone busied themselves to go to the cafeteria.

As Irina made ready to leave, she glanced out the window and saw to her dismay that it was raining steadily. Sighing deeply she made her way through the hallway to her locker, knowing that she would be eating inside today. As she made her way to the cafeteria, Irina wondered if Sharon would somehow blame her for her own blunder.

Entering the noisy cafeteria, she glanced anxiously about, not wanting to sit anywhere uninvited. She had decided that if Zoe was not there, she would report to study hall and skip lunch rather than sit alone or dare to sit at a table with any of the students who lived in the Bellevue School District. What she didn't know was that they weren't all as bad as the girls in the Clique, but they were afraid to become targets themselves for seeming to be friendly with anyone that the Clique had targeted. As for herself, she avoided everyone except Zoe and had long since been branded as a homely, awkward, and curious but bright loner, who was just naturally antisocial. In fact she was an introvert, but not an antisocial one.

About to turn and leave, she heard her name called and saw Zoe stand up and wave with a big smile. She was standing near an empty table in the furthest corner of the cafeteria so Irina made her way over and sat down, placing her lunch bag on the table across from Zoe's tray.

"How's your day so far?" asked Zoe as she took a bite of macaroni and cheese.

Shrugging Irina replied "It was good until Economics. Now I think the rest of the day will be bad."

"Oh? What happened?"

Irina gave her friend a summary of the events in the preceding hour as Zoe sighed and shook her head saying "Maybe she was embarrassed enough to want to forget it." Then giggling she said "I wish I'd seen that!"

Irina took a bite of her boiled egg and a swig of bottled water as she shook her head. "I saw how she looked at me as we were going out the door. She blames me for her own stupidity."

"That witch! Just once I would like to see something backfire on that whole bunch, and their boyfriends too!"

Irina had decided to change the subject when she heard some chairs being dragged back and noticed that Zoe had frozen; staring over her shoulder like a deer caught staring into the headlights of an approaching car. Turning to follow Zoe's gaze, she saw three of the Clique and their boyfriends dragging chairs up to their table. Students at the nearest table got up and gave them their chairs, walking away.

"Well four-eyes, are you enjoying your lunch today?" said Sharon as the others stared daggers at Irina. She turned to face Zoe again and said nothing, calmly taking another bite from her boiled egg and a drink of water. By now the area near their table was hushed as everyone strained to hear what was taking place before their eyes.

"S'matter, cat got your tongue?" sneered another as Zoe froze in place, staring in silence at them while Irina ignored them, taking a bite of a carrot and another swig of water. Inside she was burning with anger that they were including her only friend in their hatred of her.

"Zoe, it smells bad in here. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that there was a herd of swine at the other end of our table." said Irina as Zoe blanched in abject fear, swallowing and staring in horror at her friend for daring to say such a thing.

At the next table someone said "Ooooooo!" and some laughter started and then was choked off as Billy Basher, the captain of the football team stood up angrily.

With a flaming red face he looked angrily at the occupants of the nearby tables shouting "What's so damned funny?"

The silence that followed by now had spread to three or four tables besides the nearest one as a couple of students stood up to see what was happening at their end of the cafeteria. Irina continued to eat her lunch in silence and to swig her water, but only was barely able to control the tremor in her hands. To all outward appearance though, she was calmly eating her lunch while the Clique members were becoming agitated. Zoe still sat riveted in place, pale as death itself, saying nothing as Irina ate her lunch.

"That's right, four-eyes. Keep munching on that carrot." Raising her voice then to include all who were nearby Sharon said "I hear that you're the only person in King County who can eat corn on the cob through a picket fence, horse-mouth."

Basher barked a laugh and the Clique all joined in laughing, along with several students at the nearer tables.

Irina continued to eat and taking a swig of water she controlled her rage with a great effort and said "Sharon, maybe if you pulled your head out of your butt once in a while you would hear something besides your pea brain rattling around in your empty skull."

A collective "Ooooooooo!" came from the nearby tables, sprinkled with lots of laughter as Sharon and Billy both blushed, their mouths agape. Tommy Bragg, alternate captain of the basketball team laughed and then choked it off as both Billy and Sharon directed angry looks at him.

Irina resumed eating as Zoe finally loosened up and began to laugh with the others at the nearby table.

Sharon stormed around the table to lean down next to Irina and said in a low voice through clenched teeth "You're going to pay for that you bucktoothed bitch!"

Irina took her napkin and daintily dabbed her mouth and took a swig of water as once again a hush fell on that part of the cafeteria. Other onlookers had come nearer now to see the show. Irina put the cap back on her water and turning to Sharon she said sweetly "Your mouthwash really isn't working today, butt-breath."

There was a collective "Ooooooo!" from everyone then and raucous laughter erupted at all of the nearby tables as everyone was absolutely thrilled to see Sharon coming off second best in this confrontation. Everyone who was present had had her barbed remarks sent their way more than once over the years, and they were relishing every minute of this scene. Little Zoe laughed while putting her hands over her mouth, afraid and at the same time delighted in this unexpected turn of events. Never had she heard so much as a crude word pass Irina's lips in over three years that they had been friends, and although she was shocked she was also delighted.

Billy took up his tray and sauntered down to their end of the table followed by the others and walked around behind Zoe. Suddenly he said "Oops!" and dumped his lunch of hot spaghetti on Zoe's head. Irina gasped and stood, taking her water bottle and a handful of paper napkins and began to clean the mess off of Zoe, who had gasped at first, and then had begun to cry as she saw that her white angora sweater was likely to be ruined by the spaghetti sauce.

Billy guffawed and doubled over, dropping his tray on the floor where the rest of his lunch spilled, including a pint of milk, some beets and some apple sauce. As he raised his head still bent forward laughing, Irina drove her fist straight into his face and he sprawled back on his butt, a trickle of blood starting to run from his nose.

Sharon screamed "Bitch!" at the top of her lungs and stepping forward to hit Irina, she stepped in the food that Billy had spilled and fell heavily to the tiled floor, accompanied by an audible cracking sound. Shrieking at the top of her lungs she screamed "My wrist! My wrist! Oh God it's broke! This bitch broke my wrist!" Adding to her humiliation was that her plate of spaghetti and apple sauce landed squarely in her face, covering her completely from the neck up.

She lay alternately screaming and cursing, using every foul word she had ever heard as Billy started to get up, his nose bleeding. One of the Clique members leaned down and took the now empty tray from Sharon's chest and laid it on the table as another knelt beside her.

Billy came toward the table then with hate in his eyes saying "You buck-toothed bitch. Have a taste of this" as he drew back to punch Irina. Seeing him coming Irina had already snatched the tray off of the table and stepping forward she swung it into Billy's face as hard as she could, smashing his nose as once again he was knocked on his butt, blinded with pain, this time with his nose broken.

By then everyone in the cafeteria had gathered around and had seen the whole thing and a collective "OOOH!" was heard as Billy once again hit the floor, blood streaming down his face and staining his yellow Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. He began to struggle to get up again as he screamed a string of vile curses directed at her.

Irina's Trig teacher Mr. MacAlvaney had arrived by now and had pulled his cell phone from his pocket and had dialed 911 to summon an ambulance, even while putting his hand on Billy's chest to restrain him. After ascertaining that Zoe wasn't hurt he turned to Irina and said in a low voice "Take your things and report to the principal's office."

The color drained from Irina's face as she walked empty-handed from the cafeteria, stared at in total silence by everyone present as she exited the room. What she didn't realize at that moment was that the silence was due to the awe in which so many held her because of what they had seen. She made her way to the principal's office in a daze, still not believing what had happened.

As she sat in a chair in the outer office still in shock, she took stock of her situation and began to feel uneasy at first. This deepened into the beginnings of despair as she recalled some of the terms of her enrollment in the special Foundation grant. What have you done to yourself, Irina? Couldn't you have held your temper for a few minutes longer until they had gotten bored and walked away as always?

# Chapter 5

Having departed from Trieste in two leased vans some six hours earlier, the group rendezvoused with another group of vampires near the eastern banks of the Adige River. As those two vans approached, they dimmed their lights three times, thus identifying themselves. Ian dimmed his lights once in the pre-arranged response and exited his van to walk toward theirs.

As the others got out, he went to several and extended his hand and exchanged embraces, as did most of the rest of his party. Then introductions were made on both sides as new members were introduced to long-standing ones. After all of the socializing was done, the groups split off and all donned their black fighting suits and web harnesses

The newcomers unloaded all of the weaponry, being some two dozen H&K MP-5 Ingram submachine guns and four dozen Glock .40 caliber pistols with fully-loaded spare magazines for all and twin adjustable shoulder- holster harnesses. Every gun was fitted with a custom-made suppressor. Two grenade launchers with a box of grenades as well as two rocket-propelled grenade launchers with a box containing twelve RPGs were unloaded with an inflatable boat and two dozen pairs of oversized custom swim fins.

The weapons were all then put into two dozen special wet-purpose carry cases, designed and used by Russian Spetznaz Special Forces just for keeping firearms and ammunition dry. Special oversized wet-purpose cases were used to keep the grenade launchers and RPG launchers dry and all of that was placed in the rubber boat. A waterproof package of incendiaries was tossed in afterward.

Two dozen short swords and sheaths were distributed as well, and these were strapped on between the shoulder blades of each vampire and each adjusted their web harnesses to get their swords to hang exactly as each one liked.

That they had done this sort of thing before couldn't be doubted, had anyone seen how rapidly this was done, and nearly in complete silence.

The vans were disabled and concealed, with camouflage netting put over all four of them in the event that the group was delayed in their return. The entire group then approached the shore of the river and after donning U S Navy Seals swim fins they entered the inky waters, moving out rapidly into the current. Behind each vampire was a frothy stream as they moved across the river as fast as if they had each been in a powerboat. Four of them towed the rubber boat which held most of the firearms as only a few elected to swim with them.

On the far side they silently concealed the boat and all of the swim fins and shortly had divided the load among themselves and had moved out to the west. Rocketing through the dark countryside the vampires moved as a unit toward their goal.

# Chapter 6

Irina sat silently in the Toyota as it splashed along the streets moving toward the Delridge area. Her counselor, Susan Ellmore had volunteered to drive her home, knowing that Irina's mother didn't own a car. She had been understanding and kind toward Irina and had gently inquired of her regarding the events that happened in the cafeteria that day. Irina truthfully told her everything that had happened, even down to the exact words spoken by both sides. Susan nodded sympathetically and finally Irina fell silent, having finished her account.

"I believe you, Irina. I've seen how that group behaves, but I won't try to deceive you about this. Make no mistake, those two will get their parents riled up, and there is going to be a big stink over this affair before it's all said and done. Not only that, but the others will by now be putting their heads together to support the two and they'll get their parents riled up too."

"What can I do Mrs. Ellmore?"

She flicked on her turn signal at a traffic light and turned to Irina and sighed deeply, her concern etched on her face as she shook her head in sorrow. "Irina, you're a bright and gifted girl, almost a woman now. I think in view of what you're up against, your best bet would be to finish the year at Delridge. At least there, you'd be away from the harassment that surely will come your way now."

"But Mrs. Ellmore, I'm to be expelled. I just can't walk into another school and expect to be taken in."

"About that, I assure you that I'll appear in your behalf at Delridge and do my best to get them to lift the expulsion and enroll you there to finish your senior year. With your grades and exemplary record up to now, you should be reinstated. I won't lie to you and say that I could do that in Bellevue though."

Nodding her head in understanding, Irina said in a hushed voice "Thank you for your honesty, Mrs. Ellmore. It... it just doesn't seem fair that people like that can ruin someone's life and walk away from it."

"Irina, it's not about what's fair. Life itself isn't fair and this incident is proof enough of that. In this case it's about perception; and the perception that will be created is that you were the cause of the whole thing. I'm going to be busy making sure that lie will not gain any credibility, starting tomorrow."

The reality of her situation settled over her like a leaden weight. Her scholarship was surely as good as gone once Billy and Sharon's parents gathered their influential friends together and closed ranks against the school district and against the Elsie Foundation. As the reality of her lifelong dream being forever lost settled over her, she hung her head and began to weep.

Susan flicked on the turn signal and pulled her car into the parking lot of a convenience store and set the parking brake. Turning to Irina she unbuckled her seat belt and reached across and unbuckled Irina's seatbelt gathering her into her arms. Irina wept in near silence as Susan held her for several minutes. "There, there, Irina. It will be all right eventually. This will sort itself out. I will see if I can intervene on your behalf with the Elsie Foundation. Surely they can't overlook your stellar record up to now. That has to count for something. I'll be on that tomorrow as well, trust me. They're going to hear your side of this thing from me as well as from you, dear. Come now; buckle up and let's get you home safely."

In less than ten more minutes, Irina stood in the rain abjectly, looking at Susan Ellmore as she backed out of the driveway of their fourplex.

For her part, Susan gave one last look at Irina standing there and began to weep herself as she drove away. God what a bad break for that poor child! What can I really do for her considering the reality of this thing? I couldn't bear to bring up the subject of a punitive damages lawsuit, but I wouldn't doubt that there are two high-powered attorneys even now who are drafting a strategy to punish this girl as well as the Bellevue School District.

She wiped away her tears as she drove back toward Bellevue in a despondent mood.

Irina watched until Mrs. Ellmore's Toyota was out of her sight and even then she didn't move, but stood rooted to that spot, her tears mingling unseen with the rain that now fell in a torrent, washing over her downcast features. A train rumbled along not too far away as a ferryboat sounded its' horn out on Puget Sound. The drumming rain drowned out the sounds of a girl weeping.

# Chapter 7

Having reached the area of the sumptuous villa around a quarter hour ago, the vampires had gathered around Ian to clarify the plan. He had unrolled the floor plan that the European vampires had provided and placed it on the ground in the darkness. No light was needed for the vampires to see the details as he began to point out where each group would enter and how they would proceed through the place.

Having given his assessment and plan for the assault, he looked up and said "Any questions?"

"What about humans?"

"If we encounter any, they should be given to Melissa and Marlene who can escort them away from here." Melissa was an American Vampire and along with her husband James both were known to Ian now for over 220 years. Marlene was a German vampire who he had never met before tonight. The two were the weakest of this group in fighting skills, so they were the designated escort to get any humans safely out of the kill zone.

"Is there any chance they're all here tonight?"

"No. We'll try to kill every vampire in the place though and burn it to the ground when we leave."

"If we don't get them all, what good will this do?" asked a young Austrian.

"This tells them that a superior force knows what they're doing and doesn't approve. It will demoralize them and maybe even disperse them for a while. We won't be ending the misdeeds of the Verrazanos tonight though."

" Any chance they can discover who we are?"

"I don't see how. We took precautions coming here in a very roundabout way and will return home the same way."

"So did we."

"Then we're ready. Once again, you seven women stay together as a group, understood? And remember you newcomers; only head shots. Nothing else works on a vampire. Don't allow them to accumulate before beheading them though, or they'll recover and we'll be fighting them again. Shoot a few, and then behead them. Toward the end of it, we may get lucky and take one or two alive for questioning."

The women nodded, looking at each other. Everyone there but Marlene knew Ian well and respected his abilities regarding assaults of this type. He walked to some of the more recent additions then, looking at their weapons and harnesses and especially inspecting the way they each had their short swords hung.

"Take this now and put a few drops on your suit, especially around your hood."

"What is it?" asked Marlene.

"Garlic oil. It will mask our scent should there be a survivor. Everyone set your watches now on my mark. It is ten thirty five in ten seconds... three, two, one, mark!

"Once again, we try for a silent entry and if that fails we split into six teams and go in exactly at ten forty-five through the six windows. Questions?"

"Dogs?"

"No. Correct, Deiter?" The Austrian had reconnoitered the place the evening before.

"No dogs, Ian."

All were silent. Ian stepped up to each one and shook their hand, embracing each of the women who he knew briefly. "Hoods on, everyone. Here we go!"

They rocketed to the house 1/8 mile away in around thirty seconds and silently stole around it on two sides, seeking entry first at the dormers. None were unlocked so Ian pressed his elbow against the windowpane of one and it cracked quietly. He hooted like an owl then and raised the window. Beckoning to the others, he seemed to melt into the structure.

Silently he glided to the door to the room and slowly opened it, peeking out into the darkened corridor. The strains of Pavarotti's magnificent singing resounded through the house, but it was faint enough that it sounded as if it was coming from the basement.

Ian gestured to twelve of them to go one way along the corridor while he and the other eleven went another. In some three minutes they had returned to their starting place.

"All rooms clear up here?"

"Yes."

"I think they're in the basement, Deiter. Why don't you take someone and block that exit out back, the patio door. If none make it through after we start shooting, then you two can enter that way and join us."

"I like that. We'll come in from the opposite direction as you."

"You know, on second thought. Why don't we have say eight of us go in that way? That leaves sixteen of us coming down the stairs."

All agreed then as Ian whispered one last remark "Now that we're coming in from two directions let's not shoot each other tonight! Let's try to herd them to one side or the other." Several chuckled quietly as Deiter and seven others departed, leaping down from the roof and flitting to the back of the villa to station themselves at the patio door which was an entrance for the basement.

Ian and the others glided in silently, black gauze hoods in place, securely fastened to their black BDU's. Reaching the staircase they followed the balustrade around and looked down into the cavernous foyer below, seeing no one. Ian hopped up on the balustrade and after tightly cinching his Ingram to his chest and double checking both pistols, he quickly did a handstand and descended the staircase hand over hand on the handrail itself. The others covered him with their Ingrams as he silently descended. This way there was little chance of a squeaky step betraying their presence.

In some twenty seconds all eighteen of the vampires had silently descended to the foyer walking hand over hand on the handrail, and began to follow Ian as he gestured them to take various rooms in groups of four to clear. They flitted away like windblown smoke, weapons at the ready as they investigated all eighteen rooms on the main floor.

In only a half-minute, they had all come back to whisper that the rooms were all clear. Whoever was celebrating was doing so in the basement and they loved Italian opera music.

Ian glided silently to the door, and gestured to his Ingram, whispering "Safeties off now, pistols too." Everyone nodded and drew their pistols and unlocked the safety. Most patted their thighs checking to see that their combat knives were there as they silently filed through the door behind Ian. The opera music filled the air and was a perfect cover to mask any sound they might make while descending.

# Chapter 8

Irina sat with Pepper, petting him absent-mindedly as she thought through the disastrous events of the worst day in her life since her dad had died. She had inserted a cloned disc of music by Enya for its soothing effect and had already picked up the house. Although her heart wasn't in it, she did it merely to keep her thoughts focused anywhere except on the depressing reality of her life. Her mother had been passed out in her room when Irina had arrived home that afternoon and was still sleeping it off.

The telephone rang, jarring her out of her reverie. Startled at first she then recalled that she had hidden some of her mom's money away for a while and had gone downtown to pay the past-due phone bill to get their service restored.

"Hello."

The relieved voice of Zoe spoke to her then "Oh, Irina! This is Zoe. Are you ok?"

"Um...yeah."

"I was with my folks this evening and couldn't call before now. Today was just terrible. I'm so sorry for what happened to you."

"What's done is done, Zoe."

"I know that you'd never have done that but for me, Irina. I wish there was some way I could make it up to you."

"I should've kept my mouth shut."

"I've never seen them hate anyone as much as they hate you, Irina. They just take cheap shots at most of us and I guess they get their jollies when we break down and cry or rant at them. They've never been able to get a rise from you before today. Maybe that's why they hate you so. You always just ignore them."

"I guess I should've done that today too."

"No one's ever done them that way before, I mean, you know verbally putting them down and all and actually getting others to laugh at them."

"So who's laughing now?"

"Oh, Irina! I'm so mad I could bite nails in two! Oh! Oh! Before I forget, Bessie Meyers told me that she saw the cops talking to Billy's dad this evening."

About then, Irina became aware of a flashing red and blue strobe light outside of the front window. She crossed to the window and looking down she saw a squad car with two uniformed SPD officers getting out and scanning the doors as they looked at a document one was carrying.

"Gotta go, Zoe. Take care now." she said as she terminated the conversation. Running to the kitchen she opened the back door and whistled to Pepper who scampered out. Shutting him out, she quickly ransacked the fridge and gathered up her cache of boiled eggs, a half-loaf of bread and a slab of baloney. Dumping it all into a large mixing bowl she hurriedly sat it on the back stoop for Pepper. In seconds she had retrieved his bed and had set it outside too.

Even as the knock sounded on the door she thought at least Pepper will have food for a while and a place to curl up. Sure as hell is hot, mom would never even think to feed him or let him out. Who knows how long the cops will hold me?

Answering the door, she saw two uniformed police officers and said sweetly "May I help you?"

"Are you Irina Connors?" said one who was so husky that he appeared to not even have a neck, his head merely growing out of his massive shoulders.

"Yes."

Officer No-neck said "Miss Connors, you're under arrest for felony assault. Please turn around and place your hands behind you."

She complied, saying nothing as they slipped the nylon zip-ties into place.

"Are your parents at home?"

"My mother's asleep in her room."

"Take us to her, please"

She led them down the short hallway to her mother's room, standing aside as No-neck knocked repeatedly. Finally he opened the door and they were all treated to the sight of Irina's mother sprawled on her back snoring like a hibernating bear. Irina silently thanked God that she had pulled her mom's housecoat closed and tied it securely before dumping her in her bed earlier.

Some thirty minutes later, they departed with Irina restrained and in the back seat of the squad car. The two police officers had finally roused her mom from her drunken stupor and had gotten her to verbally repeat that her daughter was under arrest and would be held at the Juvenile Service Center. Within some fifteen minutes they arrived at King County Juvenile Detention Center and Irina was taken through the double doors to be processed. In some forty-five minutes she'd been fingerprinted and photographed and given a white jump suit and rubber-bottomed canvas slippers, surrendering her clothing even including her shoes.

As her cell door slammed shut, Irina involuntarily flinched, thinking I've gone from a girl blessed with the promise of a scholarship and with a promising future to an accused felon in one day.

She dreaded what would come tomorrow as she sat alone with her thoughts. Why couldn't I have just kept quiet one more time she thought? No one could see her now so she let her tears come, weeping silently in bitter despair over her fate.

# Chapter 9

As they descended the stairs to the cavernous basement, Ian began to smell the unmistakable scent of blood. They were fortunate enough that all sixteen of them were able to get to the landing and assemble there, being that the activities were around a corner from the stairs. The sounds of Pavarotti's rendition of Rigoletto's 'LaDonna E Mobile' filled the air as Ian turned to the seven women and whispered "Try to hold the stairs and kill any who get past us." Turning then he settled into a battle crouch and rounded the corner, his Ingram raised and seeking a target, the other eight males behind him.

A bizarre and macabre sight greeted them as they beheld what looked like two dozen vampires gathered in four different groups. One group that was nearest caught their attention right away, being as there were four bound humans hanging by their feet with buckets beneath them to catch their blood. There was a man, a woman and two little girls, each gagged and having their throats slit in such a way as to allow both gravity and their own hearts to pump out their life's blood to the buckets beneath. Three were yet alive as Ian could plainly see by the way their eyes rolled wildly about. Although he had seen such sights often before, he felt his blood turn to ice even as he suddenly also felt a murderous resolve take hold of him.

One of those poor souls locked her terrified gaze on Ian as he neared the four. The two vampires kneeling to dip their cups into one of the buckets looked stupidly at Ian about the time he put two silenced rounds into each of their heads. 'Whup, whup, whup, whup.'

As they fell over they began to flail about, their arms and legs moving so rapidly that they were only a blur, a typical vampire reaction to a head shot.

Ian kept gliding forward in a battle crouch, leaving one of them in the ranks behind him to lop off the heads of the two. They still hadn't been seen yet but that changed as one female vampire who had been singing along with Pavarotti suddenly spotted the group of nine black clad figures with black hoods moving rapidly forward, guns at the ready. Her mouth froze in an 'O' as Ian drilled her between her eyes. He sought another target and drilled him even as the remaining females began to screech which set off the others who roared in surprise.

In vision-blurring chaotic motion the remaining twenty odd vampires flitted various directions, some drawing semi-automatic pistols while others were without weapons of any kind. A staccato bark of semiautomatic small arms fire erupted as the vampires shot back. Meanwhile Ian's group moved relentlessly forward. By now all were shooting at targets in single-shot mode and a rapid non-stop series of 'whup' sounds filled the air, mixing with the sharp unsuppressed pistol fire of the enemy's.

Seven of them had made for the patio door only to have both glass panels of those explode inward as eight more black-clad figures dove into the basement, rolling to their feet and seeking targets with their suppressed Ingrams. Ian took a round in the shoulder and kept boring in and firing, pulling his 30-round magazine free as it emptied and reversing it and slamming it home in the receiver being as the fresh clip was taped to the now-empty one with duct-tape. He flipped the selector to full automatic fire and began to take shots in bursts of three getting some of his fast moving targets in the head and some in the neck.

Behind him they had all fanned out to their right and were all seeking targets while at the same time reducing their chance of accidentally hitting their eight team members at the far end of the basement. At the far end, Deiter and the others moved forward and to the same side as Ian's group and further reduced the chance that any of either group would accidentally shoot the other.

As his last round was sent on its way, Ian discarded the Ingram in a flash and drew his sword, leaping into the midst of the wildly twitching flailing bodies. He began to methodically chop off the heads of those nearer to him and took yet another round in the chest this time, ignoring the burning pain even as the round half-spun him around.

The place was now a scene of incredible carnage and chaos as the fighting, heaving, hollering, screeching mass of vampires fought for their very lives. All combatants now had to deal with a growing number of body parts and numerous heads rolled around, being kicked hither and yon by the combatants. Their eyes rolled wildly as their mouths moved wordlessly, making the macabre scene surreal and indescribably gruesome.

A gaggle of five got past the nine of them somehow and made for the stairs around the corner. As they rounded the corner the women began to cut loose with their suppressed Ingrams. Multiple 'whup' sounds were heard mingled with roars and curses as the frustrated and terrified vampires finally realized that there was no escaping from this hell.

One of them tried to leap over the entire group of the seven women, but three of those were perched on the eighth step and they leveled their Ingrams and cut loose with a spray of non-stop full-automatic fire, each emptying their clips in seconds. The airborne vampire tumbled down into the midst of them, flailing wildly from six rounds lodged in his skull.

Melissa shouted "Cover me!" as she dropped her Ingram and began to behead the ones flailing about at the landing. Meanwhile the remaining women threw the one to the floor who had jumped over the first rank, and one of them followed up by lopping off his head. Melissa retrieved her Ingram and reversed the clip slamming the opposite end of the taped assembly and racking in the first round she settled grimly into the formation with the other women, waiting for new targets.

The battle had slacked off now and Ian was trying to take one of them alive as he bored in with a drawn sword. Switching his sword to his left hand in a vision-blurring move he lopped off the sword hand of the vampire even as he thought to defend himself. That one roared in rage as he charged Ian, hoping to bowl him over and somehow make it to the stairs.

Ian merely dropped back a step and taking his remaining hand he dropped and slammed his hip into the hip of the vampire throwing him over his head while holding on to his arm. Twisting the arm viciously he snapped it, prompting a scream of pain as he followed up by stomping viciously on that one's head, breaking his jaw and crushing his larynx.

It was over finally and two were taken alive. Ian shouted out in Spanish "Who's hurt?

Deiter replied using Spanish "Only flesh wounds here."

Both slugs in Ian's body had by now been pushed out and had long since fallen on the basement floor during the latter part of the fight. The entry wounds had already closed, leaving not a hint of a mark. He turned to the stairs and approached the women, saying "Any of you hurt over here?"

All shook their heads then, as Melissa said "Only two minor cuts here, already closing up."

Ian, Deiter, and two other males took the one handed vampire to another part of the basement while the remainder of the crew began the grisly job of cleaning up. The four humans had died, bleeding out during the battle.

Soon enough, two of the men found shovels in an outbuilding behind the villa and began to dig four graves for the humans.

# Chapter 10

"Irina Connors?"

Irina looked up to see a badly overweight female guard looking at her through the bars. She nodded her head and the guard then unlocked her cell, saying "You're going to be arraigned in Juvey court today, Irina."

She got up and followed the guard wordlessly and when the two of them got to a door, the guard took her arm and was joined by another guard who took her other arm as she was taken to a paddy wagon and locked in the back with eleven other teenagers.

No one spoke on the way to the courthouse, which was only a quarter mile away. They were marched inside and secured in an area in the courtroom with two deputies to stand guard over the twelve of them.

Irina paid little attention to the proceedings, but she did notice that most of the kids had lawyers present and all had one or more parents present. When she was called, she looked around the courtroom and didn't see her mother. Shrugging she thought what did I expect?

The judge looked at the paperwork and then looked up and frowned, saying "Miss Connors. Where is your mother?"

"I don't know, sir."

"I have no choice but to continue this case until tomorrow then. Defendant is remanded to custody of the King County Juvenile Detention Center." Before he could bang the gavel though, a female voice shouted "Your Honor! Wait please!"

The judge and Irina both looked toward the sound of that voice and there was Susan Ellmore coming down the aisle to pass through the gate to stand before the bench.

"And who might you be, please?"

"Susan Ellmore, your Honor. I'm a counselor at Bellevue High School where this incident took place and I know this student personally."

"And?"

"Sir, there is a lot more to this story than you know, and this young lady is a fine student who just happens to have a perfect 4.0 Grade Point Average as well as a perfect attendance record."

"I see. Unless you are a court-appointed guardian, you have no standing here, Mrs. Ellmore."

"True, sir. But I came to speak for her since her mother couldn't come. If bail for Irina is the thing that's needed for her to be freed today, I stand ready to post that. And I'll accept responsibility for getting her home and for getting her to appear in this court as well."

"Miss Connors is this woman your high school counselor?"

"Yes your honor."

"Mrs. Ellmore, have you any identification?"

"Yes your honor." She said as she stepped to the bench and handed her School ID and drivers' license to the judge.

"This is highly irregular, however I've yet to see an honor student with perfect attendance suddenly become a felon. There's always a pattern of trouble for years before a series of misdemeanors finally becomes a felony charge. Based on that, I'm inclined to agree with you. If bail of $2500 is posted, I see no reason to return Irina to detention."

"I can do that, your Honor."

"So ordered. You'll see that Irina appears here on..." and here he looked at his docket and flipped a page or two and then raised his eyes to meet hers "On next Tuesday, March 11 at 1 PM in this court."

She nodded and he banged the gavel down, saying "Bailiff, take Mrs. Ellmore and Miss Connors to post bail now. Court dismissed."

***

Later on in the car with Susan, Irina said "Mrs. Ellmore, I can't thank you enough. I was worried about my dog, and mom can hardly take care of herself either."

"Well, you're coming home with me to get a bath and a change of clothes and then I'll take you home." She thought what a remarkable young lady! Abandoned in jail and she worries about her mother and her dog!

***

That evening after a wonderful meal at Susan Ellmore's home and a chance to meet her husband William, she was now at home, waving goodbye to Susan as she drove away from the fourplex in Delridge.

The evening had been wonderful, with Susan giving her four outfits of clothing that fit her perfectly, which her neighbor had given her after her niece had died in a car accident. Susan had kept them for some six months wondering how to give them to Irina and not embarrass her. Included was a large bag of nice underclothes and various accessories that Irina could never hope to afford.

Pepper came running excitedly as she entered the front room. She sat petting him for a while as he whined excitedly, his tail a blur of motion. Looking about she saw that the place was messy as usual, so she set about picking it up. It was not as bad as usual this time, but not for lack of being messy. It was that however bad home was, it was better than being locked up at Juvey.

She turned on the TV, made some popcorn, and settled in to watch a Godzilla movie with Pepper curled up next to her on their battered sofa.

# Chapter 11

ARTCC handed them off to Rio di Janeiro approach and Ian changed channels as Dominique put on her headset.

He reflected once again on the mission, satisfied that everything had gone as well as could be expected. They hadn't lost one of theirs and had killed twenty three vampires of the Verrazano Coven and destroyed their house. The heads of all of the dead vampires had been taken and left to burn at sunrise on a remote rocky spur in the wilds east of the villa.

A few well-placed incendiaries and opening all of the doors and windows of the house had made it easy to torch the place. The vampire bodies had been left inside the basement after being doused with gasoline from the maintenance building. Questioning the two survivors had revealed that the coven was large indeed, still numbering just above one hundred and scattered about in Naples and Rome as well as other locales.

The one who lost his hand was allowed to live, having not seen a soul due to the hoods everyone wore. There was no danger that he could recall anyone's scent being as all suits had had a few drops of garlic oil put on them before they had gone in.

Ian had questioned him while still wearing his black gauze hood, but had only whispered while speaking in the Italian tongue. Finally he had told the vampire that he was allowed to live that the Verrazanos would know that the Supreme Council had sanctioned this attack, and that they wouldn't hesitate to strike again if the Verrazanos didn't cease killing and feeding on humans. He was assured that the next attack would bring two hundred of them and that there would be no further warnings given. The other prisoner had been beheaded after questioning so it was that Giuseppe Maranzano had been spared and released only after the house was set afire.

For his part, Ian was looking forward to getting back to Seattle. He thought they might go skiing for a few days and began to plan for that as they received instructions from Rio approach.

***

Deiter searched his belongings once more and muttered a curse, finally convinced that he had indeed lost his knife somewhere.

"What is it Deiter? You've been through that pack of yours three times now."

"I lost my knife."

"So?"

"It was a keepsake from when we all visited Ian in Seattle. I hate losing it because Ian gave it to me while we were there."

"Oh yes. That was great, I mean sailing with all of them and getting to do all of that diving."

Laughing then Deiter said "Remember how Ian was such a stickler that he insisted that he rent tanks too, even though we vampires don't need them."

"Oh yes! He's thorough about things like that. Ian's not one to leave one detail that could arouse curiosity later."

"I'll say. He even opened the valves later and let out most of the air before he returned them to make it even more convincing."

"Oh, right. I remember now. We all laughed about it."

"I suppose that's why he is such a good planner for our raids."

"Well he ought to be. He's been doing that for over two hundred years now. There's no one I would rather be with to take down a rogue coven."

"They're a good bunch. I wish that we had had more than a day to relax afterward. I may accept their invitation to visit them in Seattle someday."

# Chapter 12

"Hi Irina. Where have you been hiding? I haven't seen you for two years now."

"Hello Mr. Kohler. I've been in school."

"Hey, it's Ike to you, Irina. Someone told me that you'd qualified some way to attend school over at Bellevue."

She nodded glumly and Ike picked up on that real fast. He may have only been the owner of a second-hand store, but he was quick to pick up on signs and he quickly saw how depressed she was.

"Ike, I was wondering if I could go to work for you."

"You mean this coming summer?"

She shook her head "No, Ike. I've been expelled. I'm out on bail now but I have to appear at Juvey Court in six days."

Ike looked stunned so Irina explained what had happened. Shaking his head sadly he said "Irina, I never had a kid who worked for me who was close to being as good as you are. You can start tomorrow and I'm happy to have you."

Stepping close to him she hugged him and tearfully said "You're the best, Ike."

"Hey kiddo. No tears until after you see what I need done around here. Then you'll have a real reason to cry. OK?"

She wiped away the tears and laughed a bit, sniffling and nodding her head.

"Just promise me that you'll give me a heads up on the days that you can't make it."

"Thanks, Ike."

"Ah! Think nothing of it. Wait until I tell Glenda who's working for us again!" Stepping a bit closer he said "We are nearly always here, Irina. If you need just to talk to someone, our door is always open for you."

"Thanks Ike. See you tomorrow then?"

"Seven AM, kiddo."

"See you then, Ike. 'Bye."

As she departed, Ike thought what a sweet kid you are and what a lousy break! Never a better student, and Glenda and I would have loved to have had a daughter like you. Why does such a good kid like you have to have a no good drunk for a mother?

***

The six days went by quickly and Irina had recovered somewhat from her depression. Working daily with Ike and Glenda had a bit of a healing effect too. Every day they invited her to eat lunch with them and every day it was something really good. Glenda loved having her around and she doted on her, really. Irina had jokingly said that she was going to get fat if she kept working for them and she did consciously begin to eat smaller portions and only small portions of the delicious desserts that Glenda made.

Today she was in court and sitting with Susan Ellmore when they both were surprised. The prosecution stood and immediately asked for a continuance which Irina's court-appointed counsel agreed to, hurrying off without even an explanation or even offering a guess as to why that was. So the case was put off until two weeks, being scheduled to begin the latter part of March. Irina sighed, realizing that the worst part of her ordeal still might lie ahead of her.

Susan took her to lunch and then took her home. Her days then became a routine of working at Ike's Tradin' Post every day and soon enough, Irina was glad she had thought to get employment there. At least she did not dread starting her day and she was making a difference in the way the place looked too, eliminating years of clutter and pointing out items that Ike needed to move out even if they needed to nearly be given away.

Ike and Glenda were pleased to have her there with them every day and they told her so on more than one occasion. Her mood gradually improved as the days went by. She thought of calling Zoe, but would always be so busy all day at Ike's and then in the evenings she would have to clean up her mother's clutter and see to it that she at least passed out in her bed and didn't hurt herself. Her mom barely recalled that Irina had been expelled and that she still was bound over to appear in court to face serious charges. Her self-induced alcoholic stupor served to get her through her days. As long as she could get her gin, her food stamps, her housing allowance from the state, and her dead husband's social security as well as a share allotted for Irina, she was content to muddle along, oblivious to her daughters acute pain and sorrow.

Irina began to get an idea that maybe she could work more hours after she was eighteen and then she could save for an old car. It was not nearly as lofty a goal as what she had less than a month ago, but she was becoming resigned to her station in life, figuring that the odds had always been against her anyway. She had given it her very best for all of her years in school with perfect grades and yet here she was anyway. She could do jail time yet, and of that she was certain, given the political and economic clout of the Billy and Sharon's parents. In her mind she was living proof that all of your best intentions and hard work didn't mean squat if bad luck was your lot in life.

# Chapter 13

The tall dark muscular man walked through the ruins of the grand villa east of Verona. Accompanying him was another man of average height with his right hand missing. The tall man listened intently to every detail of the other man's accounting of the night the villa had been attacked and burnt.

It was nearly twilight, but the vampires needed no more light to see everything in clear detail. They had descended into the yawning cavity that had been the basement simply by bounding down into it. Scattered here and there were charred chunks of the house's frame and there were conspicuous piles of fine ash here and there that the two knew were the remains of vampires, incinerated by sunlight even more thoroughly than they could ever be burnt in a house fire.

As they walked the tall man asked again about the fighting style of the invaders.

"It was like nothing you can imagine. They were on us like a whirlwind and every single one of them was armed to the teeth. They had tactical automatic assault weapons of some sort, and each wore two semiautomatic pistols in dual shoulder holsters."

"Any other weapons?"

"Each carried a short sword slung between their shoulder blades. I tell you, Enzo; these vampires were trained extremely well and fought as a unit. You would have to have seen it to believe it! My God, we wouldn't have had a chance against them even had we been armed and ready, they were that good! The rumors of a Supreme Council strike force are true! This bunch proved that."

"And you couldn't identify even one of them if you ever saw him again?"

"No. They wore black hoods with black battle fatigues. They even wore black gloves so I suppose that even their racial makeup would be a guess."

"Did you catch the scent of any one of them? Think hard now."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, but they all smelled like garlic."

"Mmmm. Garlic. What language did they speak?"

"Spanish and Italian."

"I see...say, what have we here?" he said as he stooped and brushed vampire ashes from a short sword. Under it, but protruding slightly was a shiny knife blade. Picking it up, Enzo looked at it carefully, handing it to Giuseppe who looked at it owlishly.

Although melted partially, the downward facing part of the composite handle was well preserved and clearly visible on the handle of the eight inch diver's knife were the words 'Duffy's Scuba Gear-Seattle, WA'.

Enzo looked at Giuseppe and said "I may be taking a trip to America soon. I might be taking some scuba diving lessons." His eyes began to glow a bright amber then as he thought about who he might find somewhere in Seattle. By God I will find you and repay you for this night's work!

***

The two weeks passed quickly and once again, Irina was at Juvenile Court to get a date set for a hearing and once again, the state prosecutor mysteriously asked for a continuance and once again the judge rubber-stamped it. This time it was for a month, and as usual, her court-appointed attorney only buttoned his coat, briefly stood and agreed to the continuance, not even moving for dismissal on her behalf. He then scurried out as the gavel fell, deliberately and rudely refusing to even answer a question when Irina asked him why this was happening.

For her part, Susan Ellmore had shown up in support of Irina again, and again Irina's mother was absent. Susan was now highly suspicious of the whole proceeding. She smelled a rat and suspected that the odds were being rigged against Irina somehow by the parents of Billy and Sharon, and she suspected that their public defender was in on it too.

Again she took Irina out to eat and the two even went to a mall where Susan insisted on buying her a new pair of shoes. Irina was overcome with the kindness being shown her by her school counselor, whereas Susan was only trying to right some of the mountain of wrongs that had been piled on top of Irina by a corruptible system. She invited her to dinner at her house three days later when her husband would be home and Irina happily accepted.

Irina returned to her new routine of working at Ike's and was gradually feeling better about things in spite of her keen disappointment over her loss of a chance at a scholarship. She had to admit that things could be worse. What if she didn't have the job she now had and the warm companionship of a loving and kind couple in her life at this time? And what if Susan Ellmore hadn't been so kind and gone out of her way for her time and time again?

She had gotten to where she would come over to Ike and Glenda's again in the evenings sometimes if the couple had rented a movie. At those times she would be invited to dinner and Glenda would pick her up and the two of them would go pick out a movie to rent and she was always given a ride back home when the evening had ended. She had asked and been assured that her dog Pepper was always welcome to come along too. Her life at this time became a comfortable and pleasant routine.

***

On another drizzly day at Seattle's Sea-Tac international airport another private Lear Jet descended from the solid overcast sky and landed, taxiing to an area reserved for VIP's. It was not anything out of the ordinary for Seattle at all, being that it was nearly an everyday occurrence for some corporate bigwigs to arrive or depart via a private jet.

An exotic foursome proceeded through the plush accommodations reserved for VIP's with no trouble whatsoever and they were soon in a leased limousine heading for the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the Bellevue area.

After extravagantly tipping the bellman, the four settled into two magnificent adjoining suites featuring a stunning view of Seattle's nighttime skyline. Soon room service had delivered a bottle of the hotel's finest champagne, and the foursome stood together taking in the magnificent view.

"Does anyone want to hunt tonight?" said Karla as she handed Enzo a glass of Champagne.

"We'd best get on our laptops soon and find a suitable place to imprint our new recruits." Enzo replied as he took a sip.

"How many will we recruit?"

"We will start small, say ten."

"We had best be looking at rural areas then so as to provide adequate wildlife."

"To hell with that! These vampires will be imprinted on human blood."

Karla sidled over to Enzo and stretched up to kiss him as she said "Oh Enzo! How naughty! I like it already."

Sipping his champagne, Enzo's eyes began to glow as he said "Soon enough, Seattle will be awash in a string of bizarre murders and whoever hates our doings enough to travel to Italy to kill us will intervene."

"Aha! When they do, we'll be watching to see who it is and where they live. You see, Sybella? Enzo always has a plan" said Mario as all of their eyes began to glow brightly then.

"That's right. These human-loving bastards are going to regret the day they ever came to Italy!"

# Chapter 14

Young homicide detective sergeant Clay Walker and his partner, veteran Hugh Wilkins had caught a bizarre case. The body of a homeless man was found on the south end of Harbor Island and they were even now enroute.

Approaching the scene the two routinely pulled on disposable latex gloves as they ducked under the garish yellow crime-scene tape, nodding to a uniformed officer as they passed by.

They looked at the man in disbelief, as Detective Wilkins said "I would have a hard time recalling when I've seen a corpse that pale."

"I was thinking the same thing, Wilks. Looks like a uni found a fresh print over here." he said as he pointed to the flag that a uniformed officer had dropped near a footprint near the edge of a mud puddle.

"Be sure to get the CSI's to make a cast of that" said Wilks as he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and selected number one on the memory screen.

There was a longish delay that told Wilks the call was being routed numerous times and then a silky voice answered, saying "Business Solutions, Margo here. How may I help you?"

"Hey Margo. Wilks here. I have one you need to know about."

"Hello Lieutenant Wilks. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"It has. This is definitely one you'll want to check out. It's identical to the one seven years ago near Union Bay."

"I remember that one. We'll get on it when we get your upload. How is Alice?"

"Cranky as hell. Menopause."

There was the musical sound of laughter at the other end of the line, then "Wilks, you still got it."

"Got what?"

"It. The ability to make me laugh. I haven't laughed this good in weeks."

"Sheesh Margo! You need to get out more."

"Don't I know it!"

"Anything you need on this, let me know."

"Right. Everything in your file will do, as usual. Anything else and we'll call. Who's your new partner?"

Thinking if you know that I have a new partner, you damned well know his name he said "Clay Walker. Jet job, but a good kid." The term 'jet job' referred to one who was viewed as being fast-tracked for bigger and better things in the jargon of municipal and county government employees.

"Take good care of him, Wilks. We're always scouting for fresh talent. Especially any as handsome as Sergeant Walker."

"Bye, Margo."

"Bye, Wilks."

As he folded the phone and stuck it in his jacket pocket Wilks thought I haven't had one of these in seven years, but they still keep up with my career enough to know that I got a new partner yesterday, and they know his rank and that he is a good-looking guy too. I wonder who these people really are. No matter. They pay me regularly and I have rarely been asked for anything other than information. My numbered bank account in the Nevis Islands is growing and what more do I need to know?

Every year he received a wedding anniversary bonus in the form of reservations and a free meal for two at some really nice restaurant and five days free lodging at a nice resort. His daughter always got a nice birthday present and recently got a really nice stereo when she had graduated. It came with prepaid installation just for her own personal car and was a high-end Alpine XM.

What he didn't know was that these 'people' were in fact vampires and that one of the many things they were involved with was Angel's Care Orphanage where he had been raised. He had been recruited by them just for what he was doing now, and although he didn't know it yet, he was picked to become Deputy Chief of Detectives in two more years, thanks to them.

Clay noticed that Wilks had used a phone that he had never seen before. Personal calls were allowed on the phones that the department issued to their officers, so this was a peculiarity that piqued Walker's curiosity. Still, he thought he knew the man well enough to know that he wasn't dirty or on the take. He filed it away as maybe a clandestine love affair; even though that did not fit with his assessment of his new partner either.

Speaking in a low voice he said "Wilks. That bite mark looks like it's human to me."

"Me too, kid. Keep that under your hat, ok?"

"Right." He thought I won't talk to anyone, but why did you just call someone using a personal cell phone as soon as you saw that bite mark?

***

"Hey, Shar. Why so glum?"

"I found out that four-eyed bitch has got herself a job, Billy."

"So? We got her expelled, didn't we? We got her good, Shar."

"Not good enough for me. I won't be able to play tennis for months, maybe not even for a year or two. Damn her to hell!"

"I have some good news on that score."

"What? Spill it now, Billy. Don't screw around with me. I'm not up for it today."

"Easy Shar. My dad's lawyer just told him that the last witness who was testifying for Irina has been persuaded to recant their deposition."

"What? Zoe Minkus? That little shit is backing down?"

Billy snickered as he said "It seems that her dad has recently lost a lot of customers. If things continue to get worse, he might have to close his dental practice. Seems some nasty rumors were beginning to spread about him and what he might do to women behind closed doors if they were under an aesthesia."

Laughing delightedly she scooted across the seat and threw both arms about his neck, saying "How delicious! Christmas has come really early for me this year!"

She kissed him passionately then and he began to be aroused as she said "Maybe we can get together next week alone somewhere."

"Oh, we might move that appointment up."

"Do tell. What? Spill it, Billy!"

Laughing he said "A little birdie told me that four-eyes was going to have her bail revoked tonight!"

Flashing a big smile and laughing delightedly Sharon said "Oooooh Billy! You surely know how to show a girl a good time! I feel better already!"

"Oh, it gets better!"

"What? Any better and my panties will catch fire! Why tonight? Why not today so we can watch?"

Laughing raucously now Billy said "I thought we could drive over to her place and see the show, and later on, we could go out on the back nine at the country club and celebrate, if you know what I mean."

"Mmmm, Billy. It's a date! And no doubt I'm sure to be in the mood!" As he laughed she thought who knows, maybe I'll even enjoy it for a change.

***

A silky voice answered the phone saying "Business Solutions, this is Margo. How may I help you?"

"Margo, this is Chief Medical Examiner for King County, Miles Bevins."

"Hello Miles. We haven't heard from you in seven years, Union Harbor I believe."

Laughing, Bevins said "I don't get to surprise you this time either, do I Margot?"

"Well Miles, that doesn't mean I don't want to hear from you. How is Roberta? I hear that she recovered well from that gall bladder surgery."

"She's well, thank you. I suppose that this is going to officially be logged in as another wild dog attack then?"

"That worked well last time so why change a winning strategy?"

Laughing he said "Why indeed, Margot. I take it that your people are on this then?"

"You take it correctly, Miles. We're on this like you can't believe and we're quite optimistic. By the way, I see where a certain investment account in Liechtenstein is doing a bang-up job and has earned a steady fourteen percent average over the past seven years."

Laughing again Bevins said "It has more than met my expectations, Margot."

"Good. We like it when our friends are happy. By the way, instead of redecorating your house when you take your summer vacation this year, you might enjoy a seven day all-expenses paid cruise to Alaska. The tickets should arrive within three days in your PO Box, and the departure times can be changed with only 48 hours' notice."

Shaking his head, Bevins said "I wanted to get out of that chore and now here you are like an angel, rescuing me from it. Thank you, Margot."

"Always a pleasure, Miles."

As he folded his special use only cell phone, he thought what don't they know about me? I didn't tell a soul at work about that damned remodeling idea of Roberta's. And look at how Margo had that information at her fingertips regarding the trust they set up for me over there.

He sighed and then laughed softly as he wrote up the official wild dog attack on the homeless man and sent it to closed cases. He made a mental note to purge the file of photographs. His last thought was I would be willing to bet that the Chief of Detectives is about to close his file on this case too. I wonder who Margo and her people really are.

What he couldn't know was the fact that local newspapers and TV broadcasting stations were being manipulated in a similar fashion as key people in those institutions were being contacted as well.

# Chapter 15

The telephone rang six times before Irina could answer it.

"Hello."

"Rini. It's Zoe."

"Hey Zo! What's new?"

"I...I'm sorry for not calling earlier. My folks said I couldn't talk to you anymore."

Irina sat in silence thinking just when I was starting to feel a bit better about this whole rotten affair, now I lose my only school friend.

"Irina?"

"Umm, yeah. Sorry...just kind of lost it for a second. It isn't every day I lose my only friend." It fell silent then and in only seconds she began to hear the sound of weeping.

"Zo? Zo? Come on, Zoe! You don't get to do this. You don't get to tell me I've lost my only friend the same month that I've lost my only dream and my only chance in this life and then get to cry. If anyone gets to cry it's me!"

"I...I...I'm sorry, Rini! Truly I am. I...I'm hurting too." she said as she continued to weep. She spoke again saying "Irina, daddy wanted me to testify for you, but suddenly he began to lose a lot of customers and recently an ugly rumor began to spread that daddy did revolting things to women when they were under anesthesia in his office."

"My God, Zoe! That... that's despicable even for the Clique and for their parents to do!" Zoe kept weeping while Irina sat there, stunned to hear of the lengths they would go to hurt her.

Finally she said "Zo, I'm sorry. I had no right to say that. Now please stop crying. If you don't, I'll start blubbering too and Pepper will come over here and kiss me to death!"

At that she heard Zoe begin to laugh. "Oh my God, Rini! I needed that! How do you do that? Truly, how can you crack a joke at a time like this? I'm so envious! But that's not why I called. Rini, they're revoking your bail. They're coming to arrest you tonight!"

Irina felt the only too familiar depression come crashing down. She sat there, listening to the springtime rainfall outside of the window as Zoe began to call her name.

"Irina....Irina....are you still there, Rini?"

"Yes, yes. Zoe, I need a favor."

"What. What is it. I'll do it if I can."

"Take care of Pepper for me. Mom'll let him starve and mess in the apartment. Can you do that...Zo? Can you do that?"

"Yes. I will. I will come and get him somehow."

"Thanks. Look, I have to hang up. I need to call someone. Now don't you fail me. If you can't take Pepper say so now because I'll have to leave him outside if you can't come take him."

"No...no... I'll take him."

"By Zo." She hung up and sat a minute, beginning to weep then. Pepper quickly jumped onto the sofa and tried to kiss her. Daubing angrily at the tears she thought no time to be blubbering here. I need to call Ike and Glenda. I gave my word and I don't want them to find out why I'm not coming to work tomorrow from some gossip monger.

She petted Pepper for a bit, talking to him soothingly as he cocked his little head and whined softly, offering his paw which she took and shook, being as that was one of the tricks she had taught him. Heaving a deep sigh, she picked up the phone, only to realize that it was dead.

"Rats! Just when I needed it." she muttered, knowing that if she went through the mail over on the end table, there would be a termination of service notice from Pac Bell.

Sighing she got up, put on her old yellow rain slicker and eased out the door. Knocking on the doors of her neighbors, she soon discovered that none of the other three were home. As she made her way down the stairs and out the front door she thought well at least Ike's is only four blocks from here.

Then as she opened the door and stepped into the pouring rainfall she muttered "Karma sucks!"

***

'Walkin' On the Sun' by Smash Mouth was playing at near peak volume on the stereo in Billy Basher's red Camaro as he and Sharon drove along through the rainy Seattle night. They had just passed a business called 'Ike's Tradin' Post' when they saw a girl walking their way on the shoulder of the road, wearing a yellow raincoat. As they slowed and passed by, Sharon hollered "Billy! That was Four-Eyes Connors! She must be running away from home."

"What? Are you kidding? Who'd run away on a night like this?"

"Turn around, Billy! Hurry!"

"All right, Shar. Relax. Where can she go out here?"

"Hurry Billy!"

The red Camaro did a U-turn in the intersection and started back toward Ike's and quickly they looked across the road and there was a girl walking along in the rain, head down maybe a hundred yards from Ike's place.

"Hey Shar, watch this. I'm gonna give Four Eyes a shower!" he said as he gunned the throttle and crossed the center line so as to pass through a huge puddle in the road. As they neared the figure in the raincoat Sharon suddenly reached across and wrenched the steering wheel so that the car struck Irina, sending her flying as they sped by.

"Holy shit, Sharon! Why did you do that? My God, I may have killed her!"

"Serves the bitch right, Billy!" she said with an excited laugh as he hit the brakes and put on his flashers.

"Billy Basher! What do you think you're doing?"

"What am I doing? Are you nuts? I'm going to help her!"

"No you're not, Billy!"

"The hell I'm not!"

"Stop a minute here and think about this. You crossed the road and hit her. How can you expect anyone to believe that this was an accident what with that scene in the cafeteria and all?"

"What? No, Shar! That would be hit and run and that's a felony!"

"No one will believe us, Billy. We have to get out of here now before another car comes past. Now hurry and get us out of here! Billy! Get us out of here now!"

Stunned he looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, and then he gunned it and rocketed down the road to put as much distance between them and their crime as possible.

Before they got to the country club Sharon said "Billy. You have to do something about the car."

"What?"

"You have to hit a tree or something with this car."

"Why? My dad will have a fit!"

"Billy, there has to be a dent or something where you hit her. A wreck will cover that with worse damage. We can't take the chance."

"Oh shit, Shar!" Billy drove a couple of minutes muttering obscenities and then he pounded on the steering wheel in anger.

They found a likely place and Billy ran his Camaro off of the road at a speed of about 30 MPH and did some light damage to the left front fender.

He called his parents immediately and told them he had slid off of the road and they had their cover story in place. They called a wrecker in order to have documentation that he had damaged the car at that location. Billy even called the police and volunteered to take a sobriety test, as did Sharon. Neither had been drinking so Billy's dad was never the wiser and the two were confident that they had covered all of their bases.

# Chapter 16

"Yes sir. I'll bring it over right away" Wilks said as he hung up the phone. Clay Walker looked up at him as he said "Give me the file on the homeless guy."

Handing it across to his partner, Clay was surprised to see him get up and quickly take it in to Captain Giles and hand it to him. Wilks stood there a short while as Giles told him something and then nodded and came back to his desk.

""What was that about, Wilks?"

"The homeless guy was officially classified as a victim of a random wild dog attack. We're off of that case as of now."

Laughing, Clay said "I know I'm a rookie detective, but you're going to have to do better than that for a prank, Wilks."

Wilks leaned toward Clay with a serious expression and said "That came straight from the Chief of D's, Clay. That case is officially closed, and it will stay closed until hell freezes over."

Clay leaned back in his chair, eyebrows raised and eyes wide as Wilks busied himself on another file and picked up his phone to call ballistics.

***

Irina opened her eyes and blinked several times, looking owlishly about the hospital room. She heard a gasp and turned to see her mother leaning toward her, red-eyed from weeping. Zoe, Ike, and Glenda were there too, hovering nearby with concerned looks on their faces. Zoe was red-eyed from weeping too.

Irina croaked, trying to speak. Her mother picked up a plastic container of water with a straw and held it to her cracked lips so that she could drink. After draining the thing she lay back exhausted, saying "What happened?"

"Oh Rini, you were hit by a car two weeks ago." said her mother as she began to sob. Shaking her head she apologized, saying "I...I...I can't speak now." as she buried her face in her hands and began to weep uncontrollably.

Zoe began to cry again too as she tried to speak "Oh Rini, we've been so worried! My God I was... I was... was afraid you would never wake up!" She took Irina's hand and kissed it as she began to sob again.

Upon examining everyone more closely, Irina could indeed see the stress and concern on everyone's face. She craned her neck and saw that she was in a hip and leg cast.

"Ugh! What's all of that down there?"

Her mother took her hand and kissed it saying "You have a fractured hip and femur honey. They had to put on a cast after the surgery was completed."

"Surgery?"

"Yes. You were struck by a hit and run driver."

"I... I... remember... I was hit from the rear."

Her mother regained control of herself long enough to say "Yes sweetheart. You were, and I've been worried to death." Here she broke down and began to weep again.

"Oh. Where's Pepper?"

Glenda spoke then saying "We have him at home. We asked Zoe if we could keep him since we live so close to your place."

About then Susan Ellmore peeked in and said "Knock-knock."

Craning her neck to see around the others, Irina said "Mrs. Ellmore. Come on in here."

"You gave all of us quite a scare, Irina." she said with a warm smile, nodding hello to the others as she bent to kiss Irina on the forehead.

Irina began to weep then and everyone drew near with concerned looks on their faces as she daubed at her tears and sniffled, saying "I'm so sorry everyone, but I just realized that excepting for Pepper, everyone I love in this world is in this room with me. Thank God for all of you." she said as she began to weep tears of joy and thanksgiving. There was not a dry eye in the room at that moment.

After a bit, Susan said "I have some good news."

"I could use it, Mrs. Ellmore."

"Your bail has been reinstated. It seems that another judge revoked it and there is some mystery about that right now, being as she had nothing to do with this case."

My God but they want me badly! What will they not do just to hurt me even more?

***

The moonrise over Puget Sound was spectacular as the family quieted down when Ian stood up to speak. The sun had barely set at that moment and they were at anchor near Olympic Peninsula in Lady Vamp, a seventy two foot long yacht.

"The Verrazanos have tracked us down and they know that someone from this area was in our strike force."

"How is that possible?"

"Deiter responded to the email I sent to our friends in Europe. It seems he lost a knife that I gave him when he was here last summer. It was a promotional giveaway item from Duffy's Scuba Gear."

Several of them groaned then as one said "Damn! Such a little thing to overlook! Likely it was lost during the fight in the basement."

"To be fair, he thought he lost it somewhere along the way. It could have happened to any of us, but it just goes to show that we can't be too careful when doing an assault."

'Is this why we're meeting on the yacht?"

"Yes. I am taking a precaution here. They may have bugged some of our property."

"Surely not!"

"Unlikely. I doubt they know who we are or where we live yet. But who expected them to show up here either? We're now on a war time footing. We'll proceed as if our homes and cars are bugged just to be safe."

Louis spoke then "I'll get debugging equipment and sweep our homes and cars starting tomorrow."

Marie said "Do we know anything new?"

"Yes. I talked to three of our local vamps." Ian was referring to a group of seventy seven vampires who were not members of the family, but who didn't feed on humans either. For the most part they lived and hunted in the Seattle-Tacoma area and enjoyed a friendly relationship with the family.

"They gave me a location in the Delridge area and I'd like for half of us to concentrate on that area tonight. The rest of you just go somewhere that you didn't go last night."

"Do we know what they're planning?"

"They're building a coven and from what I can tell they're un-mentored vampires. I suspect they're imprinting them using human blood."

"Why do it that way? Well-mentored vampires would be a better fighting force."

"I'm guessing here, but likely they mean to draw us out in the open by feeding on and killing several humans. When they can get our location, we can expect them to bring in a large force and attack us."

"They have a large coven, so this is serious business, Ian."

"It is. I've taken the liberty of asking our friends overseas to come here at their earliest convenience."

"That's the least they can do since one of them caused this. What's the plan?" Everyone present knew that Ian would have a plan already.

"We have suitable properties in the Calgary area, Vancouver, and three within forty miles of Seattle as well. Those I speak of are remote and we could draw them to one of those locations for extermination." His eyes began to glow a frosty pale blue as he spoke and the others in the main cabin of the yacht all allowed their eyes to glow brightly too as one said "I'm all for that!"

"Good. Then let's all discuss it among ourselves for say three days, and then make a decision as to where we'll fight them."

"What else should we do? What about publicity?"

"Margo has our humans working on that. Meanwhile we all need to get to the streets of Seattle tonight, and be prowling from now until dawn. We need to do three things. Those are to stop as many as we can, to dispose of any of their victims, and we especially need to capture one for interrogation."

"Damn! I was looking forward to a Mariners pre-season game tonight!"

"That's what DVR's are for." said Ian as everyone laughed. "So let's get back to the marina and get out there tonight. Some of you will pair up because none of you ladies will go alone on this excursion. If everyone here agrees, we'll be doing this for the foreseeable future until we have the intel we want."

Everyone nodded, eyes aglow as Ian walked out to climb the steps to the bridge. Soon the twin Volvo diesel engines came to life and the yacht began to start moving to the southeast toward the harbor.

# Chapter 17

Irina had begged and pleaded with Ike to allow her to help out at the store, being as she was confined to a wheelchair and was going buggy sitting at home only days after being discharged and still wearing a cast. The one good thing that had come of the incident was that Irina's mother had quit drinking.

Ike had hastily put up plywood to make his short stairs into a ramp of sorts and Irina had taken over some of the paperwork for the couple and they soon saw that she had a real knack for that as the two desks started to become better organized. The two of them loved her like a daughter so it was a treat to be working with her every day even this way. Ike took over what Irina would usually do and they were still a team. Ike picked her up every day and took her to her door every evening.

Susan Ellmore had befriended Ike and Glenda and the two of them were going to her home tonight for supper and to meet her husband. Irina had urged them to go and had said she would close up and Zoe had promised to pick her up, using Ike's van to take her home. The two of them planned to make popcorn and watch some vampire movie that Zoe had picked out.

Around eight PM Irina was through with the books and called Zoe, who said she would be there in twenty minutes. After some ten minutes, she was surprised to hear tires crunching on the gravel outside, so she turned off the last light and wheeled herself and her ungainly wheel chair through the door, locking it. She was surprised to see that no car was in sight, and assumed that someone had just used Ike's parking area to turn around. It was balmy and pleasant, and not raining at all, so she decided to just wait there under the porch light for Zoe. Ike had painted the office that day and she was glad to be away from the smell.

The sound of feet walking in gravel caught her ear and she turned toward that sound to see who might be walking along the road in the dark. From the gloom beyond the small circle of light she began to make out a form moving steadily toward her. She called out "We 'e closed. Do you need to make a phone call?"

The figure stopped and then to her horror, its eyes began to glow and it rocketed for her at an unbelievable speed. In a flash it was on her, toppling her wheel chair and spilling her out onto the stoop. She screamed. Her stomach churned at the fetid odor of its breath even as a sharp stabbing pain shot up her shattered and cast-bound leg as she hit the ground, the creature atop her. Irina screamed again. With an iron grip, it crushed her toward itself as it bit her neck, fastening its ghoulish mouth there. She struggled mightily in spite of the stabbing pain from her injured leg. As the creature grunted in pleasure while sucking blood from her noisily, it sought to find her carotid artery.

As she screamed and struggled in its iron grip she realized that it was going to kill her. Her mind flashed back to that awful day at school only two months earlier that had brought her to this horrible moment. Why didn't I just stay home that day! So this is what it's like to know that you're about to die.......

Her mind flashed back to the beginning of that fateful day.

She and the creature were both separated as they were impacted by a new arrival. Irina craned her neck, straining to see what was happening and thought My God, there are two of them and they're fighting over which one gets to kill me!

One of them gave an unearthly scream as the other one with frosty blue glowing eyes drove a long knife upwards through its throat, up into the creature's brain. It suddenly began to thrash about wildly, completely out of control as the newcomer held it down and began to secure the hilt of the large knife by means of a cord it drew from its pocket. In a flash the knife was locked in place by means of the cord wrapped around the creature's neck and tied to the hilt of the knife.

Irina watched in fascination even as numbness began to creep into her extremities. She knew that she was losing consciousness and began to slide into blackness when she could have sworn that a third creature arrived, eyes glowing and she thought she heard one say "She's been bitten, Dom. Go and see if this place has any chain stock inside."

The first one rose and broke the window glass on the store and vanished like windblown smoke into the gloom of the store as the one with the frosty blue eyes held the thrashing creature down and said "We have you, young lady. Don't be afraid." As he spoke his eyes lost their glow and she could see a kindly concern there even as she spiraled down into unconsciousness.

***

Irina awoke to find herself in a large SUV traveling on a highway being driven by a dark-haired woman. She moaned in pain, her hip and leg injuries were both hurting after being dumped from the wheelchair. A low voice sounded in her ear and she realized that she was being held in a man's lap.

"It's all right, lassie. We have you and you're safe. Don't move if you can help it. You're injured."

"I... I feel weak and I hurt all over. Where... where are we going?"

"We're taking you to a hospital, Irina."

"Oh. Thank you. How...how did you know my name?"

The woman who was driving said "It was in your purse, honey."

"Here, Irina. Drink this. It will help until we get to the hospital."

The man held a small flask to her lips and she drank a bit and paused. "It's kinda salty, a little bit."

"Yes it has some salt in it. Drink some more, Irina."

"I feel a bit better already."

A thumping sound came to her then, and she realized that it was coming from the back of the SUV. "What's that noise?"

The man said "That's the one who bit you."

"Oh. Are we taking him to the hospital too?"

"He's going with us."

The woman driving said "Drink some more, Irina. It will help you. Just relax and we'll be there soon enough." As Irina spiraled back down into blackness, she noticed that a sign they passed warned of mountainous roads, and she wondered how they could be in mountains and yet going to a hospital in Seattle.

***

Zoe stood in the garish blue and red police strobe lights in front of Ike's as he, Glenda, and Susan Ellmore and Irina's mother arrived. They got out of the car and rushed over to her with looks of horror on their faces. At the sight of the bent and overturned wheelchair, Irina's mother collapsed with a cry like that of a wounded animal as she wept inconsolably. Zoe knelt and held her close as she wept too while the other three stared around at the scene in absolute disbelief.

The police asked Ike for identification and then asked him to check inside to see what might be missing. In only a few minutes Ike confirmed that the only thing missing was a five gallon bucket of 3/8" chain stock, likely one hundred feet or so of the stuff along with a bolt cutter. He didn't notice that a box of bolts, nuts, and washers were missing too.

Taking off his hat the officer on the scene scratched his head and said "This is the damnedest thing ever! There is no way she surprised a burglar in the act. I'm calling my brother for some help here."

# Chapter 18

Detective Clay Walker answered his cell phone, noticing that it was his older brother calling him.

"Say, big bro."

"Say yourself. I need some help."

"Nuff said. What's your 20?"

Delridge, in front of Ike's Tradin' Post."

"I'm there in fifteen. See ya."

"See ya here."

***

Irina awoke to see that she was in a large rustic chalet. She was on a sofa in front of a cheery fire in a massive hearth that stood easily three stories tall. Looking around she saw two people sitting nearby, smiling at her.

"Welcome back, Irina." said the man. She took stock of him and noted his piercing frosty blue eyes, wavy black hair, arched eyebrows, high cheekbones and a bow-like smile. He was a deep bronze color and could have easily been taken for a native of the Mediterranean area but for his eyes. A short, neatly trimmed black beard obscured what she took to be a strong jaw line. She thought that he looked like a stereotypical movie pirate, and a handsome one at that.

Seated in the other chair next to him was a lovely lady with wavy dark hair, dark eyes, full lips, and attractive features. She looked to be Hispanic, and could have easily been a model. Both of them were smiling at her, displaying pearly-white teeth. They were the most stunning couple that she had ever seen. Neither of them had the glowing eyes she thought she had seen before she had fainted. She concluded that she must have imagined that.

"Where am I?"

"This is a cabin we own. We're in the Cascade Mountains."

"What about the hospital? Did we take that crazy man there?"

"I lied to you, Irina. We brought him here and we couldn't take you to a hospital."

"Why bring him here?"

"I needed to question him."

"Question him? Won't the cops do that?"

"No. He's dead now."

"He died?"

"I killed him."

"Oh my God! You brought him here and killed him? Will you kill me too?"

Laughing heartily he said "No, Irina. We stopped him from killing you."

"Omigosh! But then why did you have to kill him?"

"That will be clear in a minute."

"Why didn't you take me to the hospital?"

"They couldn't help you."

"Oh? Why not?"

They sat in silence a bit, each looking at the other, and then the man spoke. "By the way, I'm Ian and this is Dominique."

"Hello Ian. Hello Dominique. What happened to me? That...thing, that man bit me on the neck."

The two nodded, saying nothing as she continued "So why can't a hospital help me?"

"Because you were bitten by a vampire, Irina."

She sat still then, and only then became aware of the soft sound of rain filtering into the stillness of the chalet as the clock on the mantle chimed the hour, which was 4 AM. "That's nonsense, and you're not amusing me."

This time Dominique spoke, saying "We're not trying to amuse you, Irina. We saved your life and now we intend to help you to imprint properly."

"Vampire, 'imprint'. What rubbish is that?"

"That 'rubbish' is the reality of your new life, Irina. You're now a vampire."

"I... I'm grateful that you got that... that... thing, that... that man off of me, but I don't believe you."

The two looked at each other with raised eyebrows and then without a word Ian suddenly rocketed up from his chair, bounding to the very top of the hearth where he gripped the stones themselves, and stuck to them like a bug.

Irina recoiled violently, shrieking in terror and surprise.

Ian then turned himself around and crawled about on the hearth, sticking to it like a spider. She watched in horror as goose bumps rose on her flesh. Some primitive consciousness deep inside of her was reminding her of why her ancestors had gathered themselves together around fires at night with their doors barred securely.

Then he leapt to a cross-beam overhead in a flash and dropped some thirty feet soundlessly to the floor in front of her wondering eyes. She trembled violently, not wanting to look at him....at it. But she was unable to take her eyes away. Sitting down in his chair he allowed his eyes to glow brightly at her as Dominique's eyes began to glow. Smiling broadly he said "I forgot to tell you, but we're both vampires too, and we're taking that cast off of you tomorrow morning."

# Chapter 19

"I'll keep you in the loop on this thing."

"Please do, Ty. It isn't a homicide so I'll have nothing official for you from my end, but if I think of anything at all I'll let you know."

"Fair enough. FBI will be in the middle of it in one more day anyway. Say, I got two tickets for the game tomorrow night. Are we on?"

"We're on. My place at six. We'll eat and then go."

"Deal. See ya there?"

"See ya there."

After hanging up, Clay thought about the thing and how weird it was. He thought that he recalled that name from when he was in school. After all, he was not quite four years out of school. He was still trying to remember a freshman girl named Irina Connors as he walked in to the squad room.

***

Enzo spoke to the assembled vampires "So where do you think Rupert got to? He should have been back here by now. Did he say anything to any of you about leaving us?"

The others all looked at each other and some shrugged. One spoke then, saying "We don't recall him saying anything like that. Besides I think he has the hots for Katrina here."

"Oh shit Artie, that's not funny!" said Katrina as the others snickered among themselves.

"Who knows where he was last seen?"

Umm... he was going toward Delridge, yeah, it was Delridge.

"Any place special in... Delridge was it?"

"Yeah, No, I mean no place special, and yeah, he was going to Delridge."

"Bet he thought Katrina was there."

"Dammit Artie, give it a rest!" shouted Katrina, her face now red with anger. It had been bad enough being only recently made homeless, but now she was a vampire to boot and she was already getting tired of Artie always leering at her.

Enzo walked over to Arthur and backhanded him, knocking him across the room to crash into the wall. Artie rocketed toward Enzo and was quickly thrown over his shoulder and kicked clear across the room to crash into the other wall. As he scrambled to regain his feet, Enzo grabbed him by the throat and said "Settle down or I will twist your head off, Kabish? Kabish, stupido?"

"All right Enzo. Sheesh! No need to get so pissed!" Arthur skulked over to a chair and slumped down in it, staring daggers at Katrina.

"We're all going over to Delridge now while it's daylight and then tonight we'll all prowl around over there. There has to be an answer for this riddle, and we start there." To himself he thought could they have already found one of us and killed him? Damn them! We don't even have one lead yet!

***

"So what about my hip and my broken leg? I mean how am I supposed to do all of this... this imprinting is it?"

"Every part of your body is going to undergo a dramatic change, Irina. Your bones will become denser, and far stronger. For that reason we vampires are heavier than we look. We won't float in water. If we're not swimming we're sinking. Your muscles and tendons will toughen and become stronger. Your reflexes will be lightning fast, and your skin will be hard to cut or tear, yet will feel the same to the touch. You won't sweat and you don't need to breathe except to talk."

"All of that in what... you said three weeks' time?" she said, wide-eyed in disbelief.

"Yes. Your eyesight will improve dramatically and especially for seeing in the dark. Your hearing will become more acute as will your sense of smell. It's the most important three weeks of your life because the tolerances you imprint will be with you for as long as you live."

"Which is... how long?"

"Forever, unless you're killed."

She sat in silence, digesting this shocking revelation, and then said "So I never need to eat again, but I have to drink human blood?"

"No!" Dominique said. "If you ever do that, one of us will kill you."

She sat again in silence and then asked "What do I... feed on then?"

"Any animal blood, fish, fowl, rodent, it makes no difference."

"No difference?"

"No. Drinking of human blood is unnecessary for our kind, and gives no advantage to any vampire who does so. It does increase risk of our being officially discovered though. That's why we routinely kill all human feeders. We've been giving you rabbit's blood."

"I see" she said, her revulsion plain to see. She had in no way embraced drinking blood for the rest of her life.

"Irina, blood is hemoglobin, saline, and a mixture of complex compounds and enzymes. There are different tastes to the various species, but little difference in nourishment. You'll have a ready food supply nearly anywhere on earth."

"What about my fangs? I mean won't people notice them?"

Laughing with Dominique Ian said "What fangs?"

"Don't we have fangs that come out, you know...?"

Laughing Dominique said "All of that stuff, fangs, holy water, crosses, not seeing our own reflections, not being able to cross a threshold unless invited, not being able to cross running water and on and on are all fables. Your heart won't stop unless you want it to and you won't be cold to the touch either. In fact we vampires started those fables ourselves millennia ago.

"Why?"

"It makes us all the more unbelievable to humans and that's a good thing. Look, we're perfectly strong enough to bite through the flesh of any living creature without having fangs."

"Oh."

"In fact we Adepts prefer to use a knife to bleed our kills and to catch the blood in a bowl. It's far less messy and we can easily fill our flasks that way too."

A severe, stabbing pain hit her, originating in the region of her fractured hip. She screamed involuntarily and writhed in pain on the sofa.

Dominique was at her side in a flash holding a flask to her lips. "Drink, Irina. It'll help, trust me."

She took a sip and then a swallow, waiting to see what would happen. The pain receded and was replaced by a warm glow within less than a minute.

"Why it's gone! I.... I mean really gone!"

"It will return."

"So I'll be repeating this... for what... three weeks?"

"Yes. You'll have an especially painful imprinting experience owing to the repairs that your body will be making. You'll eventually expel every single screw and surgical wire and synthetic stitching that was installed during surgery."

"Expel?"

"Yes. Our bodies won't allow anything foreign to them to remain enclosed in our flesh or bones. You'll also expel every single filling in your teeth as the imprinting regrows your new tooth enamel. If you were shot, your body would eventually expel the slug and close up the wound in only minutes."

Her mouth dropped open in disbelief as she said "so my teeth will repair themselves?"

"Oh, better than that, Irina. They'll straighten themselves too, and your eyes will self-correct as well. The days of you wearing eyeglasses and dental braces are done."

She sat, mouth agape, and then she brightened a bit and said "I'm not going to miss any of that!" Immediately she was hit by a stabbing pain from her broken leg and she writhed and screamed as Dominique again held the flask to her lips. As quickly as she drank it, the pain subsided.

"Uh-oh! She said with a panicky look."

"What?"

"My vision is getting blurry now."

"That is your eyes self-correcting. You might as well remove your eyeglasses because your vision is beginning to move toward 20-20 already. That's a good sign, isn't it, Ian?"

"It is, especially this early."

"Ian has seen many more imprints than I have, Irina. He's the expert here."

"You both look the same age; well maybe Ian is younger by a bit... maybe."

Both of them threw back their heads and laughed as Dominique said "Ian is a bit older than I am."

"A bit... older?"

"Around two hundred thirty years older."

Irina gasped, putting a hand over her mouth as her eyes widened.

"Now don't you go calling me 'gramps' or anything, Rini. I'm nowhere near being the oldest of our family." At that, the three of them laughed as Irina realized that she was actually laughing at something. Her eyes began to fill with tears. The two leaned forward, with raised eyebrows. "What is it?"

"It's this....this whole thing. Now I'm a vampire and...and...I'm sorry, but my dad called me 'Rini' and sometimes my mom does too. I get... I sometimes think of him when I'm called that."

"We won't do that if it hurts you."

She nodded as she said "Thank you both for that."

"Well, it's time for you to have breakfast, Irina. Eggs over easy, toast, butter, and orange juice." said Ian as he moved toward the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry."

"No matter, you'll eat anyway."

"If I don't need human food any longer, why bother?"

"Two reasons. It will enable you to blend better with human society."

"Uh... you said two reasons?"

"It tastes good." said Ian as Dominique chimed in, saying "We all dine together often, and my favorite part is that we can never gain any extra weight either. You wouldn't believe what gourmet cooks some vampires are."

"Oh."

"If you consume anything besides blood, you will excrete waste from your body like you did as a human. If not, then you won't pass any waste. Obviously when traveling afoot, it's best to avoid human food."

"What if I want to try something different one day, you know, something not... you know, imprinted?"

"You'll get sick and puke it up."

"Oh."

"Now over a lot of years, some things can still be imprinted if you're patient and don't mind getting sick a lot; but it's far easier to get it right during this stage."

"So much to... to learn."

"Not to worry. One of us will always be with you while you're imprinting."

Ian spoke then "And don't hesitate to ask about anything. We're happy to explain each step."

"I... I'm so grateful."

"Each of us was mentored by someone. It's the least we can do, and we do want to make you a successful Adept vampire.

"Adept?"

"Adepts are those like us, who can pass as human under the most trying conditions."

"Oh. I can see how that would be important."

"Good. Now get in here and eat."

"I can't move."

"Try."

She winced as she stood and looked at them with amazement, saying "Why I can stand up!"

"See."

"It still hurts though."

"Give it a couple of days. You'll see. By the way, we're going to make a movie of you while you eat."

"Huh?"

"We need to take proof to your mom that you're well, and we need to do it immediately."

Hobbling into the kitchen she was amazed at the healing already taking place. She left her eyeglasses on the end table.

# Chapter 20

"Hey Wilks. Pull over here. I know that guy."

"That wino?"

"Yeah. He's a CI of mine."

"You have a snitch and you've been a detective for what, three days?"

"Oh, he is one of fourteen I had."

"No shit? I'm impressed, Walker."

Softly punching Wilks in the shoulder, Clay winked and said "I'm an impressive guy."

"Yeah, in your dreams, rookie." he replied with a laugh.

Walking over to the man huddled on a piece of cardboard in an alley doorway, Clay said "Hey, Shamus! Long time, no see."

Squinting up, the old man said "Walker? That you? Didja quit the force?"

"Nah. They promoted me to detective. Who knew?"

Rubbing his eyes the old man said "Congrats. They did the right thing. You're a good kid, Walker."

"Thanks, Shamus. I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot, kid. If I saw it, I'll spill it for you."

"We found a body with a peculiar wound on its neck, and the ME says there was hardly any blood in it."

The old man squinted at Clay and shook his head, saying "Some of the old-timers out here are pretty scared, Walker."

"Oh?"

"Two of 'em told me that they saw a guy with eyes that glowed in the dark take one of us down like it was nothin'. Just ran up to him so fast that it was... it was like... like blurry, it was so fast and all."

"Go on."

"This guy latched onto the other one and forced him down and seemed to be suckin' the blood right out of 'im."

"Where was this, Shamus?"

"It was near the tracks, at the south end of Harbor Island."

Right where we found that first one! he thought as he helped Shamus to his feet.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah. Those two were scared shitless, let me tell ya! I wouldn't have believed it 'ceptin' that it was two who saw the same thing."

"You think maybe they were shining you on?"

"Nah. I know old Mortie from way back. He ain't the type."

"Mortie? Bad eye, limp?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Know where he is now?"

"Yeah. Them two got a good dumpster somewhere over there. Real secretive about it too. I'll show you the way."

"Wanna eat some breakfast?"

"Sure. Where we goin?"

"Mickey-D's."

"McDonalds?"

"Shit, Shamus! I'm a cop, not a politician!"

Laughing so hard he began to cough old Shamus said "You're all right, Walker." as he followed him to the car.

***

"Mrs. Ellmore?"

"Yes. May I help you with something?" Susan took in the lady standing on her front porch. She was a pretty blonde lady, wearing aviator's sunglasses, jeans, sneakers and a red long-sleeved blouse, buttoned to the top. She had on a rather broad-brimmed hat too, kind of a feminine version of a man's fedora. Her clothes were all top-drawer though and she seemed to be classy in spite of the casual wear. She had on a pair of tan colored golfer's gloves too, which Susan thought was peculiar.

"You may. I'm here on behalf of a mutual friend."

"Oh?"

"Irina Connors."

Susan opened the door and stepped out onto her porch, saying "Do you know that she was kidnapped, miss.....?

"I'm Donna, and I have a message from Irina." she said as she held up a small envelope.

Her eyes narrowing, Susan said "You're here to demand a ransom for her, aren't you!" as she stepped back and retreated behind her screen door.

Smiling, Dominique said sweetly "No Susan. She's my friend too. I want nothing from you except for you to view this and then take it to Emily. I suspect Ike and Glenda would like to see it too"

Her mouth agape, Susan opened the door and beckoned to Dominique. Opening the envelope, she took out a flash drive and plugged into her laptop computer.

In some three minutes, she turned to Dominique with an astonished look, saying "My God! She looks... looks better somehow. If this is a fake..."

"I assure you it's not, Susan. She'll return in three weeks, and she'll recover as well. I promise. I need some information from you."

"What do you want?"

"I want to know just exactly how it is that Irina is being so vigorously prosecuted on this incident at her school."

"Get comfortable, Donna. I will tell you everything I know. It is a shameful thing that's been done to that poor girl." She proceeded to inform Dominique of every single detail that she knew and then added in what she had surmised but she stressed the parts which were speculation on her part.

Dominique listened intently and when Carol was finished she thanked her, saying "I have to leave now. She's waiting for me to get back."

"Back? Back to where?"

"I'm sorry, but the owners of the place won't allow me to divulge that information. Please copy this and then take it to Emily and Susan."

"Oh, I'll do it today."

"Don't let the authorities see this video and be sure that Irina's mother knows that."

Nodding her head she smiled a bit and extended her hand. "Thank you."

"No thanks necessary, Susan. Have a nice day."

"Oh, you bet I will! It's nicer already, Donna! Good bye."

"Good bye. Three weeks. I promise and so does Irina."

She departed then and Susan noticed that she didn't have a car, but that she immediately began to jog at a leisurely pace down the block, turning abruptly to enter an alleyway where she disappeared from view.

# Chapter 21

The radio crackled to life as they approached Reno Stead airport. The Beechcraft F33A Bonanza descended through bumpy air, the product of typically vigorous thermal activity due to the desert sun. Irina looked all about, being as she had never been on a plane before. She sat with Dominique in the passenger seats, directly behind Ian who was flying the craft. He added an extension and handed a headset back to Dominique so that it would be her talking to Reno Approach.

Irina had five separate severe attacks of pain, but each had been quickly suppressed as she drank from the flasks that Dominique kept handy. They had gone through five of them during the trip and in spite of that, Irina was enjoying herself. They had arranged their flight plan so as to take her over Mt. Hood, Crater Lake and Mt. Shasta enroute to Reno.

When asked why they had to go there, Ian had explained to her that there was not enough dependable sunshine in Seattle for her to properly imprint. Dominique had been sweet as usual and had more fully explained to her about part of her conditioning for tolerance to daylight would also be conditioning her to better tolerate pain, and that she could never hope to properly imprint her tolerance to daylight in Seattle.

She was ecstatic just being able to walk, albeit with a somewhat painful limp. Soon after landing, Ian had rented a Ford Excursion SUV and the three had gone shopping for groceries. They had packed the car to the roof with varieties of things, most of which she had never even seen or heard of, much less eaten. Dominique reminded her that this would set her tolerance for human food forever, and that convinced Irina of how important it was.

So it was that they wound their way to the northeast, toward Hungry Mountain. Where the pavement ended, Ian simply took a narrow rutted and dusty road and wound his way back into the hills for some four more miles, beyond Hungry Mountain itself. They topped a rise and there stood what looked like a dilapidated commercial building on thirty six acres, and surrounded by a ten foot tall chain link fence topped with concertina-type razor wire. A series of signs warned that it was property of the U. S. Department of Defense and of the dire consequences of anyone trespassing there. It was not D.O.D. property at all, but it served to intimidate any who would think of breaking in. Sophisticated looking cameras, each with its' own short radio antenna, covered all angles of the perimeter as well as all around the building itself. They were linked wirelessly to a communications center that the family maintained near Seattle.

As they drove up to it, Irina began to see that it was very securely closed up. In less than a minute, they were pulling the Ford into the cavernous interior of a sizable Quonset-style steel commercial building, which had living quarters concealed inside at one end. When they reached her room and the general area around it, Irina was surprised to see how plush it was. By its exterior, one would never dream what was inside of the structure.

While Ian went to start the Detroit Diesel power plant, Irina gawked at the world-class kitchen and spa, as well as the skylights with blinds that were battery operated by a solar-powered electrical system. There was a ninety-six inch Sony TV along one wall and a Bose stereo surround-sound system to die for.

Dominique took her to a large rosewood cabinet and upon opening the double doors, Irina was astounded to see a library of over sixteen hundred movies. The music library was equally astounding, having over three thousand CD selections ranging from true classic music to punk rock.

Soon the sounds of Smashmouth filled the air as Ian and Dominique ferried supplies to the kitchen and freezer. Dominique tossed a black two-piece bikini to her and said "Get into this now. It's your daytime uniform while we're here, all day every day."

While she was gone, Dom came to Ian and said "Here are the details of the happenings that caused all of the trouble for Irina, and there are some pretty wealthy people listed here as well as a female Juvey judge."

"Did you put some people on it?"

"Yes. I told them we wanted to know everything about everyone on this list. We have surveillance and recording teams already watching this bunch."

"I'll make a call and put both outfits on this case exclusively. She doesn't deserve to be done this way and why should she be forced to take on a new identity and leave? When we get enough dirt on this bunch, those charges against her will disappear."

The family owned two different private detective and security agencies in greater Seattle-Tacoma and this project was about to become the top priority for both agencies.

"Dom?"

"What?"

"I want to get a good look at the clothes Irina was wearing when she was hit by that car."

"You think it was done on purpose?"

"Maybe. There have been some people who have gone to a lot of trouble to persecute this poor girl and if one of them ran her down that way, I'd like to know it." he said as he made his eyes glow.

"How can we get those clothes?"

"Other than to break in and steal them we can't, but I'm going to call someone who can."

Soon Irina was limping around the place, unpacking her new clothing, which consisted mostly of jeans, sneakers, sandals, and various funky looking T-shirts that she had picked out while with Dominique. She had never had such nice clothing and even though these were all casual clothes, she could see that they were all high-end labels, things that she had only dreamt of.

Ian walked toward her saying "if you're done unpacking, let's get outside now."

Nodding she followed him out a door that led to another heavy steel door, and then they were outside underneath a spacious carport with room for six vehicles with room to spare.

"When the sun gets to be too much for you, we'll come here to work; otherwise we'll be in full sunshine as much as you can stand. We'll work on marksmanship today and then take you hunting tonight."

For the remainder of the day she learned to load, shoot, and field strip a Glock 40 caliber pistol, A Heckler & Koch MP5 Ingram submachine gun, an AR15 assault rifle, an Israeli made Uzi, and a soviet made AK 47 assault rifle. Punctuating these tasks she would suffer from extreme bouts of pain at which times either Ian or Dominique would give her relief with a sip from a flask of blood.

That evening, she was drilled on basic hand-to hand combat moves and techniques. She had found that she could now move about with only a little pain and was astounded at the gains she had made in just hours her second day as a vampire. With Ian instructing and demonstrating she partnered with Dominique to practice all moves and techniques at a slow speed.

When it got really late the three of them went hunting. Irina was not taken far because she still hurt a bit when moving, but she was feeling less and less pain as the hours wore on. Her eyes had remained steadily painful from the beginning, and her front teeth ached as well.

She was amazed to catch a rabbit the first time out, and she was still hurting a bit when she caught it. Ian showed her how to tie it up and bleed it with her knife, using a copper bowl with a pour spout lip on one side and copper flasks to contain the blood.

They knocked off around four AM to view Bram Stoker's Dracula and they laughed most of the way through it. Ian made popcorn and Irina hadn't had so much fun in one day for years, in spite of the pains. She hadn't been bothered by sunlight all of that day, and had turned a pinkish color, but later she noticed that it was becoming more of a golden color. Ian told her that was normal for the type of complexion she had, and that the vampire imprinting was stopping her from becoming sunburnt.

The last thing Ian showed her was how to clean her teeth and he put great emphasis on that, furnishing her with a Teledyne Water Pik, a Braun electric toothbrush, as well as mouthwash and hydrogen peroxide. She was given a package of dried lilac blossoms and asked what they were for.

"Irina, you must take some of this each time you eat. The imprinting will eventually enable your body to make this for itself, yet you should always have some on hand."

"Why do I need this?"

Dominique spoke then, saying "Without doing this you will have permanent dogs-breath. This works best, Irina. It's organic and your imprinting will cause your body to duplicate its odor. Mouthwash is synthetic and its odor won't be imprinted as well, so old-school is best here." Irina remembered the fetid hideous-smelling breath of the vampire who attacked her.

"Once you imprint this, there will always be a bare hint of it about your face and in your breath."

She recalled then that when Ian was holding her in the car, she had noticed a scent of Clove or Cinnamon and had just taken it to be some sort of chewing gum.

Ian went on, saying "And by the way, we vampires don't need to breathe except to speak, but it's vitally important for us to always remember to breathe when in human company in cold air."

"I see. We do that to remain undetected?"

"Yes. What you learn here must become second-nature, Irina. You've done exceedingly well for your second day, especially given your injuries. Now I want to warn you though that you still may have more than the usual amount of pain associated with imprinting due to those injuries. We'll know more about that as the days go by."

"I'll do all that I can to learn everything."

"You'll have some pains in your mouth associated with development of your venom glands"

"Venom?"

Yes, the one who bit you passed venom into your body and that started to paralyze your heart. While we're on this subject, you must never share food with a human or an animal."

"It would kill them?"

"No, not taken orally. But you might contribute to making an ordinary cat or dog a fearsome creature. Just don't be careless that way."

"Why do we need it?"

"Well for one thing we couldn't digest human food without our venom glands."

"Will we infect a human by kissing them?"

"No. It's the act of eating or biting that makes our venom glands work."

He came to her then and taking her shoulders, he gazed at her with his frosty-blue eyes and said "You're doing a splendid job, Irina. You're going to come through this with flying colors."

She looked at Dominique who smiled reassuringly and then she stepped close to Ian and put her arms about his waist and laid her head against his chest, saying "Thank you." in a near whisper. Then she turned to Dominique and did the same, pulling back with a smile and her eyes brimming with tears.

Ian looked at Dominique and said "I'll be back tomorrow night or the next day. I'm returning to Seattle to check on developments there and also on what the police are doing about Irina's disappearance. Start her on sensitivity and touch tomorrow and keep working on the things we did today. Explain to her about the different types of headaches she'll soon be having. See you soon."

He turned and departed from the room at vampire speed, running toward the airport in the pre-dawn darkness faster than the wind itself.

Irina looked at Dominique and said "Won't we need our car while he's gone?"

"He didn't take the car, Irina. He'll be at the airport in less than ten minutes."

Her eyes widened as that sunk in. "What did he mean about different headaches?"

"As we imprint, we undergo a transformation to our brain. You're aware of how wrinkled a human brain looks?"

"Yes. I've seen pictures."

"The vampire brain has around six times as many wrinkles. I suppose it has something to do with why we can figure and reason so much faster than a human can."

"So I'll be able to think faster than I can now?"

"Oh yes. Far faster with far greater problem solving abilities too. But it comes at a cost because you'll have some killer headaches while this is happening."

"Omigosh!"

# Chapter 22

"None of them are here, but this is the place where Ian said they were staying."

"They must be all hunting tonight. Likely we should have been out looking for them too."

"We can leave and hit this place when they come back."

"True, but we can't hide anywhere near here."

"Where's Ian now?"

"He left Reno and we should either set an ambush or leave here too. They may return by daybreak."

"I'll get Celine to check with Ian, but we might just return tomorrow night and bug the place."

"I like that, what about the rest of you?"

Some twenty five pairs of eyes glowed brightly as one said "If we can't kill them tonight, we might just as well be listening to them for a few days. Our friends from Europe will be here before then anyway."

Another said "They're likely to have help coming soon. Maybe this is best. This way when their coven arrives, none will know that we're already watching and listening. We'll have a better chance of getting all of them."

"All right. We're agreed to vacate now and return to set up surveillance. Let's get out of here then."

In under a minute they were a half mile from the place and running faster than the wind to where their vehicles were parked.

***

Ian drove past Ike's Tradin' Post slowly, noticing an unmarked van down the street and another utility van nearby, ostensibly working on the telephone lines. He decided to skip Ike's and go see Susan Ellmore.

Approaching her place from the alleyway behind it, he found that she was not at home. Figuring that she was at work he elected to give Ike's place another try.

Driving toward Ike's he passed a trash can with an old ceiling fan in it which gave him an idea. Parking two blocks from that near a convenience store, he made his way back and picked up the fan and took it as he continued walking to Ike's. He also had Ike's bolt cutters taped and wrapped up in newspaper.

He had donned a faded T-shirt and a Boonies hat and sunglasses before leaving the SUV and as he walked up to Ike's he looked like someone just bringing in something to trade or sell.

As he entered the place he scanned the interior carefully without removing his sunglasses, knowing exactly where the best places were for putting surveillance cameras. Deciding that there were none he made his way to the office and saw Glenda sitting there eating lunch with Ike.

"Hello there. We didn't hear you come in. I don't take those fans anymore."

Ian smiled and said "This is just a stage prop for the cops outside. Here's what I wanted to give you." He handed the bolt cutters to Ike and pulled out a small envelope and handed it to Glenda, who opened it to see a flash drive.

"This is from Irina and we made it last night." Glenda stood then and smiled, saying "Oh thank God! May we see it now?" as she took it. Ian nodded so she plugged it in and in seconds the two were watching a video of Irina eating popcorn and sitting in front a massive TV set. She said hello to everyone and reminded them that she would return in a little under three weeks and that she was in a different place now, which was apparent to the two of them being as they had a copy of the first video as well.

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much, Mister....?"

"I'm Ian and you're welcome. Her cast is off as you can see and she's walking now. We're very pleased with her progress."

"Ian. How did you get in on this, I mean you didn't kidnap her did you?"

"Heavens no! We took her from the man who kidnapped her, but he got away. She's a fine girl and she misses every one of you. Can you see to it that Susan and Emily get copies of this?"

"Yes, yes! Of course! Ian, why doesn't she come back now?"

"I can tell you that she doesn't want to yet, as she made clear in that video. You can see that she's out of that cast and you saw her walk with your own eyes."

'Yes, yes! The doctors told Emily that cast would be on her for three months yet! We're flabbergasted."

"That'll have to be enough until she sends another video or comes back to tell you in her own words. She must stay for a while with us in order to heal properly. I promise you that you won't believe how well she'll be when she returns. She is making great progress as you can see, and we are really encouraged."

"Oh my! We can see that, and we can hardly believe it ourselves!"

"Besides all of you, there is one thing that she really misses now, and that is Pepper. May I take him back to her?"

Ike looked at Glenda and she smiled and said "He's at her home. Her mother has quit drinking, cold turkey. She's taking care of Pepper herself now."

"She needs him more than Irina does right now, so I'll tell her that when I return. If I get the chance, I'll give you another update, but I don't know when that will be. Don't allow the authorities to see this. Irina could be accused of faking her injuries."

"What?"

"Who knows how much influence the parents of those kids have? They might be able to tamper with Irina's medical files and even to intimidate the surgeon who operated on her. Someone has been stacking the deck against her for a while in this affair. Better safe than sorry. Goodbye for now."

***

"Again, Irina" said Dominique as she picked up three or four tennis balls and tossed them to Irina who caught and tossed them back rapidly.

"What good is this" she said as Dominique put the tennis balls back in a box and walked to the kitchen.

"You'll see soon enough she said as she returned with a dozen eggs. "Let's go back outside now for this. Besides you need to stay in the sun for as long as possible every day."

"I'm getting a little bit of a tan for someone so pale." she said as she followed Dominique into the garish sunlight. She noticed that Dominique had stopped to put on her broad-brimmed hat, gloves, and a lightweight long sleeve jacket.

"Why are you covering up?"

"Because I will burn to death if I get more than eight minutes of sunlight."

"What! Ian doesn't even wear a shirt outside."

"Ian is different. He is a sun walker, Irina. They're very rare among our kind."

"A sun walker?"

"Yes, he can take around seven hours of direct sunlight."

"Why is that?"

"We don't know. It could be that he was out of doors all day every day before he was brought over. Some of us can do four hours. Ian started out able to do four hours, but he has pushed himself over the years to where he can do seven now."

"What will I be able to do?"

She shrugged, saying "You'll likely be lucky to do ten minutes. You're very fair and that has something to do with it, as well as how much sunlight you had as a human on any given day. You grew up in Seattle and Ian was always a sailor. See what I mean?"

She nodded as Dominique said "All right, Irina, let's toss some eggs back and forth now." She began and Irina broke the very first one in her hand.

"Again." she said and again Irina broke it when she caught it.

"Why am I doing this, Dom?"

"You are catching eggs as a vampire would when you now should be catching them as a human would."

"Why learn this at all?"

"Because you'll live among humans and you must never forget that you can hurt one very easily; for example you could break someone's hand simply by doing a handshake with them. Or if a car door was locked and you weren't careful, you could yank the door handle off of it."

"Oh... so much to learn. Will I ever get it?"

"Irina, we must always force the human part of us to control the vampire that we are. The only time that rule is broken is if fighting another vampire, or maybe to save a life if necessary. Of course running and hunting are exceptions to that rule."

"Oh; so many things to get right."

"I have five dozen eggs in the fridge."

Laughing then Irina said "I'll bet you that we won't have to use any more than what's in this one box."

"You're on! And if you lose, you'll do all of the kitchen duties the whole time we are here."

"If I win we have to watch the Bela Lugosi Dracula movie tonight."

"Ugh!"

"Let's get to it. Hey! No fair throwing them too hard!" she said as she broke another one.

# Chapter 23

It was a drizzly day at Sea-Tac Quality Court Motel where a conference room was booked. The hotel was owned ostensibly by a foreign holding corporation, but in reality was owned by Ian himself through a series of anonymous interlocking trusts. The family's' own private vampire security personnel covered the doors and no security cameras were working on this day anywhere on the premises.

Ian stood up and the room got quiet. "I want to thank those of you who came here today. I have some news to share, and you all need to hear it from me. We have what, sixty seven of you here now?"

A tall vampire stood up then, a blond haired man who appeared to be in his early thirties. Ian said "Go ahead Jeff."

"I found everyone I could, Ian. Everybody, this is a big deal so listen up to what Ian is going to tell us."

"Thanks, Jeff. There is a coven of vampires from Italy who routinely feed on humans. They're coming here to attack my family and this is a fair warning to all of you. They're not aware that we know about their plans and they're forcing and training rogues here now."

A female near the back stood and waited for Ian to point to her. "He's right on about this, everyone. I and my mate have seen three of them and they don't care who finds a dead human or where they leave one. We've removed nine corpses ourselves and disposed of them. I could use some help with that, and I think that all of you can see why we should assist Ian's family on this."

"Thank you Starla. She's right. We're not trying to force anyone to risk their life, but I'm going to say this in front of you all so that there can be no doubts as to our intentions.

"We won't punish any of you if you don't help us. You'll still have the use of our yacht, sailboat, marinas, golf courses, ski resorts and such places. As always should any of you need a driver's license, birth certificate or other document, we'll help you. No benefit will be withheld from you if you stay neutral."

There was a bit of muttering and nodding of heads among the vampires then, and they finally settled down, looking expectantly at Ian.

"If any of you take the side of this coven, we'll hunt you down and kill you, no matter how long it takes and no matter where you go." He then caused his eyes to glow their bright frosty blue as he paused for effect.

"Our family will tolerate no human-killing no matter the cost to us. These rogues are going to learn that soon enough. We want you to at the very least patrol the metropolitan area and do as Starla and Phillip have done in removing human corpses left by these murderers. In addition we ask that you provide us with hard information that's up to date. We want to know where they set up shop, and we would like to have pictures of any of them. There's an email address that you can send information to and it's on this display behind me. Write it down.

"We bought and set up secure cell-phone routing and Melissa has a box of free prepaid cell-phones for anyone who wants one. Our own receptionist's number is programmed as number 99 on all of these phones. They're prepaid for three months, unlimited use. There are also digital cameras back there that Melissa will give out. Feel free to take one of each when you leave.

"We're offering a bounty of twenty thousand dollars for every dead rogue that you deliver to our place on the Olympic Peninsula. Starla, we owe you nine thousand dollars cash for your services. Will you wait for that until we're done here today?"

Several of them laughed good-naturedly as Starla nodded and turned to Phillip wide-eyed with a surprised look on her face.

Ian resumed then saying "We'll pay one hundred thousand dollars cash for any rogues who are brought to us alive. You'll make arrangements for all deliveries with our receptionist on your complimentary cell phone."

"One last warning; don't take up with any strange vampires until this is over. They are trying to infiltrate our community for intel. Don't bring any strange vampires to any properties of ours under penalty of death, no exceptions. Now is no time to be making any new friends. Any questions?"

There went up a murmuring among them then.

One short man stood up and said "You all know me as Hyatt. I've lived in a lot of places as a vampire for nearly a hundred years. This is the best place I've found, and Ian's family is why. I'm supporting your efforts, Ian and I hope all of you others do too. To hell with any coven that wants to come here to our city and make trouble!"

Several of them shouted "Hear-hear!" as the buzz of many conversations began in earnest.

# Chapter 24

"They're on to us, Enzo."

Pacing as he stared out the window at the Seattle skyline Marelli seemed lost in thought.

"Look we've killed nineteen humans now and not a damned thing in the newspapers or on TV. Someone is cleaning up or covering up behind us. Who else could it be?"

He sighed and said "You're right, Mario. The only thing we can do is to keep on until they can't hide it any more. Surely that will flush them out into the open. Karla, have we had any luck spreading money around?"

"No. They really know how to keep a low profile. We're coming up empty-handed trying to find any non-associated vampires too. As far as humans go, there doesn't appear to be even one in these parts who knows about any vampires, let alone the bunch we're after."

"All right then. For now, we just keep on killing humans."

***

"You're going to have to get control of your eye lights better, Irina. You always let them light up when you're laughing."

"Oh. I hoped I was doing better. I think the last of the surgical stuff has come out of me. I thought it would be gross, but screws and wire just kept appearing in my jeans and everything. At times it hurt badly and at others I barely felt it."

"Come to the kitchen with me."

She followed her and saw her take a carving knife from a drawer.

"Let me see your hand, Irina."

Irina extended her hand, her eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Now I'm going to do something here, and I want you to trust me, okay?"

Nodding, Irina watched as Dominique made a small cut on her forearm. She took a paper towel and blotted the blood and while Irina watched, the cut closed up as if it had never happened. She gasped and stared at Dominique in disbelief.

"That's how fast a vampire can heal from a superficial wound."

"I...I'm amazed!"

"If we wait until your imprinting is done and we cut off all of your hair it would regrow in minutes, the very next time you feed. It's a sight to see, really. The way it feels is indescribable; kind of tingly all over your scalp as it regrows. And it will grow to exactly the length it was when you imprinted."

She sat in silence a bit, trying to comprehend the enormity of her new healing powers. "Why that's amazing!"

"Yes, and it can be handy for disguising ourselves temporarily if we need to for some reason. All we have to do to get it to regrow is to feed; simple as that!"

"Cool! I won't forget this!"

"I think the surgical hardware has all been expelled from your bones. I saved it in a jar for you, kind of a souvenier. Regarding your eyes, you're doing better, but not good enough yet. Imagine the effect of that at some party or even worse outside at nighttime say when watching a football game or something like that."

"I'll keep on working on it. By the way, my vision is nearly normal now and my teeth are nearly straight too."

"I'm going to pull your braces out today."

"Good. They're really loose."

"Other than the eye lights getting away from you, you're doing well. We have to train you for adjusting your hearing too."

"Adjusting my hearing?"

"Yes. You must learn to adjust your hearing so we allow loud music and gunfire to expose you to the levels of sound you will encounter living among humans. It's unwise to imprint in a totally quiet environment."

"So much to... to remember."

"That's our job. One day though you might have to help someone imprint properly. By the way, you will be starting the Blood Fast in the middle of your last week.

"Blood Fast?"

"Yes. That's when you don't take blood for any reason for a minimum of three days."

"That sounds hard."

"It is, but it's very important."

"Why?"

"It decreases your thirst for blood and also conditions you to tolerate being around humans or animals that are bleeding. It also increases your tolerance for pain. Most importantly you can go longer without feeding. Not many vamps do a blood fast due to the pain, and most don't even know about it."

"I get a lot of pain now if I'm out in the sun for more than fifteen minutes."

"There are a lot of vampires who can't tolerate the least sunlight, and some barely can tolerate the type of daylight we have in Seattle. You don't know yet how lucky you are to be getting this degree of conditioning."

"I'm getting the idea. And I love it that you both made me do everything both right handed and left handed."

"Ian insists on that."

"Dom, I've been meaning to ask you. How long have you and Ian been a couple?"

"We're not a couple."

"Oh. I just assumed..."

"Best not to assume anything about us except that we want to help you in every way."

"Ok. I just wondered when I would get to meet the others."

Dominique sighed and took her hands and led her to the sofa. "Irina, our family is now involved in some deadly business with a powerful coven. We will be doing no socializing with newcomers until this blows over. It is the most serious thing imaginable and I've never seen such precautions being taken as now. And while we're on this subject, you won't be seeing us when you return."

She looked crestfallen and Dominique felt sorry for her. "Irina, that's because you're going to be the focus of a lot of attention, and maybe the FBI and State Police too. We avoid all such things for obvious reasons. So it'll be a while before we see you again."

"Is that why Ian hasn't returned?"

"Yes. He's the family leader in all things of this nature and has the most experience in vampire coven warfare."

She nodded as Dominique continued "He and I were both forced like you were. We have a soft spot for those like you."

Leaning over, Irina put her head on Dominique's shoulder and said "I can feel the concern that both of you have for me. I'm grateful."

"Irina, I'll always be straight with you. There's another problem with bringing you in to the family."

"What is it? I'll do anything, really I will!"

Reaching out, Dominique took her in her arms and hugged her, saying "You're getting to be like a little sister to me, Irina. I do want this to work out for you. But you're really young to be one of us. Teenagers are impulsive and that is an undesirable trait to us most of the time. We're a more mature group. There's concern that you might do something to attract unwanted attention to us, and I can tell you that's a big taboo in my family. We abhor notoriety of any kind, and for good reason. Ian has made his home in this area since around 1860."

"Omigosh! I forget, he looks so young and everything."

"Several of them have called this area home for that long. Now think about the problems that are associated with staying in one area when you never age and when all of your human friends and associates do."

"I... I never gave that a thought. I can see... oh my! I can see now what you're saying. How do you all do it?"

Laughing she said "We have time tested methods that have always worked. Today it's becoming even more of a headache because of the explosion of technology. Everyone will soon have a cell phone and a built-in camera with it. Soon enough surveillance cameras will be common items everywhere."

"What?"

"That technology is on its way now. See what I mean? One slip in public and it could soon be on the internet. We're even now considering how to cope with that."

"I never thought... I assumed that I would, you know..."

Taking her hand Dominique said "We're not casting you out. We're just being cautious. It's even worse now what with this other coven killing people here. I just want to lay all of our cards on the table for you because you mean a lot to me Irina, and I speak for Ian too. But we don't speak for the entire family in this matter. We want for you to have time to season, to grow into the creature you've become until these things are second nature. Three weeks won't accomplish that."

"I understand, and I'll be patient."

"Good. Today we'll set up that small children's swimming pool we just bought in the carport and fill it."

"For me?"

"Yes. Ian says that you have to stay in the sun until you begin to blister and then jump into the pool. It will extend your sun tolerance and that is a good thing. It's boring and grueling, but you can take several more minutes than I can already."

"You mean I have to repeat that, you know, the blistering and healing and all?"

"Yes. We might as well get back to it Miss Bikini. If you do well I have a surprise for you!"

# Chapter 25

Ian shaved his beard off and then all of his hair as well, leaving only a moustache. He gave himself one last look, donned a gray business suit and drove to the leased office space, letting himself in by a private rear door. Shortly two men got out of a car and came in to the reception area and Ian stepped out and beckoned to the waiting investigators.

"Gentlemen. Come in. I believe you have some photographs and other items for me today?"

The two were the managers of 'Greater Seattle Investigative and Security Systems Ltd' and 'Surveillance Specialists Ltd'. They knew that they were talking to the owner of their firms, but knew little more than that, excepting that over half of the resources of both firms had been tied up exclusively on this case for over two weeks. It was important to the owner and that made it important to them.

"We do Mr. MacRae. Which would you like to see first?

"Ummm, how about Billy Basher's parents?"

They handed him two dossiers and he opened them, quickly scanning the contents and some seventy photographs. Thumbing through all of the financial data, he pursed his lips and then finished with a smile and said "Good. What else have you?"

"Here are the ones on Sharon Little's parents."

In some three minutes he had riffled through nearly a hundred photographs and some forty pages of document and financial information. Looking up he smiled slightly and said "Have you anything on that Juvey judge, what was her name?"

"Joanna Sparks. Yes we have a lot on her too. Quite interesting, really."

Looking through her dossiers Ian chuckled a bit and in only minutes he looked up and smiled slightly. "Do you have anything on the prosecutor and the public defender that handled this case?"

They each gave two dossiers to Ian then and again, he went through them rapidly and there were around fifty photographs in all, and some questionable bank balances for the period.

Standing then he signaled that the meeting was over. "Gentlemen, it is back to business as usual for the firm. Here is another case to handle and I want it expedited as top priority." He handed an envelope to each of them and said "There are artists' renderings of an Italian man in there. I have reason to believe that he has flown in from Italy with others in a private plane. He is around six foot four and two hundred forty pounds; easy to spot. Stay well away from him and never, ever follow him at night or into a building. He will kill you. Just call me immediately if you see him. I want you to find that plane for me and likely it is at Sea-Tac International. If not there try Gig Bay or other local airports. I want daily briefings on this by telephone. Any questions?"

"No sir." the two said in unison.

"Well done, then. Let me hear from you soon on this. Good day."

The two stood and shook his hand and departed, each of them glad to have pleased the owner of their firm. Ian pulled his cell phone and briefly consulted a screen and pushed three keys. He was answered by J T Crawford of Crawford, Barnes, and Mikelsky law firm on his personal cell phone.

"Hello."

"Hello, JT. This is Adam MacRae and I have something I want you to handle personally for me."

"Good to hear from you Adam. Would you like for me to have it picked up then?"

"No. Can you meet me for lunch at the Hyatt Regency at Bellevue, say one o'clock?

"Ummm. I can reschedule that thing.... Yes Adam. I'll see you there."

"Good. How are Rachel and the kids?"

"Oh, fine, fine. Richard starts College this fall at U of S."

"The years fly by, don't they? It seems like only last year when he entered High School at Bellevue."

"Oh man! Don't I know it! I'll see you there."

"JT?"

"Yes?"

"I'll have two things for you. One of them will involve getting a subpoena to take possession of the clothing worn by a girl who was run down by a hit and run motorist. The other is about some people who have broken some laws and abused their public office."

"No trouble with either one. We're going to send the clothes to a private forensic lab then?"

"Yes. And I've already picked one out."

"See you at one o'clock then?"

"Looking forward to it JT. Good bye until then."

"Good bye."

JT would handle both cases and he would be happy to, given the help he and his father before him had gotten from the MacRae family, which was really only Ian and his vampire family. JT was like a junkyard dog on steroids if he really ever got his teeth into a case. Ian chuckled as he thought of how this was going to be like tossing a hornet's nest into a crowded room; a room filled with arrogant and abusive people. In a very short while, Irina's troubles with the Juvenile authorities and with the parents of Billy and Sharon were going to vanish like they had never been there. And likely after the talking-to their spoiled children were going to get, they would keep their mouths shut whenever they were around Irina in the future.

Whether or not any good could come of paying for a private forensic investigation of Irina's clothing was doubtful, but in his mind it was worth looking into. J T and the forensic lab would preserve the chain of custody on the clothing evidence. Who knew but that they might just get lucky and get a lead on whoever had run her down and left her for dead?

***

"Thank you again for the guitar. I still can't believe how fast I picked up on playing it. We vamps really do learn fast!"

"You sound like you have been playing for years instead of three days."

"Dom, why do we still learn swordsmanship, you know, I mean what with all of the modern weapons that you both taught me to use it seems so...I don't know?"

"Outdated?"

"Yes."

"Simple. The way to kill a vampire is to cut off its head. Simplest means is to have a sharp sword at hand when fighting them. An axe would do nicely too, but they're heavier and more bulky."

"So I'm expecting to be fighting vampires now that I'm one?"

Chuckling a bit Dominique responded "Not all of the time, silly. The situation we're facing now isn't common, but it does happen now and then."

"Rogue vamps?"

"Yes. We always drop everything and concentrate on killing any we discover."

"So we always shoot for their heads and then chop them off?"

"That's it. They'll be incapacitated for a while until their bodies force the slugs out and then they'll recover. Shooting them in the brain or spine gives you several minutes to chop off their head if you have a sword handy."

"And you said Ian started this type of fighting?"

"Yeah; around, mmm... 1770 or so. They used single shot flintlock pistols then so they each would typically carry four or five of those into battle."

"Must have been heavy."

"Yeah, and sometimes they misfired. You wouldn't believe the stories I have heard of the raids they did in those days! Gunpowder was not the smokeless kind we have now. They say that in some of the assaults they made they couldn't see ten feet in front of their faces by the time it was over for all of the gun smoke!"

Irina nodded as Dominique continued "Swordplay was more important then, but it is good to know even now because rogue vamps may use swords against other vamps. Really that goes for knife fighting too."

"Have you had to use any of this?"

"No. I think they're afraid to risk me getting killed."

"Why?"

"I'm the only international pilot they have in the family. I'll fight beside them one day though. It's an unspoken rite of passage. Some of them have fought side by side over two hundred years off and on."

"Omigosh! Each must know what the other is thinking by now."

"My family has a reputation as a fearsome fighting force among those of our kind who are in the know. You might be surprised to know that the twin shoulder holsters we use now were first conceived of by a female member of our family."

"I'd never have guessed that!"

"Get this; the lady who did that told me that Ian made her first pair of sunglasses."

"Made them?"

"Yes. He got the idea when he was imprinting and had them made for her and her husband by a jeweler."

"Oh. Oh! I just realized that had to be over two hundred years ago!"

"It was. Say, I bet you're getting homesick by now."

"Yeah, kinda. I want to see Mom and the others, and Pepper too. I'm so happy that mom quit drinking!"

"We're only days away from leaving here. You start the Blood Fast tomorrow and then you're only lacking in training in deception, and bringing down bigger game to feed yourself."

"Deception?"

"Feigned clumsiness, like knocking over a glass of wine, bumping into a door, and things like that."

"Why?"

"You might want to do that in case you are being watched by a vampire. If they think you're human, then they're likely to ignore you and dismiss you as a threat. It can be a useful art to know, like Chi Na, only easier to learn."

Looking a bit wistfully at Dominique she said "I'm going to be the only non-graduate of Bellevue who can speak and write three languages."

"Au Contraire, Irina. You'll resume school and you'll graduate with your class."

She looked stunned and then said "How can that be?"

Laughing delightedly Dominique said "It seems that Ian hired two detective agencies and they dug up all kinds of dirt on some pretty wealthy people as well as some people in Juvey and in the prosecutors and public defender's offices. And the Elsie Foundation has been in touch with the School Board, so they're on board too."

Wide-eyed, Irina said "You mean I can return to my classes, for real?"

"For real. You'll be given make-up work for catching up and tests for those you missed of course, but you'll pick up where you left off."

Irina grabbed Dominique around the waist and kissed her cheeks several times while laughing. "Oh Dom! This is the best thing ever! Oh my, I bet some people are going to be surprised to see me!"

"Let's get back to the wooden swords and knives. You won't be doing as much of this sort of thing when your Blood Fast starts."

# Chapter 26

Arthur kept well back and yet kept the female vampire in sight. She was not of their coven so she might just be the lead they had all been seeking.

She ran along at a pace that Arthur found easy to match and yet to stay far enough away to avoid detection. Since she obviously didn't know she was being followed, it was easy to keep her in sight. Her clothing had been enough to pique his interest by itself, being very expensive and stylish. Even he could appreciate that and he looked forward to the praise he would get from the others at being the first one who followed one of them to a house. Even Katrina would be impressed by this.

It was not going to be just any house either. They had long since left the city and had headed up into the foothills to the east. Some forty miles east of Seattle his quarry ran up a long driveway with a double iron gate, simply jumping over it as she ran. Following her he eventually saw a very large stone chateau, nestled in the lush forestland of Washington State. It was an impressive looking place; and it had to have in excess of fifty rooms. An Olympic-sized swimming pool and a number of really large outbuildings could be barely made out beyond the house. There were fourteen very expensive motor cars sitting out in front in the large circular driveway. Music drifted towards him from the place and other vampires came out to greet whoever he was following. He could see their eyes glowing as they greeted the one he had followed. They all went inside and the music continued, only hesitating between songs. This had to be their place, a large place where they could all meet together in privacy.

Pleased with himself he rocketed away into the night, anxious to tell the others what he had found. He noted that the paved, mile-long driveway turned off of Balsam Canyon Drive.

***

Wilks approached the crime scene tape, glad not to have his partner with him for this callout as he got a look at the body. Nodding to the uniformed officer as he pulled the tape up, he pulled on a pair of latex gloves and looked about for any footprints or other evidence. The place was secluded enough and yet within a hundred yards of the dumpsters of four different restaurants. No doubt the poor bugger had been meaning to nab a meal from them when he had been attacked.

There was a circular wound and the tell-tale marks of a human-like bite as plain as day when he partially rolled the body. He let it slump back to keep it concealed as best he could and then became aware of a car pulling up with its' stereo blasting.

Looking around over his shoulder he groaned inwardly as his partner Clay Walker unfolded his lanky frame from his silver gray 1963 Stingray coupe. "Mornin' partner" he quipped as he pulled on latex gloves and slipped his badge and strap over his head.

"Mornin' Clay. You'd better quit driving that 'Vette around as a work car. That thing is damned near irreplaceable."

"I was out running her on the 405 when I got the call. Another homeless guy I guess?"

"Yep." No ID either. He said as he grunted his way back up.

"Sounds painful, Wilks."

"Damned knees! If they get any worse they will file for divorce and sue me for separate maintenance!"

Clay and the uniformed officer both barked out a short laugh at that and then Clay moved toward the body. Wilks moved outside of the yellow and black crime scene tape and pulled out the cell-phone he kept for rare cases like this one.

The familiar silky voice answered saying "Business Solutions, Margo speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hey Margo. It's Wilks. We got another one. Near Cowen park. Looks like another homeless guy."

"Thank you Wilks. We will be looking for a copy of your report."

"Any ideas?"

"Ideas you wouldn't dream of, Wilks. We're all over this but I can't say more."

"Got it. All right, Margo. Toodle-oo."

"Wait a minute, Wilks. I have something for you to look into."

"Shoot."

Wilks pulled out his pad as he began to write a list of names and addresses. "What do I do with these?"

"I need the make, year, model, and color of each car that is registered to these people or to their parents."

"Easy-peasy. How soon?"

"I need the particulars on your current case soonest. This vehicle thing can wait a little bit."

"No problem."

"We're closing in on these murders Wilks. Good bye."

"Bye, Margo."

As he turned around to head to the car he saw Clay standing watching him, openly curious. He sauntered over to Wilks and spoke in a low voice saying "That's the second time I've seen you report this to someone on a non-issue phone. Am I to assume that the Chief of D's is going to take this case from us too?"

Wilks sighed heavily and looked at him narrowly, as if trying to peer into his very soul. He held that look for a bit and then nodded his head as he said "Yep. And if you want to remain a detective and not become a meter maid, you'll keep quiet about it too. Trust me, kid. This thing goes way above our pay grade."

"Well I just got more interested, Wilks. The vic here is Shamus. Dammit, I would like the courtesy of a bit of trust here at the least or I could ask for another partner."

"Ah geez, kid! I was afraid it might be him. Let's canvas these restaurants and then we'll sit down over a cup of coffee and see about broadening your education. Sound good enough?"

"Yeah. But don't try to blow any smoke, okay?"

"Okay."

***

The short tractor-trailer wound its way up the long driveway off of Balsam Canyon Drive, taking the easy grade in 3rd gear. A prominent logo on each side of the trailer and the doors of the cab proudly proclaimed that the truck was one belonging to 'Party Solutions' and that they could provide all manner of party accessories for every occasion.

Arthur noted the time of arrival and got comfortable near the gate at the road. The gate and associated stone work all around the entrance was of vintage construction and high quality workmanship. This was a gate that had been here for many decades or longer. He had seen two human security guards patrolling about the place in a golf cart, but noted that they were not armed. They had one Doberman Pinscher dog, and looked like yuppie rent-a-cops. Clearly they didn't represent any real threat to Enzo and his crew. Word was that Enzo's assault team from somewhere in Europe would arrive tonight. He was happy that even Katrina had seemed impressed when he had announced his find the other night. Maybe now she would warm up toward him. As he thought of her blonde Nordic features and feminine attributes, he became aroused and began to have lewd fantasies.

# Chapter 27

The vampire sprung like lightning and grabbed a large sewer rat, wringing its head off and squeezing its life blood into a Tupperware bowl. Katrina always fed alone, not wanting the others to know that she didn't take humans. As she prepared to feed, she became aware of a vampire watching her from the shadows under a large tree. It had allowed its eyes to glow a bright blue and yet had not advanced. To her, that was clearly a sign that it was not hostile, and she didn't recognize its scent, so it wasn't one of her coven. She made her eyes glow toward it and then went back to pouring the blood into a plastic army surplus canteen.

In a flash the vampire was nearer, yet had stopped over thirty feet distant, a gesture of respect. It was a male and he spoke to her saying "Good evening. I don't believe I know you."

"I'm not from around here."

"Passing through then?"

"No. I was brought over near here. Just getting by, really."

"I see. We don't have that sort of thing going on around here usually. I know the locals, and none of them would do that. I'm Jeff, by the way."

Standing up then she said "Katrina, Jeff. Want a swig?"

"No thanks. I'm hunting deer tonight."

"I've never had that."

"Beats what you're having." he said with a gentle laugh. She liked the sound of his voice and his mannerisms.

"None around where I hunt."

"You're welcome to come along. It's only twelve miles from here."

She hesitated, and then, encouraged by his open friendly manner, she nodded, saying "lead the way."

He smiled and turned east and started off at an easy pace, and after hitting the top of her speed, he leveled off and they rocketed through the night together toward a distant low rise of forested hills.

***

Irina was surprised to see an open cockpit biplane with pale yellow wings and a blue fuselage roll up to the tarmac at Reno municipal airport. Ian climbed out and leapt to the ground from the wing with a big smile on his deeply tanned face.

Walking briskly toward the pair he unsnapped a vintage leather aviator's cap with goggles as he embraced Dominique and then turned to Irina and said "You look fantastic, Irina. I see that you imprinted a bit of color. Being a vampire becomes you." She flushed and laughed as she walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"How has everything gone?"

"She's done very well. She's an Adept in all but experience, and she speaks three languages too."

"Wonderful! Blood fast?"

Irina spoke proudly and said "Four days."

"Splendid! Would you like to hunt some bigger game before going home?"

"Well, yes. I've not had a chance at anything but Jackrabbits and Prairie Dogs."

"We could do that on the way home. How would you like to fly home in a real airplane?"

She looked at Dominique who nodded and smiled and then looked at Ian nodding and laughing.

"You'll have to leave that guitar with Dom, but we can fit the other stuff behind the seats."

Turning to Dominique Irina came to her and hugged her, holding tightly as she said "I love you, Dom. Thank you so much for everything."

"Right back at you, Irina. Don't be a stranger."

"I'm Rini to both of you."

Kissing her cheek Dominique said with a warm smile "Have a good flight, Rini." and she turned and began unloading their luggage to stow in the Beechcraft as Irina followed Ian to the Stearman. As she approached the plane she noticed the unique markings on it and Ian told her that the plane was painted in genuine U S Army Air Corps colors right down to the stars on the wings.

"Ian, what kind of plane is this?"

"She's a 1942 Stearman PT 17, Continental 220 engine with electric start added."

"Did you do any of the work on her?"

"I did all of the work on her. We vampires work fast and we have a lot of time." he said with a dazzling smile as she laughed.

In minutes they were airborne, Irina in the front cockpit and Ian in the rear. There were two headsets and they could easily talk in flight on a local channel, but Irina kept quiet until they had taken off and cleared Reno airspace.

They were flying quite a bit lower than they had in the Beechcraft and slower too, yet Irina enjoyed it more for some reason. Once out over the Sierra Nevada mountains, Ian really put the Stearman through its paces doing sequential loops and barrel rolls and finally a full climb out into a hammerhead stall, dropping back the nose toward earth and waiting for flying speed to be reached again before pulling out into a series of loops and barrel rolls again.

Irina laughed and screamed in delight through the whole thing, loving every minute of it. They again detoured to pass by Mt Shasta and Crater Lake and Ian landed in Eugene later to refuel.

When they departed from Eugene, Ian let Irina do the takeoff, talking her through it. She kept the stick for some two hours and learned to do gentle 'S' turns and controlled stall-recovery drills. They stopped and got fuel again at a little country airport somewhere sixty miles east of Portland and again, Irina got to do a takeoff, and again flew for some two hours, handing it back to Ian as they got closer to the Seattle area. It seemed to Irina like it was no time and they were approaching Gig Harbor airport.

They deplaned and she helped Ian push it into a private hangar and the two carried her bags to a Chevy Tahoe SUV parked in the pilot's area.

In three hours they had arrived in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle. Ian found a place to pull off and conceal the SUV. He left Irina in the car to have her privacy for changing into a black BDU. When she emerged she saw that he was wearing the same thing. He handed her a well-made black ruck sack. She opened it to see an aluminum bowl with a pour spout stamped in its lip and four special hip flasks of aluminum too. Included were a Navy Seals all-purpose knife with a web belt and sheath.

Smiling at her, he said "It's a graduation present, Rini. This is what true Adept vampires use to feed. Let's go."

"These are lighter than yours."

"Yes, mine are copper. I've had them for a long time."

"I could see they were hand made."

"Take a close look at this one." he said as he handed her an old flask.

"It says 'Lafayette-1767'."

"Look at this one." he said as he handed her another.

"Mmmm. No!" She looked up at him, wide-eyed, as she started to smile while shaking her head. 'Paul Revere-1777'? The Paul Revere?"

"He was a friend." he said with a smile.

"And the other?"

"Part of my first set, from France." I don't carry these when we fight or travel. I'm afraid of losing them."

"I can see why" she said, even as she wondered at the history in the making that he had seen.

She followed him as they rocketed away through the sweet-scented forest. They ran for some eight miles and bounded over streams and gullies and fallen trees until Ian came to a stream some thirty five feet wide. He took it in stride where a tree overhung the stream and turned just in time to see Irina crash into the tree limbs as she was jumping the stream. She did a reverse somersault and landed in the water, coming up with a surprised look on her face.

Ian stood laughing on the bank and instantly bounded into the stream and laughingly said "I'm sorry, Rini but that was too funny not to laugh!"

She stood rubbing her head where a knot had formed and said "Hey, I got a knot up here!"

Laughing Ian said "It will disappear in less than a minute. I did the exact same thing the first time I ever ran in the woods. Do you know what you did wrong here?"

"I... well, no."

"You didn't let your vampire instincts take over when they needed to. You saw the width of this stream and consciously jumped as if you were human when you would easily have flowed over it had you just kept running and had taken just a bit of a longer stride."

Nodding she said "I can see that. Hey, it's already gone down!" she said as she felt her head.

"We vamps heal fast. Now let's investigate this shoreline."

Puzzled she followed him out of the water and he pointed to deer tracks, saying "They drink here, Rini. Get their scent."

She knelt and smelled carefully, detecting a definite animal scent.

"Congratulations. You just cataloged deer scent into your memory. You'll always remember that scent for as long as you live. Now let's go feed." he said as they rocketed away in the direction of the car.

In two miles they had found the scent of deer and Ian had slowed them down to a walk as they silently crept closer. Whispering to her he said "Jump astride its back and twist its head around. It is quick and painless that way."

A buck broke from cover in another two minutes as they approached a bushy area and Irina flashed forward, landing on the animal and breaking its neck cleanly.

"Bring it along and follow me."

He took off then and she shouldered the kill and followed for nearly three-fourths of a mile to a small stream. Ian took two cords from his ruck sack and showed her how to string up the carcass upside down and how to cut it to allow it to drain properly. He rinsed all four of his flasks and refilled each, catching it in her bowl. Then she did the same, looking up to him for approval.

He gave a curt nod and said "that's all there is to it, Rini. You'll have to learn to slip away from humans at night and hunt small game for yourself now, but that's easy. You'd be amazed at how many rabbits there are in any city. Raccoons and squirrels are available in cities too. Rats will do in a pinch, and you can feed from fish as well."

He turned away from her then and at vampire speed he cleaned and skinned the carcass, and beheaded it as well. Using its' hide he wrapped the meat and after tying it into a tight bundle he put it in his ruck sack.

"I hate to waste good venison" he said as he washed his knife and his hands in the stream. "Let's get going now and get you home."

In only minutes they were back at the Tahoe and Ian left so that she could change back into her jeans, blouse and sneakers in private. When he returned he asked her for her house key.

She fished around in her luggage and took it out, handing it to him with raised eyebrows.

He opened his hand and put an open handkerchief in it, extending it to Irina who placed her key there. Noticing that there was a well-worn tag with her name on it he nodded and said "You can have your mother get you a duplicate."

"What do you need with that?"

"Mmmm. I'd rather not say right now. I may or may not need it for something important. Just trust me on this, okay?"

She nodded and climbed into the SUV.

An hour after sundown they pulled up some three blocks from her fourplex and Ian helped her unload. Soon she was ready to walk to her home.

"You may want to stash your rucksack near home somewhere until you're sure that the FBI won't be poking around. The fork of a tall tree would make a good place, and make sure it's not near a streetlight! We've pretty well gone over your official story. Don't let anyone take a blood sample from you under any circumstance. That would be really bad. No X-rays either. Don't bother to go back to the hospital where they worked on you, even if asked to. Here are your official medical reports from one of our doctors in Tacoma." he said as he handed her a sealed nine by twelve envelope. "Show them to no one, but they will pass as an official record should the need arise. Here is a cell phone, prepaid for an entire year. Dom is 99 and I am 100 on the memory. We won't be seeing you anytime soon and I assume she told you why."

"Yes. I understand. I... I'm so grateful and..." she began to cry a bit then and then said "I can't thank you enough."

"You can thank me by finishing school and fulfilling your dreams. The Elsie Foundation is on board and will pick you back up as if nothing ever happened."

"How do you know that?"

"I have my ways. You're going to fulfill your dreams, Rini. I hope it's all better than you hoped for."

"If it is, it's because of you and Dom."

Stepping close to him she kissed his cheek. Saying goodbye, she turned around, walking toward her fourplex. Ian watched here until she turned into the driveway of her building before driving away.

As she arrived she heard Pepper excitedly whining and he barked excitedly as she began to knock at the door. Her mother answered and stood in the doorway as if thunderstruck when she saw Irina. Putting both of her hands to her mouth she began to weep as she reached out to her.

"Oh sweetheart! You're home! Welcome home, Rini. Welcome home." And then she clung to Irina and wept shamelessly as Irina joined her.

# Chapter 28

Katrina came in just as the coven had assembled and she sat down in the back as Enzo walked to the front of the room. "I have some good news to report. Arthur found one of the places where they live and has been watching it. It looks like they're getting ready for some sort of a party soon. My friends are in Seattle already and we have four large vans at our disposal. We'll load up every evening and park a few miles from the place. On the night of the party, we'll hit them with everything we have. Any of you who wants to can be in on it. It's a very large home and all of you can have anything that you can carry away. Arthur, come here and tell everyone what you saw."

Making his way to the front Arthur turned and said "I saw fourteen high-end cars here. There were two Lamborghinis, three Ferraris', a Bentley and a Rolls, two Corvettes, four Mercedes and one I couldn't recognize."

Enzo said "The parts from those things would bring a fortune and if they drive cars like that, just imagine what jewelry and accessories they wear and what's in that house!"

The whole room erupted in an excited buzzing of conversations then.

***

The Elsie Foundation bus pulled up outside Bellevue High School and Irina got out with the other seven kids. She was wearing aviators' style sunglasses, Calvin Klein Jeans, a maroon blouse with bell sleeves, and white Reebok sneakers. Her honey blond hair fell freely about her face like a mane, its golden highlights reflecting the light as it moved while she walked through the double doors.

A gaggle of boys stood dumbstruck, wondering who she was as she walked past with a slight smile and a nod toward them, carrying her pile of books with ease as she made her way up the stairs to her locker.

The male students kept ogling her as she made her way to her old locker. Producing a new padlock for it, she unloaded half of her books and snapped it into place, turning then to head for the principal's office.

Going directly to the counter she laid a sealed letter with the principal's name on it there and took a seat, opening a trig book and sliding her sunglasses up to perch provocatively on top of her head.

Several minutes passed and then she heard a man clear his throat and she saw the principal beckoning to her to come around behind the counter. She smiled brightly and walked around to his side as he stood there mouth agape looking at her.

"Miss Connors. We expected you to be on crutches at the least. And we didn't expect you to look as if you'd spent a summer in the Caribbean."

"Surprise, surprise!"

"I was told to expect you. You may go to your home room. We'll get together with you regarding make-up work and tests after lunch. You can skip study hall and come here if that's all right with you."

Smiling sweetly she nodded and thanked him. Leaving the office she headed downstairs to her home room with a slip signed by the principal. The two hall-monitors stared at her forgetting to ask for her hall pass. Walking into home room, she saw rows of students, mouths agape and eyes wide. Zoe stood and covered her mouth as she stared at Irina in wide-eyed wonderment. Handing her tardy slip to her home room teacher, she smiled and nodded to her and said "Good morning" as she turned away and went to her place at the large table next to Zoe.

Her friend sat staring at her, eyes wide in wonderment as Irina said "Why Zoe, you act as if you've never seen a girl who's had a makeover."

At lunch time, Irina met Zoe at the same table where they had last eaten together. She opened her lunch bag and produced a bottle of water, an apple, a slice of carrot, and an egg salad sandwich made by her mother.

There was no shortage of students gawking at her, and especially boys. She pretty much ignored them all and only talked with Zoe. Her friend was dying to know the particulars of her absence but Irina would only give the same version that she gave to her mother. She shared with Zoe that the police had been to her home and had asked her mother to bring her downtown for a statement if and when she returned. That was to be two days hence, on a Saturday, and her mother had already phoned the police to tell them that she would be there with Irina.

The Clique was present, but they stayed at the other end of the cafeteria. Irina noticed that Sharon was wearing a large cast on her hand and forearm, and that Billy still had some tape stitches on his nose where he had had surgery.

Later in Phys-Ed class, Irina was part of a volleyball team and they all rotated positions for part of the period, but when Irina kept jumping up and spiking the ball like lightning to score, her team left her at the net, to easily become the high scorer for the day.

She got all of her back assignments that afternoon and was given a schedule for the make-up tests for each of her classes. The faculty was bending over backwards to please and accommodate her. She began to wonder if her new friends had anything to do with that and didn't know how right she was. Susan Ellmore had been terminated while she was gone, but had mysteriously been reinstated with back pay only a few days before Irina returned.

Things were definitely looking up, and Irina could hardly believe the difference in how students behaved toward her. Never could she have imagined the things that were now happening, such as boys everywhere in the hallways smiling at her, and girls looking at her with envy. The Clique was still around, but not one of them had ventured near her on her first day back at school, and for her part they could stay away.

When she got home from school, Pepper ran to her and leapt into her arms trying to kiss her as she laughed. Her mother came to kiss her and gave her a new key for the front door. Then she pointed to six boxes that had come that day, courtesy of UPS.

Opening them Irina saw her guitar packed in its case, and a slew of CD's featuring vocalists ranging from current pop and going back sixty years. The second box contained a large assortment of casual clothing for school wear, featuring high-end labels that she had never dared dream of wearing, let alone owning. Several pairs of high-end shoes were in the third box, along with a pair of top-grade hunter's boots and socks. An add-on acoustical guitar amplifier and speakers were in the fourth box and in the fifth one was a Bose home stereo. Opening the sixth one she saw a Toshiba laptop computer and a set of Encyclopedia Britannica CD's.

She sat in the middle of all of the things with a look of complete shock on her face as she read a card tucked in the stereo box.

Irina,

Hope these things make your final weeks a bit more enjoyable. We miss you already. Fondest memories and good luck always.

I and D

PS: For those sleepless nights I enclosed a complete CD set of Encyclopedia Britannica. Read all of it. There will be a quiz. (That's a joke. You can laugh now; if you are wearing your sunglasses that is!)

"Looks like your friends are thinking of you, honey" said her mother as she hugged her.

"I'm thinking of them too, Mom." she said as her eyes grew a bit teary.

# Chapter 29

The yacht Lady Vamp rode at anchor once again near the northern tip of Olympic Peninsula and Ian came down from the bridge accompanied by an equally tall blonde-haired male vampire.

"Everyone, I think you all know Jeff."

Several of the group nodded and a few greeted him by name.

"He has something to share with us so I'll let him tell you."

"Thanks, Ian. Not too long ago I met a stranger. She was hunting and I was just watching from a distance. I approached and we talked awhile and later we hunted out east a few miles. Turns out she was forced and is not too happy with her lot. She now tells me that a lot of foreigners have arrived and are loaded up in four vans every evening and that they stand by only a few miles from the Balsam Valley Drive area. Apparently they think that you are going to have a big gathering at a chateau out there soon and they plan to hit you with everything they have then. I know that you warned me about fraternizing with strangers at this time Ian, but I think this is worth investigating."

They all remained impassive, so Jeff couldn't tell if he had given them anything of value or not. Ian spoke then saying "Thank you, Jeff. We've been meeting and talking out here and other places since we smelled trouble. I take it that you're keeping her at arm's length then?"

"Yes. As far as she's concerned I'm only a local vamp who lives quietly and knows nothing about any of you."

"Did she ask about us at all, even a hint of interest?"

"No. She's looking to leave the coven and I did caution her not to share that with any of them. They number fourteen counting her. Four of them are foreigners, Italian she thinks. Their names are Enzo, Karla, Mario, and Sybella. I think there are around forty more that recently flew in."

"I think that I speak for all of us here Jeff and I'd like to invite you and all of the Adepts in the Seattle vampire community to a very special party tonight. I'll accompany you to speak with them at the motel after we get back to the marina. How does that sound to you?"

Jeff's eyes glowed as he said "I'm in the mood for a good party."

***

Irina and her mother made their way up the steps and entered Police headquarters in downtown Seattle on Cherry Street, giving their names at the front receiving area. They were shown through metal detectors into the interior and escorted to a floor which had numerous desks and cubicles. As they entered that area, a distinguished looking man wearing an expensive suit stood and came to them. He had neat gray hair and a closely trimmed moustache and carried a hand-tooled Italian made briefcase. As he arrived he spoke saying "Excuse me sergeant, but these are my clients."

Turning to Irina and her mother he introduced himself "I'm J T Crawford and I've been retained to represent you today, Irina."

The two were stunned and quickly introduced themselves. Then the sergeant took them to a cubicle where they were introduced to a Detective Ward. Ward looked up and said "Why JT, whatever are you doing here on a case like this one?"

"Hello Detective Ward. I go wherever my clients need me."

Irina stepped out of the cubicle at JT's insistence and then told him her story over near the elevators. He nodded and told her to tell them that exact version and then to not answer any questions whatsoever unless he told her to. Back in the cubicle she gave her story to the detective and agreed to stay awhile and work with a police artist regarding a description of the man who had attacked her. She refused to divulge any information regarding who had helped her and would only say that they were naturopathic doctors who feared persecution by the FDA and other agencies if identified.

When they weren't satisfied her attorney shut off any further questioning and told them in no uncertain terms that they would have to be satisfied with what she had given them. Under no circumstances were they to talk with either Irina or her mother without him being present.

Although clearly unhappy, the police were powerless to pursue matters any further and reluctantly agreed to all of that. Irina worked with a police artist and concluded that within an hour, during which time Crawford stayed with them.

Knowing that the media had been tipped off as to their presence, Crawford got them out of the place through a little-known service entrance. After leaving the building he advised them that they might be under surveillance for a while simply due to the police being so frustrated by the case and the local exposure it was getting from the media. His advice was to proceed as if they were under surveillance and to call him if they tried to speak with either of the two again about the incident. They were told to give no comments to the media at all. Hailing a cab some three blocks away from the place, he prepaid the driver to take them to their home. As they were getting ready to get into the cab, he said "You've broken no laws so don't do the police department's work for them. Remain silent on this matter. You have no obligation to speak to the media or the police."

Irina and her mother were stunned at how smoothly things had gone, and her mother said "I don't know who your new friends are honey, but they sure know how to get things done!"

***

Enzo sat comfortably, perched in the upper part of a large fir tree with a pair of powerful binoculars. It was dusk now and still he waited patiently, being as he had seen only four limousines enter the driveway on Balsam Canyon Drive. Within only another hour, he had seen seven additional limousines arrive and after that only an occasional car or pickup truck would pass by. Deciding that all who were coming were already there, he opened his cell phone and punched in two digits.

"Mario here."

"Enzo here. Everyone in! Repeat; everyone in now!"

"We're moving now."

In only some ten minutes or so four small one-ton box vans with rollup rear cargo doors came down Balsam Canyon Drive and turned, going through the gate and switching their lights off as they passed through, their diesel engines growling.

The column stopped and Enzo and Karla got in the lead van. They then started up the long driveway, winding through the lush forestland in the darkness.

A half-mile in they began to descend and Enzo spoke "How much further, Arthur?"

"We are only about halfway there now. We will be able to see the chateau from a rise just before we get to it."

"Damn! How much land do they have here?" In fact at that location the family had in excess of six thousand acres held under one hundred thirty seven different names on one hundred ninety different tracts, all adjoining each other.

"It's got to be a good mile to the house from the road, Enzo."

"All right then; say when and we'll stop at that spot."

They continued to descend through heavy thickets of laurel and other assorted evergreen undergrowth which by now lined both sides of the driveway. As they neared the lowest point of their descent, the undergrowth gave way to old-growth forest once again and the driveway led between two solid rocky escarpments maybe fifteen feet tall that rose up to flank it on each side for some four hundred feet, forming a natural high wall on each side of the driveway.

Enzo hollered 'Stop!' as they came upon a limousine with the driver's side rear wheel off, trunk open, and the car up on its jack. The spare tire lay beside it as if ready to be put on the car, and the chauffers' black jacket was draped over the left rear fender.

"No one's out there, Enzo." said the driver as Enzo peered out.

"Hit the lights a second Giuseppe."

The headlights flipped on briefly and it was easy to see that there was no one there around the limousine.

"Shit! Hop out and tell the one in the back to back out of here. We'll try to find a way around this thing or walk the rest of the way." Rolling down the windows he heard the strains of loud pop music drifting their way and what sounded like a swimming pool party in full swing with the distant sounds of splashing, laughter, and a couple of feminine screams.

Arthur got out and ran back to the last van and just as he got there, he heard a thrashing noise and two flat-black colored Humvees came out of the brush, only a scant fifty feet from the back of the last Van. They were connected by a really heavy chain and formed an effective road block at that point. The driver's side doors flew open and two figures dressed in black battle dress fatigues with black gauze hoods rocketed out of the seats and melted into the brush alongside of the driveway.

Suddenly the muffled sounds of two mortar shots were heard. 'Whump...whump.' The area all around was suddenly brightly lit with two flares, hanging from small parachutes descending slowly some six hundred feet overhead. Immediately after that four rocket-propelled grenades were fired from the rocks overhead, two from either side; and then all four vans exploded in flames as the cargo boxes on each burst open with the concussion of the blasts.

Vampires screeched and roared as they spilled out of the flaming masses and were immediately riddled with suppressed automatic weapons fire. Hundreds of rounds were fired into the screaming running vampires, and the ones who made it up the sides of the rocks were met by black-clad figures wearing black gauze hoods and black Kevlar helmets, wielding 12-gauge street-sweepers with 12-round drums. They were all shooting incendiary rounds and their roaring screaming targets burst into flames as they were hit, many of them blown off the rocks to crash down onto the burning vans below, only to rebound and leap about screeching in rage and pain, trying to get away from the flames.

Already the black-clad figures were leaping down from the rocks with drawn swords and beginning to behead the rolling thrashing vampires. Only a few of the invaders could even get off a round being as most of their weapons were in the burning vans. The few who did were firing pistol rounds wildly as they tried to escape the kill zone.

Seventeen of the occupants of the large vans had rocketed along the narrow way between their vans and the rocky side walls flanking the driveway, but had been met by still more black-clad figures who opened fire on them with silenced Uzis and three of them fell to the ground thrashing about wildly, each with several slugs in their brains. In seconds those were beheaded too and the team began to move along the narrow way searching for more targets and herding those who had survived back into the heart of the kill zone.

Twelve of the invaders leaped straight up to the crest of the escarpments, looking like twelve flaming comets with arms and legs and nearly all were met by more black-clad figures that opened up on them with suppressed Uzis. As they fell screeching and flopping about, they were quickly beheaded.

Four of them got past the ones at the top and rocketed into the darkness, trying to get out of the kill zone alive. Three were met by a horde of vampires led by Jeff and they cut them down by reason of their sheer numbers as they began to slowly close in and define a rough circle around the kill zone.

There were three instances of close quarters hand to hand combat as Ian's people tried to take some alive for questioning and then it was over.

Several of the family descended on the trucks with fire extinguishers and put out all of the fires. Jeff arrived where Ian was and looked concerned, saying "Did you see Katrina, Ian?"

Ian hollered "Hey everyone we still might have one friendly among this bunch so watch for her!" Turning to Jeff he said "We just got done here, Jeff. I've had no time to look. Will you please get some of your people down to the gate to close and secure it? We don't want some sheriff's deputy poking around up here. Have a few of them stay there and call me if anyone tries to come in." He tossed him a hand-held walkie-talkie and said "Channel two if you need me."

Within less than a minute there were eleven of Jeff's people at the gate, securing and locking it. Ian had already called out to his team to see if anyone was injured and other than eleven wounds from pistol fire, the whole team had sustained no other injuries and by then they had already affected their healing.

Dominique walked up to Ian and several others, her hood and Kevlar helmet in her hand as she grinned at them.

"You did good, Dom. So how was your first vampire fight?"

"It was over too fast. I was enjoying myself."

"They don't all go this well, I promise you!" Ian said as both of them laughed even while three or four others said "Amen to that!"

"Ian, did you take your pilot's exam recently by any chance?"

Laughing he said "Busted!"

"Thought so, otherwise I wouldn't have been invited to this party tonight, would I?"

"No, but now you'll be invited to all of them. Be careful what you wish for!" he said with a final laugh as she shook her head. Several of the family members nearby laughed heartily.

"Dom, can you take two others with you and go get our wrecker truck? We need to get our driveway cleared. Be sure to remove the tattle-tails on all four of these trucks and be sure that they each have a dry cell battery attached before you remove them. Even a loss of battery will trigger them to record an event and it will record it as happening right here."

"I didn't know that."

"Yes, Li will help you. He has everything you'll need. We'll have to use them to lay a trail away from here right away or the leasing company will bring the sheriff here looking for their trucks. After the tattle tails are out, the trucks can be towed to the shop and pushed in there for now. We'll dispose of them later."

"I'll get on it now." she said as she trotted away, calling to some others to help her.

***

Miles to the west, Enzo finally stopped and listened intently. His burns were only beginning to heal slowly and his clothing was in tatters. Deciding that he hadn't been followed, he sat down on a log and took out a flask and drained it, shaking with anger and shock.

They handed us our heads on a platter tonight! Damn it anyway, I thought we had them cold! My God, how could they have known we were coming and when? I wonder if any of the others got away. I wonder if Karla got away.

# Chapter 30

Irina had ranged far from her usual hunting area that night. She had hoped to find something different and had never gotten to where she could stand the thought of feeding on either a dog or a cat.

She was near Interstate 5 at that time and heard a horrific crash which sounded as if it involved several cars. Curious, she rocketed a quarter mile to the east, hurdling over the boundary fence along the interstate like it wasn't there. A tractor-trailer had jackknifed on the southbound side trying to avoid a car and had in turn caused a pickup truck to run up under it. A couple of other cars had managed to slow down and had done damage, but the real problem was that the pickup truck was pinned under the tractor-trailer which was a fuel tanker, and it was leaking gasoline.

Irina ran up to the shoulder, appearing from the bushes along the boundary of the highway and approaching the wreck. A man was unconscious in a late model pickup truck, slumped over the steering wheel, his head resting on a deflated air bag.

The stench of the fuel was overpowering and Irina was alarmed immediately. The driver had gotten out of the semi and had started to join her there and at the sight and smell of the fuel leaking out onto the scene, he had turned and run along the shoulder of the road in the opposite direction as fast as he could go.

Irina was at the cab in a flash and found that the door was jammed from the force of the collision. She broke the glass on the driver's door with her fist and tried to reach the safety belt release and couldn't quite get to it. So she ripped the belt in two at the door frame and began to pull on the man, trying to get him through the window opening. He came to then, fastening his eyes on hers.

His legs seemed to be stuck between his seat and the collapsed instrument panel of his truck. Desperately she cast about for anything that might help and finding nothing she grabbed the door itself and began to pull with all of her might. The door groaned and began to buckle from the strain she was putting on it and it finally came free with a grinding screech. She shoved it as far out of the way as she could and then eased the man out of the vehicle. Turning to some onlookers she shouted "Get out of here! There's a fuel leak!" People began to turn and run away and people in their cars nearby got out and ran away from the area as well.

As quickly as she had dragged him clear of the wreckage, she picked him up and threw him over her shoulder like he was a rag doll and carried him down the embankment and away from the site.

They had gotten about three hundred feet from the wreck when it exploded with a great booming sound, and the shock wave caused her to stagger, but not to fall. A gigantic fireball rose eight hundred feet into the night sky and she continued on until they were some four hundred feet from the site.

Easing the man down she looked to see if he had any injuries. He had a cut on his forehead, but no other injuries that she could see. As she held him, his eyes fluttered open and he saw the face of a beautiful young woman looking down at him with compassion and concern. Her features were lit by the great flaming mass of wreckage behind him and he realized that she was speaking to him. He was drawn to her beautiful violet-blue eyes which in this light had an especially exotic color and look about them. The highlights in her hair seemed to dance with the light coming from the holocaust just a few hundred feet distant.

"Are you hurt? Mister, are you hurt? Can you hear me?"

He thought he caught the faint scent of lilac about her and tried to answer, croaking "What happened? Who are you?"

"I'm Irina. You were in a wreck, but you're safe now. Can you tell if you have any injuries?"

"I... I don't think so. I can move... I can move... my feet and...and everything ok."

She studied his lean features and saw that he was young, and had wavy sandy colored hair and hazel colored eyes with a hawkish cast to them.

"Help should be on the way, who did you say you are?"

"Oh... sorry... I'm Clay...Clay Walker."

"Clay, here come some people. Maybe one of them has a cell phone."

"Do you need help here young lady?" Irina looked up and saw an elderly man with a cell phone and said "Can you call this in?"

"Help is already on the way. Some people did that a few minutes ago. Did you get him all the way over here by yourself?" As if to punctuate his statement, Irina heard sirens approaching the scene, and she saw two people with camcorders recording the fire. One of them turned and pointed his camera toward them. The elderly man had taken off his jacket and rolled it up, approaching them.

"Here young lady. You can let him rest on my jacket." he said as he handed it to her. She eased Clay back and put his head on the jacket, saying "You're going to be all right, Clay. Help is here now."

An ambulance pulled up on the shoulder alongside of them and two EMT techs jumped out and came to them. Irina stood, shouldered her rucksack and backed away, but noticed that the man had his eyes fastened on hers before the paramedics came between the two of them. Turning she started down the bank and melted into the bushes near the boundary fence. There was a soccer field adjacent to the interstate there and she rocketed across it in the darkness.

***

"I make it at fifty three dead."

"Me too. Seventeen females?"

"Yes. Let's get pictures before we dispose of them."

"Why?"

"We can give the file to Jeff and if he sees Katrina he can ask if she knows any of them. Better yet, she may tell us who got away."

"You think any of them got away?"

Shrugging he said "It was pretty hairy for a while there. Some of them got to the top of the rocks so yes; there is a chance that a few got past Jeff's people.

"Even so, it went well tonight. They learned what to expect if they come on our turf and start trouble. Dom, I need to speak with you."

Walking over as she slung her Uzi over a shoulder she said "They're bringing the tow truck around now. What's up?"

"You did very well tonight. There's one job left for you to do, but it can wait until tomorrow."

"What is it?"

"You'll have to take a metal detector and round up all of these casings. We must've fired four thousand rounds here tonight."

"I'll start on it at first light. How many did we take alive?"

"Two males." Sighing then he continued "I might just as well see what they have to say. This night isn't getting any younger." He steeled himself for the grim business then as he headed over to the two prisoners.

# Chapter 31

"Rini, Rini! Wait up"

Irina turned to see Zoe scurrying alongside of her, a pile of books in her arms and her face flushed with excitement.

"Give me some of those books Zo, before you drop them." she said as she took nearly all of them and tucked them under one arm like they were nothing and continued along the hallway toward their home room.

"Rini, Tommy Blair asked me to the prom!"

Looking at her friend, Irina smiled dazzlingly as she said "Tommy's a good guy, Zo. Congrats!'

"Are you going?"

"No. I can't stand the boys in this place. I'd rather go alone naked to a dogfight than to wear a new dress and go with one of these jerks to a dance!"

Laughing at her remark, Zoe said "I can tell you that there are likely to be two dozen guys who would love to take you!"

As they came into home room Irina thought those same two dozen guys used to look at me like I was shit stuck on their shoes. Hell will freeze over before I'd ever be seen in public with one of them now!

At lunchtime Tommy joined them at their table in the corner of the cafeteria and he brought along three friends.

Zoe said "Did you see on the news about that tanker truck that burned up over on the 5 last night?"

"Oh man! I saw the news! My dad recorded it. That thing blew up like Hiroshima!" said Tommy.

"Yeah, there was a girl who dragged some cop out of a truck that was stuck under the thing. No one knew who she was, but the media want to find her really bad!"

Irina looked back and forth at the two as they went on about it, thinking That's just what I need. Wouldn't Ian and Dom just love to watch me being interviewed on local TV news!

As she thought about it, she remembered looking into the man's eyes before she left. There was something about that moment that was etched in her memory indelibly, and it puzzled her. She felt the cafeteria and her interaction with the others at the table strangely receding as she relived those moments after getting him to safety. As she reminisced she was aware of her name being repeated. "Irina. Irina."

"Huh? Sorry. I was thinking about my trig test."

"I was telling Tommy here that you play guitar and he asked if you would like to come over this evening and jam some with him and his band."

Shaking her head, she said "No. I have studies."

"Well what about Saturday then. Would you come then?"

Looking at her friend, she saw how desperate Zoe was for an excuse to accompany her to Tommy's place so she sighed and said "Yeah. I can make it Saturday, maybe around two or so?"

"Great, Irina. We have to use the basement on weekends because my dad likes to work in the garage Saturdays."

"Ok. See you then. You're picking me up Zo?"

Excitedly she nodded her head "Yes. I'll borrow Mom's car."

"Ok then. We'll jam on Saturday."

# Chapter 32

Clay stood on his brother's front porch as the door opened "Say Ty. What's shakin'?"

"How you feelin' bro?"

"Well, I'm sick about losing my truck, but it could've been worse."

"Yeah. You could've lost your life!"

Laughing then Clay said "I was gonna say I could have lost my 'Vette."

Both of them laughed then as Ty tossed a Lowenbrau to Clay and switched on the TV. The two sat together on Ty's sofa, shoes off and feet propped up on the cocktail table, talking shop idly as an inane carwash commercial yammered on about how superior it was to other competitors.

"Say Ty, did you ever turn up anything on that girl who was in a wheelchair and was kidnapped, you know.... down at that Tradin' Post store in Delridge?"

"Where have you been, bro? She came back three weeks ago, and healthy as a horse too. No cast on her leg and I think that she maybe got Lasix done to her eyes too while she was gone."

"What?"

"The media has been trying to interview her and she won't talk to anyone. Only said that some naturopathic docs found her and nursed her back to health. Damnedest thing I ever heard of. She was in a cast when she was taken, too. I saw a picture that the owners of that Tradin' Post took the day it happened. They got a sketch of the perp, but no leads."

Stunned, Clay said "I've been out of touch, Ty. Sorry for that. Sounds pretty bizarre to me. You wouldn't believe what I've seen recently."

"Spill it." Ty said as he took a swig of his beer.

"Okay. We found this dead homeless guy some time ago. Human looking bite mark on his throat. Weird, Ty! I mean he looked even more pale than a corpse would, like there was no blood left in his body at all. One day the Chief of D's calls the Captain and has the file sent to him. We never heard about it again."

"Weird, but not the weirdest thing I've heard."

"Oh, it gets better. We find another, same thing. Chief of D's calls and gets this one too. And down at the ME's they won't even talk to me about it."

"Hey look Clay, you're on the news!"

"What is it?"

"Shhh!" he said as he cranked the volume. The announcer showed the file footage of the inferno as Clay groaned "There goes my truck!" and then the newscaster went on to show a video sent in by a viewer who had been on the scene. There was a girl kneeling down, holding a man in her arms as an old man approached the two.

The camera work was shaky but Clay sat bolt upright and riveted his eyes on the screen as the camera zoomed up closer to show a pretty girl wearing jeans and a black tank top. She stood up and shrugged on a rucksack before backing away as the paramedics arrived. He watched as the girl backed out of the frame of the video and was gone.

"That's her, Ty! That's the girl who saved my life bro! Do they know anything else?"

"Nah. Media has been looking for her since this video surfaced."

He thought back to when he first heard his door glass shatter and felt someone trying to undo his seat belt. As he thought now, he recalled hearing the screeching groan of tortured metal and the next thing he knew he was on the grass staring up into the loveliest eyes he had ever seen. Setting his unfinished beer on the cocktail table on a magazine, he stood up and said "I gotta go, Ty."

"Where to?"

"Arnolds' Auto Salvage."

"What!"

"They got my old truck. I want to take a look at it."

"You must have hit your head harder than you thought. Take it easy."

"Later, Ty."

***

Irina and Zoe had gone to Tommy's house and she had jammed with the group for two hours. They liked contemporary artists and had worked out three good routines of current favorites, for which Irina mostly just played an accompanying role. While they were taking a break, she got on the keyboard and began to play a tune by Eric Clapton and segued from that into another by Bob Seger without lyrics. Then she did both tunes on her guitar, singing the lyrics.

In no time she had the boys accompanying her as she did a string of oldies which had been number one songs over the years dating from the '70's and onward. She sang a few numbers and her alto voice varied from mellow to raspy during emotional lyrics.

By the time the afternoon had ended Tommy's dad and mom had come downstairs to hear them play, having heard them playing music from when they were younger. As Irina packed away her guitar, she suggested that they consider learning the top hits of other eras, being as all younger bands seemed to concentrate on contemporary songs. She pointed out that learning and specializing in proven hits of the past would make them unique and even could put them in demand at country clubs and special appearances around the Seattle area.

"What I'm saying guys is that you could fill a niche that maybe no other group is interested in. Seattle's a jazz town, and there are lots of young rock and roll bands. Offering oldies too could be the thing that could put you in demand as entertainment for adults as well as kids instead of competing for popularity with so many who only do contemporary. You could still do current hits too, and just mix them in with everything else."

Tommy's mother stepped over to Irina and said "Guys, I think she's on to something here. You should polish up some old favorites and give it a try. Hearing those oldies got Dad and me to come down here."

On the drive home Zoe said "I think Tommy's band might have a new lead singer."

"What? Will does a good job there, Zo."

"Will doesn't have what you have, Rini."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, I was watching their faces while you sang and you connected with them, Rini. You connected with their parents too. I know what I saw. Just think about it, promise? Promise?"

Laughing then, Irina promised, thinking imagine me being asked to join a high school rock band. I wonder how they would feel about me joining their group if they knew what I really am. Maybe Dom would book us to play oldies for all of the vampires in the family!

She threw her head back and laughed suddenly as it occurred to her what might qualify as 'Oldies' to a bunch of centuries-old vampires. Zoe looked at her curiously several times as they drove along.

# Chapter 33

Clay stood looking at the burnt hulk of his truck. In particular he looked long and hard at the driver's door. He had already talked to the driver of the wrecker who had assured him that the door was just like that when the wreckers had separated the two vehicles. He stood lost in thought I know that door was jammed shut. I tried to open it myself once before I went back under. How in hell did a teenager yank that thing open when I couldn't budge it by ramming my shoulder against it? And how did she get my lap belt off? I couldn't reach it myself for being crammed up against the dash.

Folding his lanky frame to get into the Stingray, he drove away thinking she got me over four hundred feet away from that place by herself. How many girls are there who could do that? I weigh 190 pounds and she looks like she barely tops 100 pounds. Who is she?

He resolved to find her as he signaled and merged onto the 405, sliding a disc into the stereo and settling back to listen to a medley of musical favorites from the late 90's.

***

Enzo looked at the night skyline of Portland as he pondered everything that had happened. We were so outclassed and outfought! I couldn't find a single survivor including my Karla. Our plane is being watched by vampires. How in hell did they find our Lear?

As he pondered all of the things he had done and how they had been so decisively beaten he was even more convinced that getting away from the Seattle area was the right thing to do. He would stay away from taking human prey now that he was alone and in a foreign land. That hapless businessman who he had killed for the clothing he now wore would be his last human kill. He had not fed from the man but had only snapped his neck and stripped him of his clothing, seventy two dollars and his wristwatch. The man had lost his life simply because he was as tall as Enzo which meant that his clothing would not fit too badly. It had been a necessity in order to appear at the front desk to ask for another key to his room.

Given what had happened, he had little doubt but that vampire communities in other cities had been alerted. He had been able to withdraw his deposit in the safe at Hyatt Regency Bellevue so he had fourteen thousand dollars in hard cash. The phony Brazilian backup passport and driver's license he now carried would allow him to get a new bank account and he would either lease a car at some point or buy an older used car if needed. They wouldn't be looking for a bald man from Brazil, but he had no doubt that they were now looking for a man from Italy with long dark hair.

He would call home to tell Vincenzo what had happened. Dreading that, he nonetheless decided to do it this very night. The story could be slanted so that he didn't come out looking quite so bad what with him being the only survivor, but it was an indisputable fact that his whole mission was a disaster.

Pulling out his cell phone, he reluctantly entered a certain unlisted telephone number in Rome, beginning to simmer with barely contained rage at having his oversized inflated ego so suddenly punctured. As a deep male voice answered the call, he immediately switched his mood to that of being earnest, humble, contrite, and needing assistance. Revenge would have to wait while he did his best to forestall a death warrant being put on him by Vincenzo Verrazano himself.

***

Irina turned and ran to left center field some forty feet and jumped up to catch what would have been a sure-fire double. Pivoting then, she threw the ball to second base for a successful double play. The runner having been certain that the ball could not have been caught had already rounded third base when she realized that she was out and that the inning was over.

The girl playing second base came over grinning, but had taken her glove off of her hand saying 'Great catch and great throw, Irina. Man that thing really stung me! I'm glad this is softball and not baseball!" as she shook her hand to help dispel the sting of Irina's throw.

Irina laughed as she trotted to their bench where she picked up three bats and began to swing them, getting ready to take a turn at bat.

Her team mate popped up an easy one to the shortstop so Irina came up to the plate, catching the batter's helmet as the other girl tossed it her way on her way to the bench. Stooping and putting some dust on her hands, she took a couple of practice swings and then stepped to the plate.

Since the pitcher was right-handed, Irina decided to bat left-handed. After letting two go past she stepped into the third pitch and hit a line drive that rocketed well over four hundred feet into right field, passing the boundary fence at a height of a hundred feet or so and still climbing. It landed out in the middle of the running track well beyond the baseball area.

Her team mates whooped and hollered because the Phys-Ed period was nearly over and the other team wouldn't even get another chance at bat. Shortly the Phys-Ed teacher blew her whistle and the girls all headed to the showers. Several of the girls came by to slap Irina on her back and congratulate her for their 2-1 win. She only smiled politely and nodded as she jogged toward the building.

At lunchtime that day, their table had been full of girls, all chattering about all manner of things and wanting Irina's opinion of first one thing and then another. If it wasn't movies, it was music and if not music then it was boys. For her part, although Irina was admittedly enjoying her new-found popularity, she couldn't forget what an outcast she had been less than two months ago. Other than Zoe, she trusted no one among her many class mates.

So she never initiated a conversation with another soul outside of Zoe and would only nod, shake her head, shrug, or smile slightly if asked a question. Other than Zoe, she really only had conversations with Tommy and his band members. They were always hanging around Irina in the hallways now and even in classes if they happened to share a class with her.

She no longer felt self-conscious and if called on by a teacher she would stand up to give an answer and as before, she was always right. Her GPA was even now an unbelievable 4.0 and everyone in the whole school knew that she was their best student. In fact she could have taken all of the final exams long before now and have passed every one with a perfect score, but that would be attracting undue attention. Besides, she was actually beginning to enjoy high school now that it was nearly over.

At times it was hard to believe the turn her life had taken, and she thought of Dom and Ian and wondered what they were doing. Missing them more and more lately, she had resolved to see them after graduation.

After greeting Pepper and spending some twenty minutes playing with him, she was handed a package by her mother who said "This came for you today, honey."

Opening it, Irina gaped at it in surprise, a smile slowly spreading across her face as she opened the clasp and put it on. It was a necklace, skillfully crafted by attaching all of the hardware that her body had expelled while she had been imprinting near Reno. Every single piece was silver-soldered to a medium weight silver chain and even her fillings had been hammered into a small nugget and attached as one piece.

Noticing that Irina's eyes began to look misty, her mother said "What is that, honey?"

In a voice suddenly husky with emotion she said "If you promise to never tell anyone, I'll tell you."

"Honey, if it is that important to you, yes. I promise not to tell a soul."

"It's from my two friends, Mom. This is the stuff that was in my body after the surgery."

"Why... why that's... I don't know... what? Miraculous!"

"And so are my friends, Mom. So are my friends." she said as a tear of bittersweet joy slid down her cheek.

# Chapter 34

Clay and Wilks were pulling away from a seven-eleven with coffee, one of the few times that Wilks let him drive. His cell phone made a sound like a steam locomotive. "Clay, Ty here."

"Hey. What's shakin'?"

"I got something you want to know."

"Really? Spill it."

"Remember that kidnapping, the girl in the wheelchair at that 'Tradin' Post' place over in Delridge?"

"Yeah. Did you ever learn anything more about that one?"

"Clay, I think she might be the same girl who pulled you out of your truck."

He pulled the car over to the curb as his partner Wilks looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"What! Are you sure, Ty?"

"Well, no, but I got a better look at the video on the internet and I compared it to a couple of photos we had of her, and without the eyeglasses, yeah, I think it could be her." There was silence for a bit and then Ty spoke again "Clay. Clay."

"Yeah Ty. I'm thinking here. Man oh man... Nah! It couldn't be!"

"Well, her name is Irina Connors. Clay. Clay. You still there?"

Clay sat dumbfounded, staring at nothing as he remembered that she had said her name was Irina.

"Holy smokeronies, Ty!"

"What?"

"She told me her name was Irina!"

"Whoa! This is getting weird!"

"Tell me about it! Listen. Gotta go! I'll get back to you soon. Thanks! Bye!"

He drove in silence as his partner looked at him questioningly. "You're into something heavy, Walker."

Shaking his head Clay said "Boy am I ever! Can we swing by Bellevue High for a bit?"

Wilks looked at his watch and grunted "Yeah. Long as we're not there too long. What's up?"

"I think I might know who saved my life."

"We'll make time for that, partner."

***

Clay sat in the principal's office, waiting for the assistant to bring Irina to him. He thought of the words he might say to her, and at the same time he wondered why he was thinking of such things. As he mulled over the words he would use, he was suddenly as nervous as if he was going to ask the prettiest woman in a night club for her life story and her phone number instead of just thanking a kid for a good deed. He stood at the counter in the principal's office, looking at the school paraphernalia on the wall behind the counter without seeing it at all.

"Detective Walker?"

He turned to see the assistant behind him as she said "This is Irina Connors." Irina stepped out from behind the assistant and Clay thought his heart might stop. My God but she's as beautiful as I remembered! he thought as he stammered a bit. "Umm... hello, Miss... Miss Connors, I'm Clay Walker. I came here because I owe you my life."

Irina stood with her mouth open, staring at the face of the man she had pulled from the wreck that night. She swallowed and blushed and Walker thought he had never in his life seen a prettier sight. Taking in her athletic yet feminine physique and her exquisite beauty, he smiled a dazzling smile and extended his hand, saying "Thank you for saving my life, Irina." even as he felt his body heat rising and hoped he wasn't blushing.

She took his hand then, still in shock and wide-eyed in disbelief as she nodded, saying "You had a cut on your forehead, Mr. Walker." as she thought Rini, is that the only thing you can think of to say to him? He's so tall! And handsome? Wow! His handclasp was warm and firm, and she was sure that her heart had just sped up a bit.

The assistant principal stood there mouth agape, staring first at one then at the other of the two. "Irina is our finest student, Lieutenant Walker." she said with pride as Irina thought two months ago you wanted me locked up under the jail and now I'm your finest student?

Clay said "She surely is, and she's a whole lot more than that to me."

Irina blushed again, and once again Walker was captivated, but he finally gained enough control of himself to say "I'll let you get back to your studies, Irina. It was a privilege to meet you at last. Good day."

"Good day to you too, Mr. Walker."

"Clay."

"Excuse me?"

"Clay. My friends call me Clay. Good bye, Irina."

"Goodbye, Clay." she said as he smiled and walked past them through the double doors and out into the hallway.

# Chapter 35

In the cavernous great room of the chateau located off of Balsam Canyon Drive Ian spoke to his family. "I'd like to introduce Jeff and Katrina to all of you. She and Jeff helped us recently with our problem and they're here to tell us about the ones we killed." He nodded to Jeff who stood up and said "Thank you all for having us out here. You have a beautiful home."

Several of them smiled warmly and nodded to the two as he continued "Kat has looked at all of the pictures of the dead ones and the only vampire she knows that is missing is Enzo Marelli. Before we get into this, how did you ever lure them here?"

Laughing then, one who looked Eurasian said "Marie had an idea that we tried and it worked beautifully. He nodded toward a petite lady who looked to be maybe forty years old, having glossy raven black hair and violet-blue eyes. She balanced a cup and saucer on her lap and smiled warmly, saying "We ladies all got out in Seattle every night after sundown and walked through the streets from west to the northeast. It only took until the third night and we had one that took the bait. He followed one of us here."

"So that's how you let them think that they'd found you?"

She nodded and sipped her tea, smiling over the cup at his astonishment.

"That seems risky."

Another spoke saying "We monitored the situation. After that night, they kept a lookout across from the gate down at the highway. So we picked the night they would come and they never knew it."

Jeff finally realized that he was standing there with his mouth open and he turned to Katrina. "Will you describe Enzo for them, Kat?" he said as Kat looked about apprehensively.

"We can do better than that." said Ian as he beckoned saying "Celine, Melissa. Won't you help us here?"

Two lovely young women sitting next to two handsome men stood up. One was petite and had curly reddish golden hair and large blue eyes, with a complexion like that of polished porcelain. The other was a bit taller, had wavy auburn hair, widely spaced exquisite gray eyes and a creamy complexion like polished ivory. Both smiled warmly and came to Kat, extending their hands as they introduced themselves. Kat took the hand of each and smiled nervously. She couldn't believe that she was finally in the presence of the fabled vampire founding family of the Seattle area.

The woman with the auburn colored hair led her to a pair of wingback chairs and sat her down in one and pulled the other up to face it, sitting opposite her. Smiling she said "Lean toward me please, Kat."

Katrina complied, putting her hands on her knees. Celine scooted to the edge of the chair and leaning forward placed her hands on either side of Kat's head and closed her eyes. Melissa came and sat down beside the two on a hassock and opened a large artists' sketch pad and waited, smiling at Katrina.

A tingly glow began in Kats' mind as a presence asked if it might look at her memories of the coven leader. She gasped in surprise as Celine smiled reassuringly at her saying "you may speak aloud or in your mind, Kat."

Dumbfounded, Kat nodded nervously and said "Yes, Celine. You may look."

Smiling then, Celine closed her eyes and Kat felt a gentle probe, and yet was soothed at the same time, and began to relax her mind as the soothing feeling spread throughout her psyche and soon, her body as well. It was indescribable and wondrously euphoric. She became aware of a rapid scratching noise and rolling her eyes to one side toward the sound she saw Melissa sketching rapidly on her artists' pad, her forearm nearly a constant blur of rapid motion.

Shortly Melissa stopped and the presence in her mind thanked her and departed, somewhat to her regret. She no longer felt anxious or threatened or intimidated by being in the middle of this storied family, but instead felt invited, wanted, even feeling warmth toward them as well as great respect. She realized that she had just experienced a rare thing and had been privileged to have done so.

Celine had taken her hands down and had leaned back in her chair, smiling warmly at Kat as she said "All done, Kat."

"All done? That's it?" said Katrina in disbelief.

Standing up and nodding, Celine scooted her chair away from Kat's chair as Melissa smiled and turned the artist's pad around where she could see it.

Katrina gasped and put one hand over her mouth as she said. "That... that... that is... is him. Oh my God! That is... incredible. How... how can this be?"

There was a life-size three-quarter facing view of Enzo Marelli, looking nearly like a black and white photo even to subtle shading done everywhere. In the upper right hand corner was a smaller profile, equally astounding as to clarity and perfection. Even his arrogance was captured by the image and Katrina was dumbstruck.

Jeff stood rigidly, mouth agape as he began to get a hint of the sheer talent that this gifted group had. In fact he had seen nothing of what the two could do and what was more, he couldn't begin to imagine the talents possessed by the others of this extraordinary group. He looked at each person in the large room, taking in their features one by one and concluded that never had he been in the presence of such unique people in his life, nor had he even imagined such a group existed.

He didn't feel threatened at all, but he felt that here was a group of people who were supremely confidant and yet not arrogant. It was a cohesive group who he knew, loved and respected each other immensely. The rumors he had heard over the years didn't begin to do them justice. Of that he was certain.

Ian stood up then and said "We've just had a cold front pass through. The snow might be a bit wet and slushy, but we can still have a good day or two. Would the two of you like to accompany us up to Vancouver or Calgary for our last ski outing of this season?"

Turning to Katrina Jeff looked at her questioningly and she looked about at everyone and saw only smiling faces. These were the types of people she wanted to associate with in her new life, but could never have dreamed of. The possibilities of her future had begun to dawn on her at that very moment. As that awareness warmly enveloped her, she turned back to Ian and began to smile; and then her smile grew as she nodded her head enthusiastically and said "Oh yes! Yes I do want to come along. Jeff. Let's go skiing!"

A lovely lady next to Celine with the same wavy auburn hair, but smaller and more petite and having large warm brown does' eyes spoke then. "You will fall down only three times, and you'll love it. Jeff is a ringer and knows how to ski quite well. He used to be well known in Aspen back in the 60's, even before the Hollywood VIP crowd had discovered it."

Katrina looked at Jeff who was standing with his mouth agape. He said "I didn't even tell you that!" as Kat gasped and put both hands over her mouth in surprise. The whole group chuckled with amusement as Ian said "We take some getting used to."

Kat's eyes were wide and her mouth hung open in disbelief as she nodded and began to smile. She laughed then and said "Oh, I'm definitely in! I still want to go!"

# Chapter 36

Irina opened the card inside of the box of chocolates as her mother watched with a smile.

Dear Irina,

I hope you like chocolates. Would you do me the honor of attending a Mariner's game with me this Saturday? If so, I would like to have dinner with you afterward at Sky City Restaurant atop the Space Needle.

Please say yes, since I already bought the tickets and have the reservations as well.

Clay

292-2202

She broke into a big smile and handed the card to her mother who read it and raised her head to say "Who's this 'Clay' fellow?"

She related a version of events that had happened along Interstate 5 as her mother stared at her in disbelief.

"What were you doing out there at that time of night?"

"What else? Running, like I do every night."

"Over there?"

"There's a soccer field there, Mom."

"Oh, I don't like that much, Rini. It sounds dangerous. But you rescued that man and never thought to tell me?"

"Yes Mom. I guess I'd gotten used to you not appearing to care about me before you quit drinking, and now I have a habit of keeping things to myself."

"Oh, honey! I'm so sorry for those years, but I'm trying, aren't I?"

Getting up and coming to her mother, Irina knelt and hugged her, saying "You're doing great, Mom. I'm the one who needs to adjust. So what do you say to this?"

"Oh dear. How old is this man, honey."

"Shrugging she said "Twenty-two I suppose. He attended my high school."

"Oh dear!"

"Mom, I'll be eighteen in one week anyway."

"Of course Rini. Mmmm. Yes, I have no problem provided I get to meet him first. You like him, don't you."

"Yes Mom. I do. He is... I don't know, but there is something about him...yes. She smiled dazzlingly as she nodded and said "I like him a lot Mom, and I think you will too."

"What night do you want to have him for dinner then?" she said with a warm smile.

"How about Wednesday?" she said, eyes sparkling.

"Roast turkey then?"

"Sounds great! I'll help!"

***

Dominique flipped open her phone as it chirped.

"Hello, Rini"

"Hey Dom. I love the necklace! Thank you!"

Laughing she said ""Hi Rini! It was Ian's idea, and he made the thing himself."

"Whoa! For real?"

"For real."

"Will you tell him that I love it and thank him for me?"

"Yes."

"How are things? You know. That problem?"

"We had a good outcome on that."

"I've been worried and wondering. I called you a few times but I only got voice mail."

"It was hectic, but it ended well. Ian had a plan and it went better than we hoped for. Only one of them got away. What's new with you?"

"I joined a local band. I want them to learn some oldies and to play them around town."

"Sounds like fun. I think that requires a license from ASCAP."

"Oh. I'll try to read up on it. You said Ian had a plan to take care of the other matter?"

"Oh yes. It was quite a plan, really!"

"That sounds just like him. Where are you? It sounds windy."

"Calgary. We all went skiing. Nice cloudy day here and snowing to beat the band. Perfect vamp skiing weather!"

Both of them laughed then and Irina said "I really miss you two. I saw a commercial advertising a vamp movie recently and I thought of you both."

They both laughed really hard then, which evoked warm memories of her time with the two of them near Reno.

"How is Ian?"

"He is having a great time, and what an awesome skier even for a vamp! There were six guys here yesterday from the Canadian Olympic ski team, all downhill racers. Ian blew them all away on a downhill run! They wanted his name and wanted to sign him up for Canada's international ski team! You should have seen their faces when he told them he was an American businessman in his best Scottish accent!"

They both laughed giddily "Omigosh! I miss you guys so much, Dom! It was so much fun flying in Ian's plane! I got to do a takeoff in Eugene and again somewhere else, and flew her for two hours twice! Omigosh, this is great just talking to you! I wish I was there! When can we get together?"

"Mmmm. Good question. We're coming straight back as far as I know, but this late in the year and getting these great conditions and all, we will hang around until it turns slushy I suppose. I can call you when we get ready to leave."

"That would be great, Dom. Dom?"

"Yes."

"I... I've met someone."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Oh Dom, I think you two would really like him."

"Really. Sounds like you do. Hmmm! All right little sis, spill! What do you know about him?"

"I've only met him twice, but he's coming to dinner tonight."

"I see. Rini, you must be very careful now. It's dangerous what you are doing. You could hurt him accidentally."

"I did all of the exercises well. You told me that I did anyway."

"You did, Rini, but in a moment of passion, that can all go out the window. You have to maintain rigid control in order not to hurt a human, especially if you're intimate with them. Human men and women have been killed that way."

"Dom! Intimate? It's dinner here with Mom."

"I'm not talking about that, Rini. I'm talking about when you're alone with him, like on a date. Are you taking your mom on your first date?"

Laughing, Irina said "No, silly!"

"That's what I'm talking about, Rini. Even a few passionate kisses can result in tragedy. You must be passive and very, very careful. Think how bad you would feel if you hurt him."

"Oh, Dom! You're scaring me! I never thought of that! Humans have been killed that way? What should I do?"

"Get out of it if you can."

"But I don't want to!"

There was silence for a bit, then "Well, if not, don't allow yourself to get in a compromising situation and do rely on your training. The human controls the vampire except in combat. Remember your training and trust it. You must never ever abandon yourself to passion with a human!"

"I...I see. I understand. I can do that."

"I hope you can, Rini. You had good teachers."

Laughing then she said "I did. I had the best!"

"I'll call you when we're leaving."

"Okay. Love you, Dom."

"Love you Rini. Be happy and be careful. Bye."

"Bye."

# Chapter 37

"That was delicious, Mrs. Connors."

"Thank you Clay. So you've been on the force for four years?"

"Yes ma'am. A little less than that, really."

"How did your promotion happen?"

"I caught a lucky break and followed up on a lead. Turned out I nabbed the guys who kidnapped that rich Canadians' daughter when I was just going to ask them a couple of questions. I had no clue they were the perps until one of them gave himself away. It was really luck."

Irina remarked "I saw about that on TV news, around Christmas time."

"Yes. They fast-tracked me for detective after that and really, I think it was a move to gain good PR for the department; kind of a home-town-boy-makes-good thing."

"You think they just did it for PR?"

"Well, I had the highest number of arrests ever for the time I had been a Uni, and several of those were kinda high-profile."

"Uni?"

"Sorry; Uniformed officer. I think I surprised them when I passed the test on the first try."

"Any flak about that?"

"Some. But my older brother has been on the job for seven years and he does a lot to put that down."

"I want to meet him."

"Oh, I want you both to meet him."

The three of them cleared the dishes away quickly and the evening was a pleasant one as each learned a bit about the other's childhood. Pepper seemed to really like him and that counted with Irina more than she would admit.

Clay sensed that Irina still grieved for her dad at times. He was surprised at the things she knew how to do, just odd things like repairs and such as that. It turned out that she had always been around her dad all of the time when he was not at work and had been his helper since she could walk. In those days they had a car and a small house and her dad had done all of the maintenance on his car, as well as repairs on their home. They had lost their home when he was killed by a drunk driver. Irina still had all of his tools put away in the bottom of her closet. She had refused to part with them even when money had been tight over the years.

She had seemed to be evasive about details of her absence and Clay could tell that she was protecting those who had helped her so much. There was something that she was not forthcoming about, and he suspected that even her mother wasn't privy to it, whatever it was.

He said his good-nights to them both at eight o'clock and their date for the ball game and dinner was confirmed. As he drove home he couldn't get her out of his head and he had to admit that he was more than casually interested in her.

***

Irina was puzzled to see Coach Becker poke his head in the door during home room. Shortly Mrs. Gutierrez came to get her and she found Coach Becker out in the hallway waiting. "Maria, please stay here a minute." he said as Mrs. Gutierrez nodded and stood looking expectantly at him.

"Irina, our soccer goaltender has hurt herself and is out for the season. Will you consider a tryout for her position this afternoon?"

"You haven't got a backup?"

"We do, but she is really sick and may have to be hospitalized."

"I only played soccer a bit in Phys-Ed, Mr. Becker."

"I know, but you're a natural athlete. I think you have what it takes to do the job for us, and we could use you until the end of the series next month."

"I can't come to practice, sir. I'll help for home games if you like, but I don't want to travel anywhere."

"We only have three games remaining. Two are at home and one in Tacoma."

"I could do that, but no practice, unless you can make it happen during Phys-Ed during the regular day here. Maybe I could be excused during study hall or home room and work with a few of your players then or during my Phys-Ed hour." I can come to school early too, if I can get a ride."

"With your grades you can have all the time away from home room that you want, Irina." said Mrs. Gutierrez.

Irina smiled sweetly and nodded saying "Okay, I'm yours for a tryout anyway."

Coach Becker himself came to take her to the soccer field during Phys-Ed that day. It didn't take ten minutes before he quit trying to kick a ball past her. Walking up to her with a huge grin he said "You are fast, Irina. A natural if I ever saw one. Your positioning needs work, but your reflexes are superb. Can we work out tomorrow morning with a few of the players? I would like you to work with clearing the ball to them after you make a save. They can get used to how far and how fast you might be able to return a ball to them that way. Other than that, I see nothing to stop you from doing a really great job. I'll get you a uniform and our first game is this Friday evening here. I need you here at seven o'clock. We'll see to it that you get here and back home again. Where do you live?"

"Delridge, sir."

"I'll have my wife pick you up. Deal?"

"Deal, sir." She gave him the address and jogged back across the field to rejoin her team for the remaining time of their softball game. As she jogged across the grass she thought I wonder how they would all feel if they knew that a vampire had just joined the team. She laughed aloud at the idea as she hurdled over the five-foot tall chain-link outfield fence like it wasn't even there.

***

Enzo Marelli had settled into a routine in Portland and hadn't heard back from Verrazano. Convinced that all forty-two of his own coven plus eleven of the recruits had been killed, he fretted about his status in the Coven of Rome. Such an overwhelming defeat did his reputation no good at all, and his massive ego suffered daily as he chafed at the beating they had taken.

The longer he waited, the more convinced he became that he might be marked for death or abandoned. How in the hell did they put together such a perfect ambush? Arthur was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but the place appeared to be a posh vampire meeting place.

As he turned over the facts in his mind for the hundredth time one thing he had forgotten occurred to him. Katrina wasn't there when they had departed that day. It was assumed that she had simply bolted. She wasn't a good fit for coven life anyway, and most all of them had known that.

Could there have been treachery on her part? As he considered that, his eyes began to glow as he began to simmer with barely-contained rage.

# Chapter 38

Irina made another diving save and the home crowd hollered and cheered as she rolled smoothly to her feet and easily kicked the ball over halfway to the opposing goal. Her team was badly overmatched, and yet the game was deadlocked with a score of nothing-nothing. Irina had made the difference, stopping kick after kick and displaying an ability not heretofore seen on a high school soccer field. She had already made three times as many saves as the visiting teams' goaltender.

With one eye on the clock Irina watched in dismay as the defense again turned back her team mates and again mounted an attack, coming toward her again, skillfully passing the ball back and forth to maneuver for another attempt to score. There was a break in mid field as a defender left her zone and pursued a forward too far. The girl reversed herself and skillfully hooked the ball and shot it across the field to one of her team mates who drove a hard shot toward the upper right corner of Irina's goal.

She leaped and stopped it with her hands softly, allowing it to drop as she quickly rolled to her feet with the ball rolling so that it was in front of her. This time instead of clearing it up the field she moved rapidly out of her box with three rapid reversals, and began to speed up the field as the home crowd hollered and all of them stood up in the bleachers. Their goal was now unguarded and the home crowd was both electrified and horrified to see what she was doing.

Everyone expected to see her boot it up the field and retreat to the goal, but she kept up an unpredictable pattern of reverses and at mid-field three of the opposing team finally were tempted to rush her. The temptation of an unguarded goal was too great to withstand so the three bored in on her as fast as they could.

Irina reversed herself yet again and started back toward her goal in a general circle as yet two more opponents bolted and closed on her. By now the modest sized crowd was screaming and hollering and the visitor' side of the field had joined in hollering to urge their team to take the ball away. Already unusually noisy for its size, the crowd now sounded like there were five times as many people there as there actually were.

Just as they closed in and she had again reversed and begun toward the opponent's goal, she suddenly kicked the ball toward the other teams' goal. It was a soft kick with enough altitude to not be too hard to control for whoever got to it. Bellevue's fastest forward got to it and drove toward the goal unopposed, driving a hard kick into the upper-left hand corner as the home crowd erupted in a great roar.

The opponents were unable to score as Irina turned away four more attempts before the clock ran out. Her team mates mobbed her and carried her off of the field, screaming with joy at the victory over a favored team.

Clay was hoarse from cheering that evening. He had come to the game as quickly as he could when he called Irina's home and her mother had told him about her being on the team. He ran to the home team's bench and jammed himself into the ranks of the cheering throng, trying to make it to where the team was.

Somewhat self-consciously Irina slid down off of her team mates' shoulders as the noisy crowd surrounded the team. Coach Becker was all grins as he hollered to Irina "You almost gave me a heart-attack, Rini!"

Even though not sweating, Irina remembered her training and kept wiping her face with the towel she had kept tucked in her waistband. She kept it hung about her neck and kept her head down now for fear of too many cameras. Now that the excitement was past she was beginning to worry if she had overplayed her hand as the whole team moved together toward the showers.

A familiar voice shouted "Rini! Rini!" and she turned this way and that to see where he was as Clay shouted and waved his hand. Finally she caught sight of him and grinned, waving her hand as he cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted "That was great! Great work, Rini!"

She heard little more as the crush of players carried her into the double doors that lead to the general athletics building. Excited and pleased that Clay had come to see her play, she dodged questions as best she could and simply shrugged when asked why she broke from her post the way she did.

The coach came in before anyone began to strip for showering and congratulated the team and said "I think we might welcome our newest teammate one more time, girls." as shouts of 'Rini, Rini!' began to become a chant that filled the locker room. Coach Becker gave Irina a big grin and a thumbs-up and left the locker room, only to be mobbed outside by some students who had managed to get that far.

Irina had showered and dressed quickly, pulling on her clothes as fast as she could without dressing at vampire speed. The first player out of the showers, she quickly made her way back outside to search for Clay. She didn't have to look far as she quickly spotted him watching for her to emerge. With a wave and a big grin she headed his way only to see her mother standing with him and smiling as broadly as he was.

"Oh honey! That was so exciting!" said her mother as Clay chimed in saying "Holy Smokeronies! I never saw a soccer game like that before! That was fantastic! I was scared to death and out of my mind at the same time!"

The three stood there and Irina did her best to answer questions for the two, but quickly a crowd gathered and soon she couldn't answer them for the shouting. Since Clay had driven her mother to the game in the Corvette, Irina was going to accept Coach Becker's offer to have his wife drive her home, so she told the two that and they all agreed to meet later. Irina grinned at the two and waved goodbye as she went back inside to rejoin the team, now all talking excitedly to each other before leaving.

A gaggle of her team mates tried to get her to accompany them to the Steak 'N' Shake, but she politely declined as she kept a lookout for Mrs. Becker. Finally she came into view and Irina excused herself from her team mates and accompanied the woman to her SUV.

Irina was plied with questions as they drove to Delridge and she politely answered them, glad to be away from all of the noise and going to where she knew it was quiet. Mrs. Becker let her know just how thrilling it had been to see that final move she had made, taking the ball up the field and drawing the defenders out of their places. Irina found herself liking the woman and said a warm goodbye as she thanked her courteously for the ride home.

Pepper bounded into her arms as she opened the door and both Clay and her mother were smiling and greeting her as she came in to embrace them both.

"All I can say is wow!" said Clay as Irina and her mother laughed delightedly. "I pay big bucks for tickets for hockey and baseball and a high school girls soccer match blew all of those away tonight!"

The three had a delightful but very short evening as Clay proved that he had a photographic memory when it came to recalling plays in a sporting event. Around nine o'clock he said his goodbyes and Irina came out the door with him.

"Thank you for coming tonight, Clay. It meant a lot to me."

Laughing he said "I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I'm going to the other two games no matter where they're played!" he said as she laughed while rolling her eyes, blushing a bit and glad that he couldn't notice it in the yellow porch light.

Saying goodnight he turned and walked to his car and drove off as Irina waved good night. Hours after her mother had turned in Irina dropped soundlessly from her bedroom window to go hunt.

# Chapter 39

"Detective Walker here."

"Hey little bro!"

"Hey Ty. What's shakin'?"

"Oh man, I watched the local news this morning before roll call and you'll never guess who was on TV."

"Oh? Who?"

"That girl, Irina."

"What?"

"Yeah. Someone had a camcorder at a girls' soccer match over at Bellevue last evening and sent in a copy of her playing soccer! Man oh man, I never saw the like!"

Laughing, Clay said "Me neither, Ty. I was there at the game."

"Whoa there! At that game? What are the odds?"

"Well, there's more to it than that."

"Really? You gonna spill it or what?"

"Ty, I'm seeing her."

"What! Are you nuts? That's jail bait!"

Clay sighed and said "Not to worry, Ty."

"Oho! That's what you think! How did you get to be detective and still be so stupid?"

"Ty, she's eighteen today."

"Huh?"

"You heard me."

"Oh. Damn, Clay I spoke out of turn."

"Forget it. Ty, I really like this girl. I mean I really, really like her."

"Sounds serious."

"Like a heart attack, Ty! I can't stop thinking about her. Ty, she is too nice.... just... just too sweet to be real. I mean it, and her mother is a wonderful person too."

"Whoa! You do sound serious!"

"I am. And I'm taking her to the game Saturday and we're eating at Sky City afterward."

"Mmmm!"

"Yeah. I admit it, Ty. I'm crazy about her and I haven't even kissed her yet."

"Well, when do we get to meet her?"

Laughing he said "I haven't thought that far ahead. But I can tell you one thing truthfully."

"What's that?"

"I'm someplace I've never been before regarding her."

***

"Dom here, Ian."

"Hello Dom. Seen the news lately?"

"No. Why?"

"Seems Rini made a big splash at a local soccer match."

"Uh-oh! How bad was it?"

Laughing he said "About as bad as a world-class soccer star invading a high-school girls soccer match."

"Ooo!" Shaking her head then she continued "I have some news about our protégé too."

"Do I want to know it?"

Laughing she said "Probably not, but here it is. She has a guy in her life now."

"I suppose that was bound to happen at her age...mmm you did warn what could happen?"

"Oh yeah; but there's more."

She heard him sigh and then say "What is it?"

"Her new fella is a Seattle PD detective."

***

"Zo! Wait up!" said Irina as she hustled up the steps to catch up with Zoe.

"Hey, Rini! The whole school's talking about you!"

"Been there before, and it sucked."

Laughing giddily Zoe leaned against Irina and rolled her eyes up at her as she said "You always make me laugh, Rini! I tried to see you after the match but Tommy and I couldn't get close for the crowd."

"It was pretty crazy. We went home afterwards. I think a bunch of the girls went somewhere to eat."

"Who was that guy I saw you with last night?"

Laughing, Irina said "I was going to tell you about him today. His name is Clay Walker. Zoe, I really like him."

"He's a hunk! How did you two meet?"

Taking a deep breath she replied "It was just a chance thing and he looked me up a few days later, and well, here we are."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, he's taking me to a Mariners game Saturday."

"Cool."

"And then we are going to eat at Sky City."

"Oh wow and wow! I was there with my folks once and I loved it! Is this... you know... serious?"

"Zo, I really, really like this guy. I don't know what it is about him."

"Other than he's a hunk and is spending a ton of money on you for a first date?"

Laughing then Irina said "Touché!" as the two laughed, heading to the lunch room.

There stood the principal and her home room teacher with a camera man and a TV reporter from KIRO channel 7 CBS. The principal saw Irina and came to her with a big smile on his face, saying "Irina. Come over here. There are some people who want to meet you."

"Ummm... yes sir." she said as she followed him over to the group. The cameraman saw them coming and turned on the camera as the reporter came to Irina and introduced herself and began to ask her about when she had saved a man's life on the interstate the night a gasoline tanker truck had exploded. Irina only nodded and answered in monosyllables, smiling politely. When asked how it was that she had been there, she said that she sometimes liked to run at the soccer field near the interstate and had seen the accident from there.

When the reporter would have pressed for more information, Irina excused herself and smiled politely and turned about to walk to her table. Zoe joined her and the two walked to the back of the cafeteria together.

As they walked there were all kinds of greetings hollered across the room. "Hey Rini! Way to go, girl!" It continued like that as they made their way to their usual table at the rear of the room; as Irina smiled slightly and nodded here and there to a team-mate if one would greet her. She ignored the boys altogether, which didn't escape Zoe's notice.

At their table, Tommy and his band buddies were there and other kids would stop by to congratulate Irina on her game from time to time. Several of her team mates came over to talk to her too and some others just hung around to hear what the newest star athlete might say. Irina was friendly to all, answering questions about the game, but otherwise just eating and only conversing with Tommy and Zoe.

The Clique was at their usual table, staring daggers toward Irina and Zoe, and were pretty much being ignored, which galled the girls especially. Irina noticed that Billy Bashers' tape stitches were gone and that his nose looked almost normal. Sharon was still wearing a cast but Irina's attention was brought back to the table as Tommy and the others wanted to know when she could come over and jam with them. She promised that if Zoe could get her there and home, she would come over next Monday evening, but that she would not be available for Saturday.

More and more she found herself thinking about Clay and the way he might laugh at something that was really funny to him or the way he sometimes looked intently at her as if trying to somehow read her mind.

# Chapter 40

"Surprise!" shouted Zoe, Tommy, Clay, Ike, Glenda, Susan Ellmore and her mother, just as Irina came in the front door. As if to punctuate that, Pepper jumped up into her arms and did his best to kiss her, which she was laughingly trying to prevent as everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.

Standing there laughing she put Pepper down and stood, her hands over her mouth as they all finished singing, followed by a round of loud applause.

In a voice husky with emotion she said "Thank you all so much. This means so much to me... you just don't know... I... I am... I thank you."

Her mother came to her then and hugged her as everyone crowded around.

She looked at everyone and with tears beginning to well up in her eyes she said "Not too long ago I wished that I'd never been born and now my life has turned around, and all of you are a part of that."

"Oh Honey, we all love you! You have the first piece of cake." she said as she handed a slice to Irina. Zoe said "Speech, speech!" which the others echoed.

Irina looked about and saw only love in the eyes of everyone there, so with a slight smile she said "There are two dear friends who aren't here who helped to heal me. I can never repay their kindness, but for all of you, who have graced my life with your love and friendship, thank you."

Her eyes met those of Clay then and she saw astonishment and empathy as he nodded solemnly and said "Happy Birthday, Rini."

She opened her gifts then as her mother served cake for everyone and when she had finished and thanked each one, she said "This has been one of the very best nights of my life. Thank you again."

Clay had bought her an exquisite off-white satin sheath and Susan Ellmore had bought matching pumps. Zoe had given her a pearl-encrusted clutch purse and others had given gifts related to music, being CD's by various artists. From her mother she got a jacket that matched her new dress.

Tommy asked her if she could sing them a song and was enthusiastically supported by everyone present, so she went to her room and got her guitar.

As she tuned it she said "I listened to a lot of music from a long time ago while I was gone. I have since learned to appreciate it far more than I could have had I limited myself to current favorites. I owe that to my two friends who aren't here. This song was written over four hundred years ago and I hope you all like it."

She then played and sang a hauntingly beautiful rendition of the song 'Greensleeves', her alto voice gently persuading, gently telling the story as her mother and her friends sat in a hush, straining to absorb every note and lyric. As she finished it, they all offered praise and gentle applause. Clay sat wide-eyed, thinking I'm hooked! I'm a goner! What is it about this girl?

When she had finished she picked up her add-on acoustic amplifier and clamped it into place and set up the small Bose speakers saying "All right now. I need help from Tommy and Clay for this one. She tossed an empty coffee can and a large wooden spoon to Tommy and said "You are on rhythm Tommy; Clay, You are a vocalist so get over here with me. Come on now!"

Laughing he stood and came to stand beside her as she said "I think you all know this one as one of Mick Jagger's biggest hits, 'Start Me Up'."

With that she handed Clay a large spoon and said "Here is your microphone, Mick" as everyone laughed. Then she did a few bars to lead into the song and both she and Clay sang it with Tommy trying to keep the rhythm on the empty coffee can.

As best they could recall the words the others sang along, everyone laughing at Clay's antics as he did his best to strut back and forth with his spoon/microphone, trying to look like Mick Jagger. His facial expressions as he sang cracked everyone up.

The rest of the evening went like that with Irina playing first one thing and then another as everyone would sing along, and at times one or the other would do their version of what the artist looked like when they performed. It was a night to remember and Clay had more fun with this unlikely crowd than he could recall having in years. He left with the others around ten o'clock and thought about Irina as he drove to his apartment and was still thinking about her when he finally dropped off to sleep thinking who would have thought that I could enjoy myself so much at some high-school girls' birthday party? Even as sleep came he realized that she was not just some high-school girl to him.

***

"Mr. MacRae?"

"Yes."

"JT here."

"Good morning JT. What have you today?"

"I have that ASCAP license for that girl, Irina Connors."

"I see. Good. Please mail it to her at the address I gave you and mail a copy of it with your bill to me. What about that laboratory work on those clothes?"

"Oh! Glad you mentioned that, Adam! I see that it just did come in... let me see here." Ian heard the sound of a letter opener cutting an envelope and papers being handled and unfolded, then JT's surprised voice saying "Well, well! We have something here, Adam. It seems there was a paint transfer to a button on her rain slicker. Ummm.... Let me see now, results... mmm... Aha! It is a color used by General Motors in years 1998-2001 for Chevrolet and for Pontiac. Do you think that will help you in any way?"

Ian fished an envelope from the breast pocket of his sports coat and looked at the information Margo got from Wilks and said "It already has, JT. It already has. Please copy that for your files and then enclose the original with your bill and send to me via courier."

"Right away, Adam. Anything else?"

"We'll see soon enough, I suspect."

"Very well then. How have all of you been?"

"Never better. We just did get back from Calgary."

"Really?"

"Yes. We took advantage of that bad storm and squeezed in some three days of skiing. It was great!"

"I wish I was younger. I would have loved to have learned to ski."

"Well JT, if that's all, I need to run."

"Good day then, Adam."

"Good day."

He started the car then and moved back into traffic on the entrance ramp as Dominique asked him what that was all about.

Turning to her he said "I'm investigating Rini's accident and I might have just gotten a big break. Oh, and Rini will have her ASCAP license now so we don't have to worry about her getting in trouble performing other people's music. I didn't realize how sticky that business is."

"Now all we have to worry about is her hurting her new boyfriend."

Laughing he looked over at her as they drove to Sea-Tac for the annual inspection of the Gulfstream Jet. Ian insisted on being in on everything to do with any planes the family owned.

"Ian, what's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that kids like Rini are why we vampires turn gray!" They both had a good laugh at that one as Ian downshifted and punched the black Lamborghini to scream past a tractor-trailer.

# Chapter 41

Clay had gotten really good seats past the visitors' dugout and right in front near first base. It had been an exciting game and the Mariners were deadlocked with the Yankees two-two in the seventh inning. Irina had prayed that she would get a gray overcast day and so far it had been. To be safe, she had worn sneakers, jeans, and a long sleeve blouse with bell sleeves that buttoned at the wrist. In her hip pocket were a pair of golfer's gloves if needed and she had on sunglasses, and wore a very broad-brimmed straw hat.

She had gone online to bone up on statistics for the Mariners and had occasion to mention them now and again as Clay talked about baseball. He was impressed that a high school girl would know that much information about baseball. The visitors had come to bat now at the top of the eighth inning and he turned to her and said "You must have come here a lot to know so much about the team."

"No. I've never been to Safeco Field. We could never afford it."

He turned to look at her then, thinking how unusual that she knows the statistics of the team so well and has never seen a game until today.

The crowd roared as the batter hit a line drive to right field that was a foul ball. It rocketed over the dugout entrance straight for Irina and Clay and she reached out and plucked it from the air like someone had tossed her a marshmallow. Clay looked at her dumbfounded as she handed him the ball with a smile. "Souvenier?" she said as he continued to stare at her in wonderment.

"I'm glad you caught that thing, Rini. It would've beaned me for sure!"

"Oh, it wasn't going that fast."

About that time the giant-screen projector showed a replay of Irina catching the line drive bare-handed as thousands of fans watched. Clay watched the replay in wonderment as he said "You might have a future with the Mariners if that was a slow ball to you, Rini."

Laughing, she put her head on his shoulder for a moment as if it was all a joke of some kind as she thought what have I done now? Will that replay cause me any heat? Surely not! How can they know who is sitting here anyway?

The game ended up Mariners one, Yankees nothing. Clay and Irina held hands as they walked to his car and she said "You should buy a beater, Clay. This car is too nice to leave unattended."

"I love it. Did all of the work myself except paint. I prepped the body but was afraid to try to paint it."

"You should be proud of your work. It's a wonderful car. 327, Quad, Borg-Warner four-speed. A real sweetheart! You can retrofit disc brakes to these classic 'Vettes but the cost is a killer."

"You know about cars, but don't have one. That's amazing."

"We used to before Dad was killed. I still remember always being around when he would work on ours. He did oil changes, brakes, chassis lube, and things like that. I was always hanging around when he did. Dad even found an old mechanics' creeper that needed repairing and fixed it so that I could roll under the car with him. Mom used to get so mad when I would come in the house with grease on my hands. What? What's so funny?"

"I'm getting a picture of you helping your dad work on the car and then going out and shagging fly balls later for him, catching them on the fly while other girls your age are playing with dolls."

At that they both laughed. The drive home went by so fast it seemed that they had no sooner gotten out of the parking lot but that they were pulling up at her place in Delridge.

Opening her door, he said "I had a great time, Rini. I think 6:30 will be ok for dinner."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

He stepped close then and gave her a kiss on the cheek before folding his lanky frame into his car and driving off.

***

The tech at ABC affiliate KOMO ran the feed again and again he froze it, scratching his head. He was astounded at how that girl just reached out and snagged that line drive like it was nothing. He had run it again and again and it was no fluke. She had speared that thing as if she had on a glove and was a seasoned baseball player.

Something nagged at him, a feeling that he had seen her somewhere before. He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head as he closed his eyes in concentration. Where was it I saw her. I just know I saw her somewhere and it was not that long ago.

"Sherry! Sherry!"

"Yeah Mike?"

"C'mere a second."

"What is it? I got work to do."

"Give this a look." he said as he ran the feed again.

Sherry eased up behind him then, leaning in to see the monitor better and then she hollered "Whoa! That was some catch! Run it again."

"Mmmm! That ball was movin'!"

He froze the frame and turned to her saying "Who is that?"

"How do I know?"

"Look again. Haven't we seen her somewhere recently?"

"Mmmm. No. Wait! Is she that soccer chick?"

"What?"

"That girl who was a goalie and left the goal open to take the ball downfield for her team. It was only two nights ago, dummy!"

"Oh. Oh! Yeah! Yeah! You're the best, Sherry!"

"Yeah. Whatever. Tell our boss."

"I will." He jumped up from his chair and ran to archives and soon returned with a disc and jammed it into his player and scrolled thru the contents. Clicking on 'Soccer Phenom' he played it, watching with awe at the skill displayed on the recording. He stayed glued to the screen after the game ended and watched for more in hopes of getting a view of the girl without her helmet and finally he saw a scene where she was being carried off of the field and stopped it, freezing on a picture. Saving it he put it in a file and then saved a freeze-frame of the girl at Safeco Field. He studied both side by side and a big grin spread across his features as he said "Gotcha!"

# Chapter 42

The sounds of a piano playing 'Strangers in the Night' mingled with the low buzz of conversation and ice cubes clinking in glasses at Sky City restaurant. A young couple sat near a window offering a panoramic view of the breathtaking sight of Seattle at night. Oblivious to that and everything around them, they sat holding hands across the table, engaged in conversation.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look in that dress?"

"Only twice, but I don't mind hearing it again. Did I tell you that the guy who bought it for me is a real hunk?"

Laughing softly he said "Why did you charge up that soccer field in the game the other night?"

"I'm not sure, but I guess I was upset that we were going to have to settle for a tied score that did it."

"Give me a minute-by minute description."

Looking puzzled, nonetheless she began and after a bit she looked again

at Clay who sat gazing and smiling dreamily at her. She stopped to say "Clay, what is it?"

"You."

"What?"

"You asked me 'what is it' and I answered that it's you, Irina."

Looking down briefly she blushed a bit and saw his smile grow as she said "Omigosh! You like it when I blush!" as she took her free hand and covered her lovely eyes while looking down at the glass of Chardonnay before her. Looking back up at him she began to laugh and he joined her, a gentle laugh as of a shared secret. She rolled her eyes up and then toward a few couples who were dancing as she laughed yet again, low and gently.

Clay thought my heart is going to melt before I leave this restaurant. What's happening to me?

"Rini?"

"Yes."

"Will you dance with me?"

She nodded, smiling and they walked to the floor as the piano player began to play 'Unforgettable'. Clay gently took her hand and they began to dance. Sometime between when that song started and the piano player segued to 'My Heart Will Go On', she had laid her head on his shoulder and he had gently kissed her cheek as he laid his head against hers.

A soft and gentle thrill passed through her body as she pressed herself a bit closer to him. After a bit she said "This is heaven."

"Not only can you spear a line drive, but you can read my mind." he murmured as she laughed softly, snuggling yet closer to him.

It seemed as if only a little time had passed when the pianist quit and the restaurant began to make preparations to close, and yet they had danced to over three dozen songs. They walked hand in hand to Clay's car in silence and drove to her home in quiet conversation.

He turned to her after parking in front of the fourplex and they kissed. A gentle fire began to spread slowly through Irina's body then and desire awakened within her as she realized this is what Dom was trying to tell me even as she yielded to the kiss and let it become passionate. They parted and stared at each other and then Clay turned and opened his door and came around to let her out. They kissed deeply then at her door and Irina could sense his heart hammering and how deeply he was breathing even as he softly said "Good night, Irina." and turned, walking to his car. She went inside and hugged her mother, but watched as his car pulled out of her parking area, even while leaning against the door frame thinking it's a good thing that one of us had some sense tonight!

***

As he drove to his apartment Clay thought I love her. No doubt about it. I have to get this right. Losing her is not an option. Who'd have ever thought it? Clay Walker is in love with a girl not yet out of school.

***

"Are you near a TV set?"

"Mmm, there's one in the next room."

"Get to it quickly. Channel four."

Ian switched on the eighty-four inch Toshiba and said "Okay, I'm there. It's a commercial."

"Just wait."

After the commercial ended, the newscaster said words to the affect that this next footage was the closing piece for the local news that hour. Ian saw what was obviously a homemade video of a girl moving a soccer ball skillfully up field. He guessed that this was an effort to tempt opponents to abandon their positions and as he watched the thing to its conclusion, he realized that it was Irina.

The broadcast then froze with a recognizable picture of her as the team carried her off of the field. That was put up side by side with a picture of her with her left hand extended, holding a baseball and sitting next to a man who was looking away at that instant.

Narrating then, the announcer went on to show the footage and Ian saw a hard line drive effortlessly caught with one hand by Irina. After once again showing the two freeze-frame images side by side, the camera segued to the announcer and then to a view of Irina's house as she came out the door to get on the school bus. She refused to comment or even to admit that it was her in the footage as she climbed into the small special van, clearly marked as belonging to the Elsie Foundation.

"Oh my!" he said as he watched the announcer say that they would only confirm that she was a local honor student. Worse yet, it was said that she was the same girl who had been kidnapped some months earlier and returned unharmed.

"Thanks for the heads up. I have a call to make. Bye."

In seconds the voice of JT Crawford answered the phone. Ian gave him some terse instructions to which Crawford replied "We're on it, Adam. Rest assured that her privacy will be protected as best we're able. But remember, she's eighteen years old now. There is not a whole lot that can be done for her regarding privacy."

As the call was terminated Ian thought the beans are spilled now. We'll never get them back in the can.

He took a deep breath and looked out of a large window at the woodland stretching away into the distance from the chateau.

Flipping open his cell phone he made another call.

# Chapter 43

Irina got out of the van and came in the doors even while she saw several students looking her way and then turning to talk with others as she passed by. Zoe was waiting at her locker with a big grin on her face and said "Who needs to go to college when she can play baseball in the major leagues?"

Irina shook her head and opened her locker to dump in around half of her books.

"What's the matter, Rini? Did your date not go as expected?"

Smiling at her she replied "Oh Zo! It was fantastic!"

"I knew it would be!" she said in a conspiratorial tone as she said suggestively "And?"

"And what?"

"Oh Rini! You know what. Spill it, girl. I'm dying to know!"

"Yes he kissed me, and yes it took the top of my head off!" she said as Zoe squealed in delight and then said "This is too cool. We both have boyfriends in our senior year. You two are going to the prom of course?"

Turning to her as they headed for home room, she said "I honestly never gave it a thought, Zo. All I can think of is Clay and final exams."

"Oh Rini, you've got to go! Please tell me that you will go! Please, please!"

"Zo, I don't know, really. I promise I'll think about it." They walked toward home room and she thought I wonder how Clay would feel taking me to a prom. And then there's the cost of a dress...

As they passed into home room she said "I'll think about it Zo."

Later in the cafeteria all the talk at the table was about Irina catching that line drive. Some of her soccer team mates came by to offer congratulations and to question her regarding who she was sitting with at Safeco Field that day.

That evening when she got home from school she saw that a package had arrived that was addressed to her. Noting that it was from a place called 'Leather Essentials' she opened it and found a pair of very well made leather gloves, and they were dyed a flesh color. Not nearly as big as the 'Mickey Mouse' goalies' gloves she wore in soccer, nonetheless they were padded at the palms and fingers inside, and each had a sturdy web extending from thumb to index finger.

An enclosed note said:

Irina,

This is what you had on your left hand the day you caught that line drive. Take these to school and let them be seen and then keep them in your locker there. Wear them in the first period of your next game for a while too.

Ian

Staring at them it dawned on her that someone had to have worked either all night or Sunday in order for her to have them in her hand. And no doubt they had been brought over by a special courier. The workmanship was superb and she had no idea how they had arrived at that color, but it would easily convince anyone that she had indeed been wearing them. The picture was not detailed enough to be able to show that she wasn't wearing them, so it looked like she was off the hook this time.

Little did she know that what was said to be an enhanced photo had already been uploaded to various blog and gossip sites on the internet. It would only be a matter of days and a whole lot of people would become convinced that she had a small soccer goalies' glove of some sort on at the time.

***

Wilks was startled to suddenly feel his special cell-phone vibrating. He reached into his pocket and answered it as Clay looked at him with a surprised look on his face.

"Wilks here. That you, Margo?"

"It is."

"This is a first. What may I do for you this fine day?"

Laughing, Margo went on saying "This is a courtesy call to let you know that we got all of them but one. We have reason to believe that he may still be in the United States somewhere."

"All of them but one? How many Margo?"

"Fifty-three."

"Good God! You sure took care of that quietly!"

"We... convinced them to meet with us away from Seattle to have a... private settlement of our... differences." He thought you killed all of those monsters somewhere else and I'm all for that!

"What do I need to know about 'them'?"

"To stay away if you suspect anyone of being one of them. I can't say more, and I can't stress that enough. We'd like for you to do us a favor."

"Shoot."

"We'd like for you to reach out to a very few your brother officers and see if any cases like these last ones have turned up anywhere in a major west-coast city."

"Why the west coast only?"

"We have other resources looking around the rest of North America."

"I see."

She gave him names and special cell-phone numbers of four other detectives then. There was one in Vancouver with the Canadian Mounties, one in San Francisco, one in Los Angeles, and one in Portland.

"Need anything else?"

"No. Oh I wanted to thank you for that information about those cars. You'll soon be given an anonymous tip concerning a certain red Chevy Camaro belonging to one Carl Basher, the father of Billy Basher who used to drive that car to school every day. Don't let Clay in on this, Wilks."

"Okay. So when do I get this tip, Margo?"

Laughing she said "Very soon. We're waiting on a legal opinion right now. By the way, there's a lovely room reserved for you and your wife at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver at the end of this month for three days. There are two tickets to a concert and a reservation on an all-day cruise to the islands while you two are there. All dining in the Hyatt is covered as well. You might want to keep quiet about where you two will be that weekend though."

"Hey thanks, Margo! I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to that 'anonymous tip'."

"Oh Wilks!"

"Hey! Once a cop always a cop. 'Bye."

As he disconnected he was thinking My God! They have others like me all over the place, maybe even in Canada and Central America. Who are these people, and what are these things that bite humans and kill them?" He didn't like where his thoughts were leading him. It occurred to him that Margo's people were expending a lot of resources just to catch one that got away, and that they had no trouble in adding in another pursuit out of the blue as well.

Clay looked at him and said "I suppose that's above my pay grade too?"

"Look kid, I told you more than I should have already. What it comes down to is that they got all but one of whatever was killing those people."

"They? All but one? Damn, Wilks! Who are they, and how many were there anyway?"

Wilks tapped his special cell phone and said "They are the ones who just called me on this phone. You sure you want to go down this trail, kid? Make a bad move with these people and you might as well forget your career."

"They have that much clout?"

"More."

"Have they ever asked you to compromise yourself?"

"Never. They want information, and they always keep their word."

"How long have you been... you know helping them?"

"For nearly as long as I've been on the force."

He sat in silence a bit and then said "Yeah, I'm in." as he took a sip of his coffee.

"They killed fifty-three of them somewhere else."

Clay spit his coffee out as he looked at his partner in astonishment.

# Chapter 44

Irina made a diving save and rolled effortlessly to her feet, kicking the ball back up the field to perfectly set up a team mate for another goal. It was already three to nothing in favor of Bellevue and the game was just past halfway over.

She had played an aggressive style of goal tending, coming out of the box numerous times to cut down the angle of an opponent or even to slide into the ball smothering the shot before they could even get it off or pass it to a team mate. It had gotten to the point that every time she made such a move that the visitors side of the field would erupt in a roar of cheers, as if she had scored a goal instead of blocking yet another shot.

They were playing in Tacoma that evening and Clay stood behind Irina's goal, not caring a bit about any other action anywhere on the field. He found himself shouting at the top of his lungs every time she made another lightning move.

Unknown to Irina, the captain of the opposing team was a cousin to Sharon Little, and she had come to hate Irina based solely on Sharon's' version of events surrounding her wrist being broken. She was seething mad already at the aggressive and savvy goaltending skills that Irina displayed thus far, and figured that the two teams were fairly evenly matched and that but for Irina, the score could now easily be in their favor. She passed by two team mates and said "It's time we teach that goalie of theirs to stay in the box where she belongs. Are we on the same page?"

The other two looked at her and nodded, knowing that they would take the first opportunity to collide with Irina, and especially if she was outside of the box. The best proven method for that type of thing was to use one's knee in such a way as to strike the other player an injurious blow. The trick was to do it so that the referee would not consider it a foul. But in this case, the three figured that taking Irina out would be worth a game misconduct penalty for a player.

Play continued for several minutes during which time Tacoma put on an offensive press, keeping the ball in Bellevue's end for several minutes and making some six shots on goal, all handled by Irina and kicked out to the center zone of the field afterward. The Bellevue fans roared each time she made a save and the chant 'Rini, Rini' was heard over and above the noise of the crowd. The game had attracted far more fans than there were seats in the bleachers.

Finally the three got the break they wanted when a team mate snagged the ball and hooked it toward the Bellevue end where the team captain herself took it in and drove a hard kick toward the goal which Irina blocked with a kick. The ball rebounded dangerously out in front and was again picked up by an opponent who began to come in, angling a bit toward the edge of the field to draw Irina that way.

She made a skillful and rapid pass to center where the captain herself drove a hard shot toward the far corner of the net, convinced that it was going in. Making a lightning fast leap to her right, Irina blocked the shot with her hands, allowing it to rebound over to one side where she saw a team mate.

Not wanting to be the whole show on the field, she was attempting to involve her team mates in every way she could. The girl took it and started up the field only to have it snagged away by an opponent who again drove a hard low shot toward the far goal post. Again Irina leapt to the other side, kicking the ball away as the crowd on both sides of the field roared with excitement, sounding as if there were easily four times more people there than there were; and it was a large crowd on both sides of the field anyway because of so many coming to see Bellevue's phenomenal goalie.

One of Irina's team mates again started away toward the other end and again had it stolen by the opponents and again they drove in to try to score. Irina made another kick save; beginning to enjoy all of the action and confidant that she could prevent a goal. It was more fun this way what with everyone screaming and all and the action coming so fast, so she decided to just do kicking saves instead of trying to control the ball as she had been taught. They had a three-goal lead anyway and this was fun.

Another shot came in low and hard and she kicked it away, but it hit two players and ricocheted into the center where the opponents picked it up yet again. A Tacoma player came down the middle and drove a hard shot on goal which Irina kicked away and this time she followed the ball out of the box and the crowd roared even louder as she ran toward it to clear it to a team mate who was open.

The captain ran toward her full-tilt and readied herself for a collision as the two drew near to each other. Irina hooked the ball and managed to start it up to where she could punch it toward the far end when she collided with the other girl. She was deflected to one side by the shock but she rolled instantly to her feet and gathered in the ball starting down the field to an enormous roar from the crowd even as the captain of the other team staggered to her feet groggily and started down field. Irina drove rapidly toward the net and just past center field she passed to a team mate and turned to run back toward her goal as two of her team mates took the ball in toward the other team's net.

The roar of the relatively small crowd was loud as Irina reached her goal and got back in place just in time to see her team score.

The captain stared daggers at Irina as she limped off of the field. Bellevue went on to take the game five to nothing and again the team carried Irina off of the field.

Afterward Clay was waiting as the team went to board the bus to Seattle. He came to Irina and kissed her, saying "I'm hoarse for hollering so much Rini! I never saw anything more exciting even at the Thunderbirds' games!" Laughing she said "Are you coming to drive me home, or do I need to get a ride?"

He kissed her again and said "What do you think, beautiful?"

He followed the bus back to Seattle and took her out to get a milkshake on the way home. They sat a while and talked in his car at her place and he kissed her softly at times as they talked first about the game. Eventually the kissing took over and the two began to become aroused. Irina knew that she was in love with him now, no doubt. Again it was Clay who called a halt to things, getting out of the car and opening her door to walk her to her front door. They kissed there and again the fire built up in Irina as she again remembered what Dom had told her. Somewhat huskily, Clay said good night, got in his car, and drove away.

Inside she kissed her mother and was told that a package had arrived for her. Opening it she gasped in shock as she gingerly removed a gorgeous off-white formal dress. A matching pair of low-medium height pumps was enclosed too.

An enclosed note said:

Irina,

Wear this to the Prom if you decide to go.

I & D

She went to her cracked dresser mirror and held it up, looking at her reflection thinking I have the dress, and I have the man I know that I love. I'm going to the prom after all!

# Chapter 45

As Wilks drove them to a crime scene Clay asked "Any bites regarding that one that got away. Uh, no pun intended."

"None of my four contacts has had anything new. Three of them have seen it before, but it was not in recent years in their turf."

"So this type of thing has happened before?"

"Yep."

"Why have I never heard of it? I mean nobody I know has heard of this type of killing."

"They keep it quiet is my guess."

"They?"

He took out his special cell phone and tapped it saying "They." as if that was enough to explain everything.

"You think they can keep the lid on a thing like this?"

"They killed fifty-three of those things whatever they are and we haven't heard a peep. They had to have lured them out of town some way to get that many and be so quiet about it. Try to wrap your head around that."

"I wonder what they were. It creeps me out."

"Me too."

"Have you ever met one of these 'Others'?"

"No. It's all done by telephone. I met one when I was twenty-eight and had just made detective. He was an older man at the time. I don't know if he's still around or not. They've helped us solve a fair number of cases over the years, and not all homicides either. Some were kidnappings and extortion schemes, and once there was even a counterfeiter and I got the credit for handing it off to Treasury."

Clay thought about the tip he had received that had not come from a snitch and admitted to himself that had been the start of his being fast-tracked to become a detective. He wondered then if he had been given that tip by one of the Others. He thought If so, will they one day want to meet with me?

His partner reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a skillfully done sketch of a man. It was so well done that it could nearly have been a photograph.

"Who's that?"

"That's the one they're looking for."

"Can I copy it?"

"Hell no! They don't want us to even try to approach this guy. They just want a location and they'll handle it."

"Damn! You mean we can't even arrest him?"

"I mean that if you try you'll be dead. That was made very clear to me and you had better heed the warning. You see this guy, you call me, and I call them."

"You think he's one of the... you know... the biters?"

Sighing, Wilks said "I don't know what to think, Clay. If I think that he's a biter, and yet he looks like a man, where does that take me?"

"You don't mean a vampire! Come on now!"

"You said that word, I didn't."

"Oh man! Surely that can't be so!"

They pulled up to the crime scene then and before getting out of the car, Wilkins turned to him and said "One other thing."

"What's that?"

"Both of those corpses had severe bruising on their backs where two human arms would have had to be if a human bit them. And they had several broken ribs there too."

Clay froze as he was getting ready to open the door and stared at his partner in wide-eyed astonishment.

***

"Adam?"

"Hello, JT."

I have some bad news about that business with the red Camaro."

"And?"

"Seems it was driven into a tree on that very night and I checked to be certain. There are verified tow truck records showing where it happened and I sent an investigator there. He found a tree not too far off of the road that had been hit recently and the tow truck driver says that is where the car was when he arrived."

"Go on."

"Well, they repaired it and the car is for sale at Basher's used car trade-in lot."

"I see. Replaced the part or straightened it?

"Mmm... wait... Straightened it and repainted it."

"Sounds like reasonable doubt at the best."

"That's right. Best we can do is a civil suit and it might not go our way what with the documentation and all. The D A won't touch it. Billy himself called the police and took a sobriety test that night voluntarily too, and he was clean. I don't like our chances on this at all. What do you want to do?"

"Nothing. I need to check something before making a decision. Thanks, J T."

"Any time, Adam. Good day."

Looks like it's a good thing the family owns the forensics lab that did the tests he thought as he paced back and forth. He flipped open his cell phone while he consulted a directory on top of his desk.

***

Irina had reached a place where her former dread of attending school seemed like a distant memory already. She had become very popular in spite of still keeping to herself a fair amount of time and she regularly helped students with trouble in math, chemistry, or economics, and that was not limited to seniors, but included all four levels of students.

By now she had jammed enough with Tommy's band that they had a good sound and had mastered six different songs to where they performed them very well. Irina insisted on some oldies being in their repertoire so they had gotten to where they could perform six oldies very well too. In fact after they had gotten well into that, the other members had come around and had admitted that all of the music they did together was fun.

She had shared with the band that she had gotten an ASCAP license to perform other artists' work and that if she left the band she would arrange to transfer that license to Tommy. It was a complete surprise to the group and Zoe wondered how she had done it and kept it a secret so well.

***

The last soccer game of the year was a home game and the score was three-nothing in favor of Bellevue. Irina was playing flawlessly and would still occasionally just make a series of kick saves which still gave Coach Becker an attack of nerves, but drove the crowd wild for the extra action it created around the goal area.

The backup goalie Karen Olsen had returned to school, but found herself benched now that the team had Irina. Irina had been biding her time and watching the other goalie as to her habits and whenever Irina would get into a series of kick saves, the other goalie's attention would wander, as she would relax and stand up straight instead of remaining in a game-ready stance. Twice she had reached up and taken a drink from her water bottle stored atop her goal.

Irina made three kick saves in a row and finally she got the opening up the center she had been waiting for and knocked down a high shot so that it fell in front of her. Without hesitating she kicked a blistering line drive toward the other team's goal, toward the goalpost nearest the goalie who again was just turning back from replacing her water bottle. The ball started out traveling toward the right half of the goal, but developed a curve due to its' speed and rocketed past her into the far left lower corner of the goal and the crowd went wild. Irina put both hands in the air with a big smile on her face. Behind Irina's goal Clay went berserk shouting and jumping up and down for joy.

Immediately she began to limp toward the bench and beckoned to Coach Becker and asked that Karen be sent in to tend their goal. Karen brightened up and took the field, trotting to the goal as she put on her helmet. Irina just wrapped her leg in a towel and sat on the bench for the duration of the game being some fifteen minutes or so. Bellevue closed the season with another shutout and a five to nothing victory. The team had really pulled together to preserve the shutout believing that Karen would need even more support than Irina and Karen only had to make seven saves.

So the girls' soccer team ended up with a nine-three season instead of what would likely have been a six-six season. It was enough for an all-city championship, and that put the whole team in high spirits. Irina was still carried off of the field by the jubilant girls as Clay followed her.

Later they drove to the Steak 'N' Shake for a malt and Clay spoke, saying "I was really concerned when you pulled up lame Rini. Looks like it doesn't hurt at all now."

"Oh, I'm fine now. I guess it was nothing after all." she said as she winked and leaned across the table to meet him for a kiss.

He sat back then, gazing at her with a smile as he said "You faked that so that other girl could get into the game one last time. You're amazing, Rini!"

She blushed and looked down as if her milkshake needed attention and then looked back up only to see unfeigned admiration in Clays' eyes.

"I know how it feels to be outside of something that you want to be a part of. Karen is a senior and this was her last time on a soccer field as a member of her high school soccer team. All's well that ends well."

"I'm glad the school soccer season is ended."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I was getting tired of being hoarse every Saturday from all of that shouting on Friday nights."

They both laughed then and Irina stretched her hand out to take his as she said "I have another challenge for you."

"I'm game. What is it?"

"Will you take me to the Prom?"

He looked at her in surprise, and then said "I'd forgotten about that, and here I've only been gone from the high school scene a few years myself."

"Well?"

"Yes. I'd be honored, really."

"Are you sure now? The guys at work will razz you no end for going to a high school prom."

"Let 'em. If they knew who I was going with, they'd all be green with envy."

# Chapter 46

"A pellet rifle? Really?"

"I don't want to think about where a rifle slug will go if it goes through those lights."

"I wondered why you'd been practicing with that thing." Li said as Ian rested the stock on the roof of the SUV and sighted through the scope. It was a modified pellet rifle with a really good quality scope and triple the volume of compressed air via custom made air charges. In a matter of minutes six lights at the Basher Chevrolet used car lot went dark after only nine shots.

"That is damned fine shooting for a pellet gun, Ian. I assume we have something to do in that lot."

Looking at his longtime friend with a wink he said "That we do. Let's go."

The two rocketed to the now darkened area nearest the boundary fence and bounded over it as if it wasn't there. They came to a red Camaro and Ian looked carefully at the VIN tag through the windshield, using a small flashlight just to be sure.

Pulling a pair of blue latex gloves from his pocket he took a handkerchief from his pocket and turned to Li, handing him a pair of leather gloves. "Lift this side for me."

Li squatted and effortlessly lifted the car on the driver's side as Ian slid under it with the penlight. Soon Li saw him toss the handkerchief out and fish a zip lock plastic bag from his pocket. There were some fibers in it with scraps of yellowish rubber fragments attached to them. In about two minutes he rolled out from under the car and Li lowered it.

Picking up the handkerchief, Ian said "That's it. Let's go."

"Next time you get to be the muscle, Ian."

Laughing as they leapt over the 10-foot high chain link fence Ian said "That's a deal."

"What did we just do?"

"We just took the blindfold off of lady justice."

***

"No one has come for the Learjet yet?"

"No. It's been towed to a hangar and is in storage there."

"Who's paying the bill?"

"An international corporation based in Rome."

"That's Verrazano's outfit no doubt. You know the exact place it's being stored?"

"Yes."

"Okay. One of you keep watching it. That's enough for now."

Ian pocketed his cell phone, a frown creasing his brow as he thought they know we're watching their plane. They may send or hire humans to take it to Rome. He sighed, wondering whether to plant a remote-detonate bomb in it or not. If humans were going to be sent, he would let the Verrazanos have their plane. If vampires were sent, he wanted to kill them too. As he drove along Interstate 405, he pondered the idea of a full-scale attack against them in Rome, disliking that for obvious reasons, yet liking it for not being an option they would expect him to choose. Where are you hiding Marelli? Did you go home, or are you still here. Where would I hide if I was you?

***

Enzo Marelli sipped a glass of Dom Perignon as he perused the menu at Carlottis' Family Restaurant in Portland. He had heard that this place was known to be an adherent to old-world style cuisine which he sorely missed. Now sitting at the bar he had narrowed down his selection to either Lasagna, or Linguine Alfredo when an excited utterance by another man at the bar jarred his concentration.

Annoyed and distracted, he looked over and saw that the man was staring at the television set behind the bar, seemingly oblivious to everything in the room. Flicking his dark eyes to the TV he saw a slow motion replay of a girl catching a screaming line drive that nearly hit a man sitting next to her at a baseball game.

Now riveted on the television he adjusted his hearing to discern what was being said about the incident and watched as they showed it again and then segued to what was obviously a homemade video of the same girl playing soccer. He watched in surprise as she left her post as goalie to take the ball past several defenders and even doing several incredible maneuvers, eluding them until most of the opposing team was drawn to her, at which point she passed the ball to a team mate who scored.

A montage of the same girl making split-second saves was then shown, and that concluded with a full field-length kick which resulted in this goaltender scoring a spectacular goal from her own end of the field.

In the buzz of conversation he was still able to make out that this athletic phenomenon was a resident of Seattle. He thought My God! Is she a part of the Seattle Coven itself? Does this open up any possibilities that I can exploit? More to the point, do I dare go back there now?

His choice of dinner was forgotten as he stared in disbelief at the television. Was what he had just seen purely chance, or was it an omen of good fortune?

# Chapter 47

Irina and Clay drove up in his silver-gray Corvette classic fastback and he opened Irina's door even as his car drew looks of admiration and envy. Several camera flashes had begun the moment she had stepped out of Clay's 'Vette and continued as the couple made their way to the entrance. Irina was reminded of how the Hollywood VIP types always arrived to such light displays as they were photographed getting out of a car at this event or that one. Never had she envisioned herself in such a setting, and even though it was only a High School prom, the effect of it surprised her. In fact unknown to Irina some of the various media outlets in the Seattle area were covering a bit of the prom that night because of her.

Valet parking had been furnished by an unknown benefactor, only becoming generally known three days prior to the prom. It was assumed that some wealthy alumni had stepped up to add a nice touch to Prom night, but in fact Ian had arranged it through one of the many businesses he owned, and had Irina inform Clay that his car would be carefully watched while he was at the prom.

As they were photographed for the year book, many more students cheered Irina and waved to her. It seemed that much of the student body wanted to be identified as a fan of Irina Connors this night and there were several incidents when students would pose beside the pair for photographs, knowing that those stood a better than average chance of making it into the yearbook.

Eventually the seemingly endless greeting and picture taking had nearly ended and Irina spotted Carol Ellmore and went to her. "I want to take one last time to thank you again for standing by me, Mrs. Ellmore."

Carol smiled warmly and responded, saying "Irina, it has been my privilege to have known you. I've always had a warm spot in my heart for you; and may I say that the two of you make a stunning couple."

Irina couldn't have agreed more regarding Clay, who looked devastatingly handsome in his all-black tuxedo.

Passing on by the two came to Zoe and Tommy who were both grinning ear to ear.

"Oh Rini, you look fantastic, doesn't she, Tommy?"

Tommy nodded excitedly as he shook hands with Clay who greeted Zoe as well.

"Zoe, you look simply beautiful, doesn't she Clay?"

"I couldn't agree more." he said as he took her hand and kissed the back of it, causing Zoe to blush even as she smiled.

An hour of dancing passed by fairly quickly and the band took a break. Irina excused herself briefly and joining Tommy the two went to talk to the band leader. They introduced themselves and asked if they could use the band's instruments and keyboard to do a couple of numbers and the band leader shook his head. Beginning a spiel about how he couldn't do that he stopped in mid-sentence and said "Irina is it?"

"Yes,"

"You're the soccer goalie?"

"Yes."

"I'm Mark Olsen as I said, and I'm Karen's big brother. I saw what you did to get my little sister into the last game of the season, and I want to thank you for that. You can use anything we brought so just follow me." he said as he led them up to the stage. Taking the microphone he said "Ladies and gentlemen, faculty; it is my great pleasure to introduce some of your own fellow-students who would like to entertain you while we hard-working musicians take a break. Won't you please welcome Bellevue's finest soccer star, Irina Connors and her band."

There was a good round of applause then as Irina took the microphone and said "Good evening, Bellevue prom-goers"

A loud cheer erupted and a chant of 'Rini, Rini' began as Irina laughingly said "I promised Coach Becker not to kick any soccer balls around in here this evening."

Becker waved and there was scattered laughter and some applause and whistling as Irina smiled sweetly and waited for it to die down a bit.

"This isn't my band, but it is the band started by our own Tommy Blair." she said as she extended her hand and beckoned to Tommy to join her. Cheers and whistles and applause began anew and Irina waited for it to die down a bit before saying "Tonight we would like to perform our rendition of a favorite of most of you, and you'll know it as soon as you hear it."

Tommy's guys had already taken up instruments and played an intro to 'All Star' and as Tommy started in on the keyboard Irina took a microphone and sang harmony as Will took center stage and sang the melody.

It was well received as soon enough most of the crowd was stamping their feet and clapping unless they were dancing, which some were doing. Finishing that they got a good round of applause as Irina spoke again and said "It is my great pleasure to announce that Mick Jagger disguised himself tonight as my date and is now going to help us perform a number that all of you know. Clay... er... Mick, won't you join us please?" as the crowd laughed and applauded.

The spotlight went to Clay who grinned and came up on stage saying "There may be some payback coming your way for this, Rini!" as he laughed and kissed her to loud applause and whistling.

The band launched into 'Start Me Up' and Clay gave the performance of his life, taking off his tuxedo jacket and rolling up his sleeves. Soon he was doing his own imitation of Mick Jagger as he strutted around the stage and imitated Jagger's facial expressions. The crowd was eating it up. Even several of the faculty couples were gyrating along with a lot of the students.

They ended that number to loud applause and whistling and Irina took Clay's hand and held it up while she said "Thanks for stopping in, Mick." as the crowd laughed and applauded while Clay stepped down from the stage.

"I have one last number that I asked Tommy and the guys here to do tonight and this is for the faculty of Bellevue High School. I am sure you will all remember this one. And I need a lot less light up here to do this, please."

Turning to Tommy as the lights were dimmed she put out her hand and he gave her an oblong box, taped shut. In fact she had rigged it and sealed it before she had given it to Tommy so he didn't know what it contained either. She opened it and donned a pair of yellow tinted sunglasses with a pair of wires attached that lead to a tiny black box. Adjusting the wire and box so that it was under her hair and behind her, she took up a Fender guitar and strummed it a bit and nodded to Tommy.

The group launched into the beginning bars of 'Betty Davis Eyes' as the crowd began to clap their hands. Irina said "You have to help us, students. We need you to clap your hands like this." She demonstrated the peculiar staccato handclap rhythm of the song. As soon as the crowd got into it, she began to sing the lyrics, sounding as much like Kim Carnes as she could.

When she came to the refrain 'She's got Betty Davis eyes' She put her hand above her eyes to shade them and made her eyes glow as bright as she was able. The effect was electrifying as the crowd went wild, whistling as she continued the song. Each time she sang the refrain, she would repeat that gesture and make her eyes glow as brightly as they could, lighting up the yellow sunglasses spectacularly and drawing whistles and cheers.

They ended the song to tumultuous applause and whistling. Irina slipped off the sunglasses and beckoned to Clay who came up on stage and took a bow with Irina, Tommy, and the band. Irina spotted the band leader and beckoned to him so he came up too and she thanked him for allowing them to use their instruments.

The applause and whistles were still deafening as they all made their way off of the stage and rejoined the crowd. They were all mobbed by the enthusiastic crowd who could not praise them enough, even as she handed her clutch purse to Susan Ellmore, leaning over to say a few words to her.

When it had died down some and a slower tempo song was played Clay and she began to dance. He pulled her close then and said "You're unpredictable Rini, but I love it. How on earth did you rig those yellow glasses?"

"Hey handsome, even girls read popular electronics." she said as he laughed and shook his head. Then she pulled his head down and kissed him and he forgot about things like sunglasses and soon enough so did she. She had taken the box and put it in her clutch purse and given that to Susan for safekeeping, begging her to not let anyone look at her gadget, saying she had made a promise to someone about it.

The evening was a smash success and numerous people, both faculty and students came to Irina and Clay to congratulate them on their performance as time went on. Irina noticed that some of the Clique members were there, looking like they were attending a funeral somewhere instead of the Senior Prom at Bellevue High School.

No one noticed a deeply-tanned tall dark-haired man wearing a black tuxedo, who had a close-cropped beard and frosty blue eyes. Ian had shown up early and had recorded Irina and Clays' arrival on a camcorder. After the prom was underway he easily gained access by displaying fake King County School Board credentials.

He had been well pleased to see how well Irina had been enjoying herself and had approved of their attempt to liven up the evening with the first two numbers they had played. Having the camcorder, he had recorded the entire performance. When they had done the third song though, he had frozen in disbelief, watching and recording until she completed the number. Shaking his head sadly, he had quietly departed several minutes after they had concluded the performance.

He was cheered up somewhat though as he saw a SPD squad car arrive and two uniformed policemen walk into the gymnasium, one of them holding a legal-sized document.

Inside, Irina saw the two policemen talking to several teachers and one of them led the officers to where Billy Basher and Sharon were dancing. She was astounded to see Billy turn around and one of the officers putting handcuffs on him. The two led him out the door as everyone stood dumbstruck, wondering what had just happened. Billy's face looked as pale as a corpse and Sharon looked sick. Two boys who were part of the Clique appeared to be actually holding her up as they led her out the door.

Like most everyone, Irina and Clay had stopped dancing and just stood staring at the scene in disbelief.

# Chapter 48

As Irina had kissed her mother and shared the events of the most wonderful evening of her life her mother listened with a bright smile to every detail. She laughed delightedly at the description of all of them imitating the Rolling Stones and especially the part about Clay being roped into performing with her.

Seeing her so happy and animated was like a tonic as she recalled the years of her being withdrawn and introverted. She was painfully aware of the misery that her daughter had endured even while taking care of her and that dampened some of the joy she felt for her daughter's wondrous night.

"It sounds as if things with Clay might be getting pretty serious."

"Oh Mom! I'm falling in love with him, no doubt."

"How will that affect your attending U of W next year?"

"Clay is a great guy, Mom. We hadn't discussed it yet, but I'm making that a priority. While we're on the subject, I found out that the Elsie Foundation doesn't grant money to go to school and pursue anything I want. They're very focused on purely practical things such as medicine, science, economics, law and various technical pursuits."

"Well then they sound as if they were tailor-made for you."

Laughing then she nodded happily as her mother yawned with an apology and stood up to go to bed.

Irina spoke then "Mom. The cops came and arrested a guy at our prom tonight."

"Really? Whatever for?"

"I didn't hear, but he looked pretty sick and so did the girl he was with."

After kissing Irina good night, her mother went to her room.

Irina knew she would have a hard time just reviewing her books, knowing that she had memorized everything needed to ace her final exams already. She could play some music and learn some more new songs on her guitar. That thought brought to mind her performance that night and she decided that she had better get rid of those sunglasses before she forgot about it.

In seconds she realized that she had to have left her purse in Clay's car and that caused an icy lump to form in the pit of her stomach. Oh Irina, what have you done?

She jumped up and began to pace the floor as she considered going to his apartment and breaking into his garage and into his car if necessary. She quickly dismissed that idea, ashamed to have even thought of it, but desperate at the same time. This is exactly what Ian and Dom warned me about, how we can never let our guard down around humans. How can I call on them for advice now, having done just what they warned against? I've been more than lucky up to now and no doubt they already helped me with that baseball incident. They might never have anything more to do with me over this what with Clay being a cop and all.

She resolved to go hunt, hoping that at least that would occupy her racing mind and perhaps suppress the rising panic she was now feeling at the thought of Clay discovering her secret. Gathering her ruck sack and turning all of the lights off, she gave Pepper a pat and rubbed his neck a bit before sliding up the window and silently leaping down to bound away into the darkness.

***

Clay drove toward his apartment, reliving the evening and savoring every moment of it. He had enjoyed himself far more than he had expected to even though he knew that if he was with Irina, he would always be experiencing a good time. I've gotten to where I can't live without her he thought as he rolled along Interstate 5, northbound.

As he drove he reflexively looked across the median to the place where he had wrecked his truck that fateful night. He thought she saved my life, and now she's become the center of my life.

That night it had been difficult to part from her as they kissed passionately at her front door. He no longer trusted himself to kiss her in that way in his car for fear that he would start it up and drive them somewhere that was more private. She's the one for me for the rest of my life he thought as he drew near his apartment. She's so young and it's up to me to be the responsible one in this situation and not to go too far. I can't ruin things with this girl. We have to talk about this before things get to where I can no longer control myself.

The last few blocks he thought of his feelings toward her and as he drove he pictured many moments that he had already stored away of her; the way she would catch him looking at her and flash a sudden warm smile as if to say 'I'm thinking of you too.' A montage of moments then paraded through his mind and they were widely varied situations such as her playing soccer, so aggressively protective of the goal she was guarding. That she had willingly faked an injury simply so that a team mate who was benched could get a chance to play had impressed him immensely. It took a lot of character for her to do that given the way the students there had treated her. She only had one friend in those years, and it wasn't that team mate.

His thoughts wandered then to other moments lovingly stored away where she might just be walking toward him or beside him and turn to smile as he took her hand or when they had danced slowly together at Sky City Restaurant and again tonight. The very thought of her made him ache for her and aroused him at the same time.

He had resolved to take a cold shower as he drove into the garage at his duplex and just before exiting the car he noticed that Irina's purse was lying on the floor on the passenger side.

Smiling at the thought of her leaving it in his car on purpose just so that he would return to her tonight, he reached over and retrieved it, even while laughing at the idea. At that moment though he was close to doing that very thing. He didn't know it at the time, but he would later wonder if things would not have turned out better had he simply gotten back in his car and taken her purse to her.

After letting himself into his sparsely furnished apartment, he tossed his keys into a small tray near the front door as he went to the fridge to get some ice cubes to mix a whiskey sour for a nightcap. Between this and a cold shower I may be able to go to sleep he thought wryly as he sat down with his drink.

I wonder what that arrest was all about tonight? I'll make a call tomorrow and see if I can learn anything. Rini did say that couple had made life miserable for her at school.

He reached over to the end table where he had placed her purse and held it up to his nose to see if her scent was on it. The clasp came undone and he absent-mindedly began to snap it shut when the flat oblong box where she had kept the yellow-tinted sunglasses tumbled out into his lap.

Smiling at the warm memory it evoked, he idly picked up the box and with a smile he recalled what she had said about getting the idea for them from a Popular Electronics magazine.

Taking them out of the box, he noticed how light the battery box was and that piqued his curiosity so he looked closely at them and noticed that there were no tiny lights behind the lenses nor was there even a battery in the little black box. In fact the wires were simply taped very neatly to the temples with black electrician's tape. The glasses were not functional whatsoever and suddenly he didn't need a cold shower any longer.

What in the hell did I witness tonight? he thought as he tossed the drink down in one long continuous swallow. Turning the glasses over in his hands he looked at them in shock as the realization of what he had witnessed settled in. Her eyes made that glow that we all saw, and not these sunglasses! Shamus mentioned two friends of his who saw a man with glowing eyes attack a man! My God, what does this mean?

Then he recalled his wonderment at how she had opened the door to his truck simply by pulling it, a door that he couldn't batter open from the inside. Recalling again how far she had carried him from the burning wreck he got up to go to the kitchen again. Pouring himself another drink he didn't even bother to add the sweet & sour mix but took it straight with no ice.

Settling himself in his easy chair he sipped the whisky as he looked at the sunglasses and fake wiring harness again. Two things were certain. He no longer needed a cold shower and he would get no sleep this night.

# Chapter 49

"As much as we would like to kill any vampires that the Verrazanos send our way, we dislike the idea of a bomb on their plane. If humans are sent or hired to bring it back, who knows but what it could be sold or any number of things we can't control. We don't like it Ian."

"I was pretty much on the fence myself about it anyway, so we'll just keep watching to see who comes for it. We all agree that it's too risky and uncontrollable."

"Do we know that he's still in America?"

"No. He may already have returned to Italy under an assumed name and passport. We're not the only ones who can make forged documents."

"We might put a team of say three or four in the hangar every night. They could kill any vamps that might be sent to retrieve the plane."

"And if humans show up instead, we just let the plane and them go."

"Right. We can gain access easily enough, but we need to be away from the thing before daylight. That hangar offers no practical hiding places for an all-day stay."

"If we do, we need to find a way to kill some lights to make our coming and going easier. I'll look into that myself to see if it's practical. Likely in time though, someone would get maintenance to look at it. We have another problem to talk about today."

"Let me guess. Our star soccer player, or is it the first female to ever qualify to play major league baseball?"

Several of them laughed along with Ian then as he shook his head, saying "Wait until I show you what I saw last night at the Bellevue Prom."

"Why Ian, I didn't know you were invited. Who is the lucky girl that got to take a 260 year old guy to her prom?"

"Hey, I'm not 260 for four more years!" Everyone laughed including Ian as he pressed the 'Play' key and the recording he made appeared on the television screen.

There were several remarks about what a stunning couple they were as the recording showed them driving up and getting out of Clays' Corvette. As they segued into the group performing the first two numbers, several laughed and shook their heads and a few comments were made among all of them.

Then the part where Irina sang with the yellow sunglasses played to its' conclusion and several exclamations were heard. Most of them laughingly agreed that they would like to have seen it live which caused Ian to take a deep breath and roll his eyes heavenward. This provoked a lot of laughter; even as another said "I think I speak for all of us when I say that I would have loved to have been there to have seen your face, Ian!" The whole group erupted in raucous laughter including Ian himself as he shook his head. Finally one said "What do you want to do about it?"

"Well she's my problem being as I helped her to imprint. I'm in favor of backing away from her. We're still not settled with this Verrazano situation and we don't need a loose cannon in our midst."

"So we cast her adrift? That seems harsh."

"I don't like it, but right now we just can't take any chances. If it was any other time in the past decade we might begin to bring her in. She really is a fine person and I know that all of you would like her."

Dominique spoke then saying "Ian's right. She could become a valuable member someday."

"I can tell that there is a 'but' somewhere in there, Ian."

"There is. Her boyfriend is a police detective."

"Oh this just keeps getting better and better!" said one.

"So the plot thickens!" said another as the group grew quiet.

"Isn't he one that we're going to recruit?"

"Yes. We had him partnered with Detective Wilkins, whom you all know of."

"Have we approached him yet?"

Nodding to another older member Ian let him answer. "No we haven't but Wilkins has had our permission to start sharing a small bit of information with him."

"So we'll get a feel for how he might feel being brought in to the same status as our other friendly human officials?"

"That's the idea. He's young."

"At the rate she's going he's going to get suspicious of her sooner than later, so maybe we should just recruit him now."

"I thought to wait until this Verrazano business is over with before doing that."

Several spoke then saying that they thought it wise to table his recruitment until later.

"Agreed. Regarding Irina I think we should do the same thing for the same reasons. Do any of you have any alternatives?"

Dominique spoke then saying "I'm the newest member except for Kat and Jeff, and I have a good relationship with her. I could maintain some sort of contact and surveillance on her for a while."

"Nice of you to volunteer, Dom. You'll have to stay away from here though."

She sighed and said "I know, but she's like a little sister to me already. I am the likely choice."

Others looked at each other and nodded in agreement as she continued "It won't be so bad, and if you need me to do any flying for you, I can do that too. I'll pack some things today and move where, into that loft down in the warehouse area, or maybe over near U of W campus?"

"We own a building in the campus area where we keep an efficiency apartment that stays vacant. You decide and watch her as best you're able while we plan a final solution to this Verrazano problem."

All of them nodded then, most of them making their eyes glow brightly.

***

"Hello."

"Irina, it's Clay."

"Oh hi! Hi Clay. I was thinking about you."

"I need to see you. Can we talk this evening? I have a dinner reservation for us at Riccolettos'."

"Yes. When?"

"Six?"

"Okay. I miss you."

"I... I'll see you tonight, Irina."

"Oh. Okay. 'Bye."

He disconnected without saying another word as she realized that he had not called her 'Rini'. The cold leaden feeling in the pit of her stomach intensified.

# Chapter 50

"You look funny without all of your hair, Enzo."

"Yes, doesn't it feel a little drafty?" said the other.

"I'm in no mood for your humor."

The two vampires laughed at Marelli's discomfort, even more entertained by the fact that they had been sent by Verrazano himself to retrieve the Lear Jet at Seattle. Rushed through qualifying since news of the disastrous defeat of the assault team in Seattle, the two were smug with their newfound standing. Now being the only two international pilots in the coven and under Verrazano's orders gave them a kind of immunity to any sudden violent reaction on his part, a thing that Enzo was known for. He wouldn't dare to harm either of the two now, and they both knew it.

They were enjoying the fact that Marelli was fallen from grace at this time and that his gigantic ego was deflated due to the crushing defeat he had led his team into. Even better, he was forced to keep his head shaved in order to better reduce his chance of getting caught and also to match his phony passport. He was known to be proud of his head of wavy long black hair and that he considered it to be a part of the supposed magnetic charm he exerted on the ladies. Simply knowing that he had to trim and shave his head every time he would feed was an added pleasure to the pair who had experienced his insufferable ego for over a century.

"You have only to take us to the airport and we'll take care of the rest. Can we count on you to do that?"

"I said that I'm in no mood for this shit, you two."

"Very well, Enzo. Stow your luggage in the trunk and we'll go, unless you have something better to do here in Portland that is."

The other one barked out a short laugh as Marelli cursed under his breath while angrily tossing his luggage into the trunk of the rented Toyota.

As they pulled away from the Avis rental terminal, Marelli sat in the back, seething with anger at his predicament and that two underlings such as these could jest with him with impunity, a thing that no one in the coven had ever lived to tell about. He thought there's nothing so vile that I won't do it to get revenge. These Americans will pay dearly for what they've done. And one day we'll once again have more international pilots and these two will rue this day.

***

It was busy at Riccolettos' and the buzz of many conversations filled the air as Irina and Clay looked at their menus. He had seemed off a little on the drive over and wasn't quite as warm when he greeted her at her door that evening. He had handed her the purse, saying only that she had left it in his car and had not given a hint that anything was amiss, but she knew him well enough to know that something was wrong.

There was an unspoken tension that was apparent to her, but she waited for him to breach the subject that she dreaded. In the meantime she talked a bit about some classes she wanted to take her first semester at U of W and he said little, only offering monosyllabic comments now and then.

After their food had arrived and the two had eaten he began to speak. Although she dreaded what was coming, at the same time she was glad not to be the only one trying to maintain a conversation.

"I have something very serious to discuss with you tonight, Irina."

"I know."

"I... I hardly know where to begin. I saw those sunglasses you wore the other night."

"I see."

"Look, it's not as if I went looking through your things, the box literally fell out into my lap and I remembered that you said you'd made them."

"I did make them."

"Yes, but that's not the whole truth."

"No. There's more to it."

"Irina, what did I see on Prom night?"

Irina reached out and took her goblet and sipped her wine before speaking. "Clay, when I was kidnapped I was infected and nearly died."

"You never told me that."

Putting her goblet down she sighed and said "I hoped it would never come up."

"Hoped what would never come up, Irina? That you can make your eyes glow? That you can rip open a door to a truck that had been crushed and jammed by a wreck? That you could carry me hundreds of feet away from the crash by yourself? That you can catch a line drive hit by a major league baseball player with your bare hand? That you can play soccer better than a professional or kick a field goal from the far end of a soccer field or make impossible saves time after time?"

She sat with her head bowed the entire time, waiting until he would finish. When she raised her head he saw tears brimming in her lovely eyes and hated himself.

"God, Irina! I didn't mean to make you cry. Please don't do that."

"You think that I want to? I never wanted this day to come, Clay."

Reaching across the table he took her hand gently, saying "What is it you dread so much? You can tell me."

No longer able to hold her tears she nodded her head, saying "I'll tell you what happened to me, but no more." In a hushed voice she continued "I was attacked and bitten by a vampire at Ike's place, while sitting on the porch waiting for my ride. Another one attacked him and saved me from being killed. I was infected by his venom though and would have died but for the other one and his helper. Those two saved my life and taught me how best to live as a vampire."

At the word 'vampire', everything that Clay had seen in the preceding weeks came into focus. In his mind's eye he was reviewing the wounds on the two bodies, and Wilkins' sharing of the fact that their ribs were fractured, crushed by the power of the killers' arms. A cold chill went to his core at the recollection that Wilkins shared that the Coroner had hardly found any blood in the victims.

Irina saw that Clay was looking intently at her, yet was focused on something other than her story. He eventually refocused on her, saying "I'm sorry, but I've seen some other things not related to... you... this thing... there have been some happenings that... well that I can't talk about. But you... you're a vampire, Irina? Truly?"

She nodded her head saying in a hushed voice "Yes Clay, truly." as tears streamed down her face.

"So you... you do... what? You drink blood?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Again she nodded, saying "We have to have it to live."

His eyes widened as he sucked in a deep breath and sat up straight in his chair. Looking as if he wanted to bolt from the table, yet he was involuntarily held immobile by the terrible revelation he had just heard.

"Those people, Irina! I saw two people who'd been bitten and drained. That's how you live?"

Shaking her head she replied "No. I and my friends live on animal blood."

"Your friends? Animal blood? We've found bodies that were drained, Irina."

"There are those of us who do feed on humans. My friends call them rogues. Neither I nor my friends do that, but we're... different. We can't have children nor walk in sunlight, and we're strong and can move fast."

He sat stunned, speechless, staring wide-eyed at her. She knew that he was even now visualizing what it would be like to see her feeding and in her heart of hearts, she knew he was repelled by it. Finally he spoke in a hushed voice "Who are these friends?"

"They're vampires like me, Clay. I owe them my life."

Leaning toward her now he continued "I mean who are they? Do they live here, in Seattle?"

"I'll say no more about them excepting that it was them who stopped the rogues."

Suddenly he sat bolt upright again as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. My God! That's who Wilks has been talking to! he thought. And there have to a lot more of them than two to account for the fifty-three that Wilks says they killed! How many of these things walk among us?

By the look of horror on his face Irina thought she knew what he was thinking, yet she hoped that somehow he could overcome his revulsion and see her as he had before. That hope died when his eyes met hers.

She picked up her napkin and dried her eyes, looking expectantly at him.

"Irina, I... I... so you won't tell me about them, your... friends I mean?"

She looked sadly at him and shook her head as she said "Only to say that they are two of the finest people I've ever met."

He sat back then, seemingly digesting what had to have been the most startling revelations he had ever heard. I wonder how much Wilks knows. I doubt he knows about Irina. I wonder if he's met one of them?

"Does your mother know?"

She shook her head sadly, even while keeping her eyes fastened on his. "You're the only human who knows about me, and you're rejecting me even as we speak. I've lived with rejection for nearly four years and I can see it in your eyes."

"Irina I... you can't expect... I mean what do you want... what do you expect of me? This... this thing... this condition... you're not human by your own admission."

Nearly whispering now she said "I never asked for this. But you've shown me that I can only find acceptance among my own kind. I... I only wish this could've all happened beforehand."

"Before what?"

"Before I'd fallen in love with you."

He sat as if stunned; his eyes locked on hers as the silence between them built into what she took to be a wall, ever to remain.

Pushing back from the table she rose and said "I'll call a cab. You needn't concern yourself about how awkward it would be now to take me home. Good bye."

He started to push his chair back saying "Irina wait now, I'll take you..."

Tears again welling up in her eyes she put her arm forth with her hand up as she said "Stay where you are."

Picking up her purse she turned without another glance and walked from the dining area toward the entrance, welcoming the rainfall that greeted her as she stepped out of the vestibule. Removing her shoes, she began to walk toward the darkness at the edge of the parking lot. The gentle rainfall soon had soaked her clothing and freely ran down her face, mingling with a thousand tears as she began to run. Slowly picking up speed she sought the darkness, that welcoming darkness that concealed from the human world the creature that she had become.

# Chapter 51

"You two can check in for me."

"You have something to do?"

"Yes. I'll return within a few hours at most. I may have something of interest to all of us." Without a word of further explanation he exited the car and hailed a cab which had just delivered two passengers to the Holiday Inn in Bellevue. In less than ten minutes he paid the driver and exited the cab less than a mile from Bellevue High School. On a dark rainy night no one would notice a shadow flitting about on campus, moving so fast as to defy a human eye to follow it, much less believe that something could move that fast on the ground at any time.

Bounding effortlessly to the roof of the two story structure, he soon found the access door and true to form it was not as sturdy as the exterior ground level doors were. After all, what school building was ever broken into from its roof access?

Within an hour he had located and broken into the office and was already looking through the records at vampire speed, making a mess with no concern for the consequences. Finally he found what he sought. A smile creased his face as he opened a folder with the name 'Irina Connors' neatly typed on a label at the top. Top center was a photograph, name and address along with other pertinent information. The address was all that mattered to Enzo. Laughing, he carefully returned the folder to its place and closed that file drawer.

***

"Hello, JT."

"Adam. Have you seen the news on TV this morning?"

"No. Anything I should know about?"

"Oho yeah! That kid, Billy Basher was arrested and has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident."

"I know. I was there when they arrested him."

"Oh? At the prom over in Bellevue?"

"Yes. I was recording prom night for a friend. It seems that suddenly none of the TV stations in Seattle were interested in covering the story that night or the next day either."

"So why are they all over it now?"

"Well, it seems that KVOS in Tacoma broke it and after that, I suppose there was no longer any need to keep it quiet."

Ian heard JT laughing quietly and then he said "Billy's father called me to represent him and Billy, and I had to refuse him."

"I see. Did he wonder why?"

"Likely, but I never gave him an explanation except to say that my firm wouldn't take his case."

"So what are they up against?"

"He might beat the charges."

"Well what made the DA move on it?"

"I hoped you could tell me."

Laughing then Ian said "It sounds to me like they think the evidence is stronger than what you thought it was."

Laughing himself, JT said "If it hadn't been all over every TV station in Seattle I might still feel that way. I suppose I'll have to wait until the trial gets underway to find out what they have on him, unless you're going to tell me."

"Why JT, I depend on you for information like that."

"Uh-huh. I suppose that means that if I hear anything, you'd like to know?"

"Of course."

Laughing some more JT said "All right, Adam. Have it your way. If I hear anything about what they have on him, I'll fill you in."

"I look forward to it JT. Always a pleasure and thanks for the update."

Laughing JT said "Uh-huh. You're welcome. Good bye, Adam."

"Good bye."

JT sat back in his chair, put his hands behind his neck and clasped them as he put his feet up on his desk. You did this Adam, but how? He laughed softly as he turned the facts over in his mind.

Ian sat back and clasped his hands together, putting them behind his head as he put his feet up on his desk, chuckling softly. JT will be worrying this like a dog with a new bone.

About then the courier came to the door and knocked. He went and unlocked the office, beckoning the young man to enter. Handing him a thick legal size envelope that was sealed he said "You do recall now that this was sent pre-paid to 'King County Courier Service' anonymously and that you don't know who gave it to your company?

"Yes sir, Mr. MacRae."

"Good. How has your business been?"

"Outstanding for a startup company only a year out of the gate! I can't thank you enough sir, and I'm going to have to hire help soon."

"You can thank me by remembering that you don't know me nor have you ever carried any correspondence for me. Remember that and you'll have a successful business, Gavin."

"Yes sir, Mr. MacRae. I know where my bread is buttered."

"I suspect that you do. This goes to the very same news editor at KVOS in Tacoma."

"Yes sir. Good day, sir."

"Good day, Gavin."

# Chapter 52

Looking bewildered, Irina stared at the petite middle-aged woman as she opened her briefcase. Removing two sets of car keys and a document she closed the briefcase with a smile and made an 'X' near the bottom, saying "This form shows that you received the car in good order and designates you as the only driver and as the one for whose use it has been leased. It is insured and licensed, but you will be required to buy your own fuel. Here is a list telling you where to take it for maintenance or repair. All of that will be billed to the Foundation. New license plates will be mailed to you each year and it's yours to use as long as you're in school and your grades average a 3.7, courtesy of the Elsie Foundation. Are there any questions?"

Irina was staring out the window at the gray Kia sedan parked in the space reserved for their apartment.

"Miss Connors?"

"I. Oh, please excuse me...I... no, I didn't expect this."

"You qualify under Foundation guidelines, given the distance to campus and your financial situation, Miss Connors."

Irina stared at the woman, noting for the first time her lovely violet-blue eyes and a complexion like slightly polished porcelain. Her hair was done up in a tight bun and was a chestnut color with liberal streaks of gray throughout, and her clothing was impeccable, albeit a bit austere, being a light gray broadcloth business jacket and matching skirt, black medium height pumps, and a white blouse; ruffled just enough to be slightly feminine and primly buttoned except for the very last button. She could have been someone's mother or an attorney, judge, or accountant, lovely in her own right in any case.

Putting the signed document into her briefcase the lady sat back with a sweet smile saying "Might I beg a favor of you, Miss Connors?"

"Omigosh! Yes. Yes Mrs. Lamont."

"Oh do call me Marielle, Miss Connors."

"Oh. Yes, Marielle. What is it?"

"Would you be so kind as to run me over to South Center Mall?"

"Yes. Oh yes. Right away Mrs.... I mean Marielle."

"Wonderful" she said as she stood, smiling at Irina, holding out both sets of car keys.

Soon they were merging onto Interstate 5 southbound and Irina found herself answering questions about her school, her desires regarding her education and hopes for the future, and even by the time they had arrived at the mall, her preferences in music. Marielle was a delightful companion and Irina found that she felt like she had known the lady forever by the time they arrived at the mall.

"Just let me out in front of Sears, Irina." she said as she smiled sweetly. As she unbuckled her seat belt and picked up her briefcase from the floor in front of her seat, Marielle turned and smiled warmly again as she said "It was wonderful to meet you Irina. I hope that you realize all of your dreams and goals." She extended her hand and Irina took it, looking intently into her eyes and smiling herself, a heartfelt and warm smile for this delightful lady.

As she drove away she watched in the rear view mirror as the lady turned and waved one last time before entering Sears. What a delightful lady and what luck to qualify for a car for the next four years! she thought as she adjusted the air-conditioner setting and switched on the stereo. Things are looking up a bit after all, and I need that she thought as she merged onto the six-lane and headed for the interchange.

Marielle walked through Sears and into another store and straight into their women's restroom. Removing the wig, she put it into her purse as she shook out her glossy raven-black hair and exited. In less than three minutes she was buckling herself into a silver-gray Mercedes Benz CLK roadster. As she backed out of the space the folding hard top disappeared into the trunk space and Vivaldi's Four Seasons symphony began to play on the stereo. Donning black drivers' gloves, a white visor and sunglasses in spite of the cloudy day, she drove off.

# Chapter 53

Dominique looked about at the tiny efficiency apartment, opening the few cabinets that were there and after a brief inspection, she threw her bags on the bed and unpacked, taking extra care with her clothing. It isn't as if I have somewhere to go she thought as she found a drawer for undergarments and socks.

She had picked out a 1990 Dodge pickup truck recently from among three dozen vehicles that the family had access to for various purposes. It would not even be noticed in Delridge if she decided to watch Irina's place for any reason. Driving it over to the campus area, she had decided that she missed her Corvette already, having left it in the cavernous garage that the family had at the Balsam Canyon location. There was room to park around fifty cars in the thing, a gigantic Quonset-style steel building with eight hydraulic lifts and twenty four stalls. A bewildering array of tools, welders and all manner of pneumatic equipment was at the family's' disposal for anything that came up. There was literally no car repair or modification that couldn't be done there.

I'd like to be doing an oil change on my 'Vette right now she thought as she contemplated living apart from the family for the foreseeable future. Laughing at the changes she had undergone since becoming a vampire she thought I only thought I was a little odd for having a passion for flying. Now I can field strip sixteen different military grade weapons, I know some of the deadliest hand to hand combat techniques in the world, I routinely dive into chores with the others and think nothing of doing mechanical maintenance on cars and aircraft. I can play piano and clarinet and I know eight languages and how to sneak across any border of any country on earth. Never would I have dreamt of things like this only a few years ago before becoming a vampire.

She picked up the phone to see if service had been started yet and was answered by the cheery sound of dial tone, so she called the satellite TV company and ordered the full array of premium channels as she thought I've wanted to learn to play violin for a while now. I might just as well buy a book on the subject and see if I can get one at a pawn shop. This won't be so bad though. I can easily see Irina and even have her over here to visit as often as she'll come. I'll treat her to dinner now and then and we can go to that concert next week.

Smiling, she thought I'll even sit and watch every cornball vampire movie ever made with her. This will be fun.

***

"Kid, you look down in the dumps" said Wilks as he skillfully piloted the Departments' unmarked Mercury Marquis police cruiser through the traffic around West Precinct.

"It's been a bad week, Wilks."

"You're off of your game, that's for sure. I thought it would blow over but here it is Friday, and all week you've been off."

"Wilks, have you ever met one of the Others?"

"Others?"

"Come on now, you know who I mean."

"Oh, those Others. Nah. I met one years ago out of the blue, well not really out of the blue. Nothing happens by chance with those people."

"That was when you were first approached?"

"Yeah."

"Anything unusual about him?"

"Nope. Mr. Average elderly American best I could tell. Sharp as a tack though if you ask me."

"Wilks, did it occur to you that maybe the others are like those killers they got rid of?"

Wilkins drove a bit in silence as he thought Bingo, kid. But do I want to talk about this with you? He sighed and said "Yes."

"And?"

"And what? Am I supposed to go to the Captain, or hold a press conference or something because of a hunch?"

"Aren't you curious even a little bit?"

"I think about it more than you can even guess kid, but they've never once steered me wrong. I don't know why, but I trust them, and yes, I'm more than a little bit curious."

"I just wondered."

"Look, I may be curious, but I damned sure don't want to ever meet up with one of them. Do you want to meet one who can break several of your ribs by hugging you and drain nearly all of your blood?"

Clay hesitated, thinking I kissed one and I thought I Ioved her, but how do I tell you that? "Wilks, we're talking about two factions of the same race of people here."

Wilks turned to look at him as if he'd never seen him before, but said nothing.

Continuing, Clay said "I think we have a case of good vampires and bad vampires here in Seattle, and no, I won't repeat that in front of anyone but you."

"Vampires?"

"Yeah, Vampires."

"God help us kid. You're saying what I've been thinking for weeks."

"Wilks?"

"Yeah?"

"I think that we have a bunch that live here and maybe have always lived here or at least longer than you and I have been around. I think others came to this area and started trouble for reasons we can only guess at, and the murders that we saw were part of that."

"You think maybe these newcomers were trying to take over or maybe just force the original ones out into the open?"

"Yes. I think the originals live on animal blood and the newcomers live on human blood, or maybe both kinds of blood. They have a serious beef with each other, and that may be the reason for all of it."

"The 'it' being Seattle becoming ground zero for a vampire war?"

"I think the newcomers wanted it that way but I think that the originals lured them out of Seattle and massacred them. What do you think about that?"

"You're on to something! And you know what?"

"What?"

"I'm glad that they did it that way, and you should be too!"

# Chapter 54

Having returned to the motel for the car, Enzo now approached a certain street in Delridge and slowed just slightly as he passed by Irina's fourplex, continuing onward to near where the street ended in a 'T' and turning right at that point. Within some twenty minutes or so he had found a vantage point an eighth of a mile away from which he could see the front of Irina's fourplex.

As he settled in for a long watch he mulled the problem over, thinking I'm not going in there thinking to just take her and get away. That ambush was enough to teach me. For all that I know there is any number of vampires waiting to take me if I try something here. There has to be a better way to do this, and if I'm patient, it will come to me.

She's no street vampire and I doubt she's a single lone vampire. She's too young and too well mentored to be that. No, she's a part of the Seattle Coven for sure. But why live here? To be bait for me? The school records show her to be here for some six years now. Something about this doesn't add up, but if I can get her, I stand a chance of getting one of the Seattle Coven to come to negotiate her release. She has to be connected to them in some way. She might now be acting as bait though. The dates on those sports video clips support that because I had gone into hiding then. She is bait to lure me in. I'll find a way to steal their bait. I have only to be patient, and be certain that none of them are sneaking up on me in the meantime.

He remained uneasy at the very thought of that and was jumpy the whole time he was there, watching the rear view and side mirrors more than the building itself, even muttering curses every time a car approached.

***

"Hello there, stranger. Come on in here" said Dominique as Irina stepped inside and hugged her, saying "Omigosh Dom, it's good to see you! I didn't realize you lived around here."

"It's good to see you, Rini. So the foundation gave you a car to use for school?"

"Yes. I couldn't believe it then and I barely believe it now. The lady who brought it out was so sweet. I'm still getting used to going places without making any arrangements."

"Can you take it to school; I mean, you know... to finish your last week of High School?"

"Yes. I suppose I don't need to ride in the van anymore. Oh, I brought some movies." she said with a bright smile.

"You start the popcorn and I'll load one in. Which one do we see first?"

"Can we talk a while first?"

"Sure." Taking her hand, Dominique led her to the sofa where the two sat, facing one another.

"Dom, Clay knows about me."

Nodding understandingly she said "I take it that didn't go well?"

Irina shook her head, looking crestfallen and Dominique was moved with pity for her. Reaching out she took Irina's hand and said "Some humans can't get past knowing that we must live on blood. It is a thing that we can never be sure will be acceptable." Knowing the answer she still asked "How was it that he found out?"

Irina told her, leaving nothing out and accepting all of the responsibility for the incident. That reaffirmed the esteem that Dominique felt for Irina, even as she expressed sympathy toward her.

"Is there any chance that he'll come around?"

"Oh Dom! I wish he would! But his eyes... oh what I saw in his eyes! I love him, really I do, and I think he felt the same. I really blew it!"

"You did, Rini, but you're young and things like this are to be expected. It takes a while for the younger ones of our kind to get to where deception becomes second nature, and yet that's best for all concerned in every case."

"Dom, do people of our kind stay with humans, you know, as mates?"

"We have none of that in our family now, but we've had it in the past, and it has worked. But we've had those who came to real sorrow that way too. Humans are so frail that there's always a chance that one will be killed in an accident, and then there is the aging thing too. Some of the vampires in our family were born into it of human parents who were living with the family."

Irina stared wide-eyed at Dominique, saying "Humans and vampires living together? Did you see it?"

"No. It's happened at times over the years with my family, but not since I joined them. They had no real problems in any of the incidents I know of, and I know of several."

"Did the humans eventually cross over?"

Mmm... yes. In all of the cases I know of, they did after bearing children."

"What? Human kids, raised in a vampire household? Truly?"

"Oh yes. My family has had several incidents of children born into their family and raised from infancy."

"So you're waiting...?"

"Yes. I'm waiting for one of our kind, but who knows what will happen in life?"

"Well it shouldn't be so hard for a woman as beautiful and wonderful as you to find a mate among our kind."

"Well Rini, many male vamps are not imprinted properly and they lose their libido when they imprint."

"Huh?"

"A male must make love while imprinting or lose his libido forever. So I suppose you could say that complete males are a bit in short supply among our kind."

"Wow! I never guessed."

"Why would you? We never bothered to bring it up to you, besides that, Ian is kind of old-fashioned that way."

"Really?"

"Yes. He just doesn't like to talk about things like that to women. You know, I used to think I was some kind of a tomboy because I liked to play baseball and then later I learned to fly planes. Hah! Now I shoot Uzis and tactical shotguns and chop heads off of rogue vampires! Who knew? Does Clay have a brother?"

Irina threw both hands over her mouth and squealed with laughter, falling back on the sofa, shaking her head and kicking her feet up and down as she laughed raucously saying "Omigosh Dom! You're just what I needed tonight!"

"I have something else that might make you laugh too."

"Oh Dom, don't you dare make me laugh that way again! I might wet my pants!"

"I can tell you another time."

"No, go ahead. What is it?"

"That kid that made your life so miserable in school was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident."

"Sharon Little?"

"No. Billy Basher. He's being accused of running over you, Rini."

***

Clay sat in his recently acquired pickup truck watching the apartment building that Irina had entered. He felt bad about tailing her, but he simply couldn't resist the temptation to learn more about the Others that she had alluded to. Given that she had walked out on him, he assumed that at some point in time she would seek her vampire friends and he was pretty sure that whoever lived in this apartment building was one of them.

He could have asked her to reveal more, but she had been very clear about not being willing to talk about them at all to him. He supposed it was curiosity on his part that drove him to see who it was that would inspire such loyalty. Certainly he never thought that they were the killers of those homeless people. Her telling him that her friends fought against such practices rang true.

Truth to tell, he was miserable since she had separated from him, and had a little comfort in seeing her briefly and knowing where she went. Was he gradually coming to grips with the fact that he loved someone who was not human, or was he simply unwilling to let go of a dream so easily? Reaching into his pocket he took out a tiny black ring box and snapped it open. He had bought the engagement ring the day he had rented the tuxedo for her prom, and had been waiting for the right time to propose to her.

The sudden revelation of what she was and was not had shocked him to his core. He had volunteered for all overtime no matter if it was boring surveillance or stakeouts or what it was, thinking that if he was occupied with his work enough he would get over her easier. It wasn't working and he was at least honest enough to admit that to himself. He simply ached for her, to talk with her, to see the way she would look at him when they were walking somewhere, or when she would share some trivial thing she loved like a song or a part of a movie. Never had he experienced such emotional trauma after a breakup with a girl. This was different and he didn't deny it.

Going back in his mind to that awful night at Riccolettos Restaurant he felt tears begin to gather in his eyes. Irina hadn't been the only one to weep that night.

***

Enzo watched the man in the truck intently. He hadn't known that he wasn't the only one watching Irina until by a stroke of luck, this truck had pulled out and begun to follow her that evening, even as Enzo was getting ready to make a U-turn and follow her himself.

As he sat there in the light drizzle that had started up, he wondered who this man was. Being in a foreign country he couldn't have the police trace his license plate, so he resolved to just wait and follow him. Maybe he would go home and that would be all that was needed to reveal his identity. Things were looking up and it only required patience on his part to learn what he needed. He adjusted his car seat and got as comfortable as he could, but he still kept a wary eye on the rear view mirror and would put his hand on the Beretta semiautomatic pistol on the seat beside him whenever a car would approach.

# Chapter 55

The principal had given the last diploma out and all present had stood to applaud the graduating class. He raised his hands then and said "We conclude our commencement ceremony today with an address from our Valedictorian Miss Irina Connors."

He stepped away from the podium and waited until Irina had walked up on stage to join him. The students stood and whistled and cheered deafeningly and a chant of 'Rini, Rini' began.

Irina stepped behind the podium and smiled slightly, nodding her head several times as the applause came in waves, everyone on their feet. It finally died down and Irina said "Look Mom, no crutches."

Immediately laughter mixed with loud applause erupted once again and she had to stand there a bit, nodding her head and repeating 'thank you' several more times until it quieted again.

"My fellow graduate students; we stand on a threshold today with our whole lives ahead of us. What and who we become will in part be due to our experiences while we were students here at Bellevue High School. Some of us will enter the work force, some perhaps our nation's armed forces and some will go on to further our studies. We will all be pursuing our hopes and dreams as we enter adulthood. How blessed we are to live where our God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are protected and guaranteed by the Constitution of this great nation." She paused as applause broke out once again briefly.

"Some of us have had it relatively easy and some have had it hard, and no one here today knows that more intimately than I. Struck down by a car alongside of a road and left for dead, I was no sooner out of surgery than I was kidnapped. But for the grace of God and several dear friends, I would at best be delivering this message from either crutches or a wheelchair. At the worst, I might be dead or still be in jail and only praying to finish my studies next year.

"During most of my time here at Bellevue, I was either hated or ridiculed by some for either being from a poorer part of town or for wearing dental braces and eyeglasses. Through the kindness of two dear friends and their round the clock care I received badly-needed help and I made a miraculous recovery from my injuries." The crowd was hushed now, listening intently to everything she said.

"It is my fervent hope that no student of Bellevue ever again be subjected to the vile treatment I suffered, and that all of us will have learned enough about that to see to it that we do all that we can to oppose such things should we ever encounter them again in our lives. That is behind me and I bear no ill will or malice to anyone, nor should any of us. We must shed such needless baggage in order that we might devote all of our energies to the achievement of our goals, that we might one day live our dreams. We owe our parents nothing less." Here she paused while again applause erupted briefly.

"With a special thank you for my counselor Mrs. Susan Ellmore and my friend Zoe Minkus, both of whom stood by my side in my darkest hour; I bid you students and faculty members of Bellevue High School farewell. May God bless all of you."

Again applause erupted as she stepped back from the microphone and turned to shake the hand of the principal, and then she walked along the stage shaking hands with each of the faculty who had stood up at the conclusion of her speech and were applauding. Coming to Susan Ellmore she embraced her warmly, saying "God bless you forevermore Mrs. Ellmore." and kissing her. Whistles and cheers erupted from the crowd then as she resumed shaking hands with the entire remaining faculty. At the end of the stage she turned to the crowd and waived her hand before removing her cap to toss it into the air to tumultuous applause and shouting as the graduates all threw their caps into the air.

Near the back of the auditorium Ian turned to Dominique and smiled as he handed her the camcorder, saying "She's worth all of our efforts, Dom. Keep a close watch on her." He made his way to the aisle and walked from the auditorium toward the parking area. Dominique noticed that Billy Basher had made it to Commencement. In fact he was free to attend only because his parents had posted a $250,000 bail.

No one applauded longer and louder than Clay Walker who stood in the very back row with tears in his eyes.

Enzo casually looked back at Clay and saw that the man was crying and instinctively knew that he loved this girl. I now know how to steal the Seattle Covens' bait.

***

"I have a proposal for the two of you."

"Look Enzo, we just came here to get the plane and go home."

"But what if we can get a location on the Seattle Coven?"

The two looked at each other and then one said "What do you have in mind?"

"I need to get a space somewhere, maybe find some property some place that is vacant where I can have some privacy. I have located one of their protégés and if we kidnap her, we might flush one or more of them out of hiding."

"We might end up with all of them coming in on us and killing us too."

"Not if we get her boyfriend first."

"Boyfriend?"

"She has a boyfriend who is human."

"A human boyfriend?"

"She's young, only now about to graduate from high school."

"One so young to be a part of the Seattle Coven?"

"She's no street vampire...too well mentored."

"Very well, let's assume she's a part of this Seattle Coven and we take her. What then?"

"We take him and have him call her. Once we have her, we exchange the boyfriend for the location of the Coven or at least get one of them to come and talk with us."

"Talk with us?"

"Yes. We act as if we want to bury the hatchet and make peace between our covens."

"Vincenzo wants revenge. We've lost two-thirds of our coven to this bunch."

"Two thirds?"

"You don't know? Over eighty of our coven have left Italy for good because of these two massacres. There are but a dozen of us remaining. The losses we've suffered regarding our human contacts in government are staggering. Those among us who left were afraid to arrange for their human friends to work with the few of us that remain. Our influence in Italy is a shambles."

"I... I didn't know that! But isn't that all the more reason to get revenge? This will work. We'll say Verrazano wants peace and work that angle."

"We keep the boyfriend somewhere else so that she has to accept our offer?"

"Yes."

"We need two locations then."

"Let's get on it. Vincenzo would be far more pleased if we could come home with his plane and a location for this bunch."

"Or even better yet, a live hostage."

# Chapter 56

Irina answered her door to find two well-dressed young ladies standing on her porch.

"Hello, are you Irina Connors?"

"Yes, I am."

"I am Celeste Bouchard and this is Celine Garnier. We are here on behalf of the Elsie Foundation." said a petite woman with wavy auburn colored hair and large brown doe-eyes; she was quite lovely and seemed in some way to put Irina at ease.

She shook hands with Celeste and inexplicably felt a sense of well-being immediately upon taking her hand. Smiling she shook hands with Celine and again felt the same thing, but somehow differently. Celine was taller and had the same wavy auburn hair and nose, but had widely spaced lovely gray eyes and slightly fuller lips. Both women had an exotic beauty and quality about their selves that was indescribable, yet undeniable.

Celeste handed her a card with the familiar logo of the Elsie Foundation embossed on it and said "May we come in?"

Nodding and smiling in return, Irina stood aside as the two came in. Pepper barked a bit and then after sniffing each of the newcomers, he wagged his tail, sat down and cocked his head, looking curiously at them.

Irina gestured to the sofa and the two sat down. "May I get either of you some water, or some coffee?"

"No thank you. We came to meet you and to go over some things about your upcoming enrollment at U of W."

"Oh. What is it then?"

"Here are all of the courses offered at U of W that the Foundation will pay tuition and costs for. As you may recall, there are none of the art or music courses covered and there are a lot of other electives not covered as well. The Foundation will only pay for the courses on this page here." She handed the brochure to Irina who nodded. Looking at it she saw that mathematics, sciences, engineering, accounting, business administration, law, pre-med and all of the more practical courses were included.

"Yes, I've seen this already. I'm anxious to enroll and get started, and I'm thrilled that I qualified."

"Your grade levels are impressive, Irina. We both think that you'll prove that you were an excellent choice for us." said Celine with a warm smile.

"Thank you."

Celeste spoke then, saying "You've had quite a rough time of it at Bellevue. We are impressed at how well you came through all of that.

"I had a lot of help."

True, but it would have been harrowing even without the severe physical injuries and the kidnapping. We've never heard of a candidate who's had to endure what you have. We admire your perseverance."

The three had a pleasant conversation for some ten minutes and Irina noticed that Pepper kept going over to first one and then the other of the two, wagging his tail and cocking his head to one side as if they were speaking to him some way. Finally when the two were getting ready to leave, he sat in front of Celeste and stuck out his paw, which she took and stroked his head with her other hand as she did. Then he got up and did likewise for Celine who also took his paw and petted him, gently rubbing behind his ears as he craned his head one way and the other to get the full effect.

Irina had never before seen him do that and wondered at it, even as the two took their leave. At the door, Celeste said "Irina, may we have a hug?"

Smiling, Irina nodded and stepped forward to hug Celeste first and then Celine and again she had a sensation of well-being but this time it was stronger than when she had shaken hands with the two.

"May I ask you something?"

They smiled and nodded so Irina continued, saying "I'm surprised to see someone... so young as you two doing this work. If you don't mind my saying, you two look as if you could hardly be out of college yourselves."

The two glanced at each other and laughed delightedly, the sound almost having a musical effect. Celine said "We both started young, but we have more experience at this than you might think." to which Irina responded by smiling in return and nodding her head.

They smiled warmly and both said "Good bye, Irina." Celine then said "If any difficulties arise, don't hesitate to call the foundation. You have our card."

The two took their leave then, walking to a gray SUV and driving away.

Irina couldn't get over how strange and yet good the meeting had been. There was something unusual about the pair, but she couldn't put her finger on it no matter how she turned it over in her mind.

The last time she had seen someone with such warmth, poise and grace had been the day that her car had been brought over to her by that lady named Marielle.

***

Parked at his usual place Enzo saw the two young ladies depart, noting the sunglasses in spite of the cloudy day. They didn't even bother to use the handrail to descend the stairs in spite of both of them wearing high heels. Then there was the obvious quality of their clothing as well, so he decided to follow the two.

They might be in the Seattle Coven too, coming to check up on a new member. I might get lucky here.

He pulled out and maintained a separation of a half to a full city block as he followed them to Interstate 5 and merged into the northbound traffic behind them.

They exited at the Northgate Mall and parked straight out from J C Penney's, walking inside. Pulling into the next aisle Enzo drove until he could pull into a place in the next double row of cars and directly behind and across the aisle from them. He pulled through his space into the facing one so that he would be facing out from his parking spot, yet looking directly at the back of their SUV.

No sooner had he gotten settled than a large black Ford van pulled in directly behind him, disrupting his thoughts. The memory of the night of the ambush gripped him and he became tense, wondering if they were on to him already and were springing a trap. Were they going to risk killing him in public now, and drag his body into their van?

Two athletic looking men, one medium height with sandy colored wavy hair and the other quite tall with a dark complexion and dark hair got out. They both wore well-made casual wear and both of them walked into Penney's. He began to relax a bit and then some ten minutes later the two returned. His anxiety rose to a peak then as they drew near, and he slipped the safety off of the Beretta tucked into his waistband of his slacks. The two just got into the black van and drove away. He relaxed a great deal then. I'm paranoid he thought with disgust, realizing that being so fearful was a new thing for him. The disastrous night when all of his assault team but he were slaughtered still weighed heavily on him.

A half hour later the two ladies came out, each with a shopping bag and entered their SUV. In a minute or less he could see that they were going nowhere as the two exited the car and raised its hood.

One of them fished out a cell phone and made a call, finally putting it away she nodded to the other one and the two walked back inside of Penney's.

In some twenty minutes a wrecker came and both women came out and approached the driver. One signed a document on a clipboard and handed it back to the driver and the two walked back into Penney's. The driver winched the car onto his rollback bed and departed with it. Enzo was torn between following the tow truck and waiting to see if the two would call a cab or someone to pick them up.

Cursing first his bad luck and then all of the workers on the Honda assembly line that had ever put a part into this particular SUV he followed the wrecker, knowing that he might miss any chance of following the two, being as they could still be in there or could have already departed by any number of other exits. As he drove along muttering curses he thought best to follow their car. At least I can't lose sight of it. I'll deal with getting their information after I see where this truck goes.

# Chapter 57

Carefully closing the door to Dominique's efficiency apartment the two vampires departed, having all of the information they needed. They now knew that the place was leased to one Donna Hartmann, a student from Montana who happened to know their target from meeting her while getting enrollment information at U of W. Enzo would be disappointed that this Donna was just a human friend, but it might be that he had had good luck watching Irina. The two lost interest in Donna after observing her clumsily drop her keys when she had reached her vehicle. She had then bumped her head while getting in to her car before clumsily backing out and pulling back into her parking space three times before finally getting her car to where she drove very slowly away, braking in the middle of the first block three times for no apparent reason whatsoever. They had searched her place instead of following her after seeing that, and at least had some information to show for their boring day.

***

Enzo drove slowly past the place where the tow truck had pulled in, looking intently at it. A neat rectangular cinder-block building with a sign proclaiming it to be 'Business Leasing Alternatives, LTD' was prominently displayed across the front of the building. There was a large gravel yard out back containing cars, trucks, and some varieties of construction and farming equipment. He drove to the end of the block and pulled into a parking lot and waited until the tow truck came out empty.

Looks like I'll be visiting this place tonight he thought as he smiled, engaging the transmission and driving out of the parking lot.

***

Clay wheeled his pickup truck into the parking lot of his apartment building; his thoughts having long since returned to Irina after his shift had ended. Sighing, he idly wondered if he would order a movie and stay in or go see his brother and his wife. Maybe he would take the 'Vette and drive out to Olympic Peninsula tomorrow. It could be a really nice trip if it wasn't too rainy and it might keep his mind off of Irina.

He was debating doing an oil and filter change within the garage that he rented with his apartment and wondering if he would get caught. That sort of thing was frowned on by his landlord, but he did it anyway, being loathe entrusting any care of his classic 'Vette to a shop.

Thus preoccupied, he was taken completely by surprise when a man darted toward him from the stairwell as he approached it. In spite of Clay moving aggressively forward and aiming a side kick at the man, he easily deflected it with one arm and was on him in a flash, clamping his arms around his neck and holding him as if he were a babe even though he thrashed mightily and kicked his feet clear up over both of their heads in an effort to wrench himself free. He felt consciousness leaving him gradually as blackness seemed to come in upon his vision from all sides and he saw only a circular view of the familiar stairwell surrounded by blackness and even that then began to darken and slip from his sight.

The vampire looked about furtively and then tossing Clay over his shoulder as if he was a rag doll, he rocketed away to a car parked in the darkness out in the street. In seconds he had bound and gagged Clay, his hands moving at a vision-blurring speed as he finally slammed the trunk lid closed. Starting the car he pulled away into the darkness and switched on the headlights, even while entering two digits into a cell phone.

***

A shadow detached itself from a gloomy area near a vacant lot adjacent to 'Business Leasing Alternatives LTD' and paused briefly before entering the pool of light surrounding the building. Two muffled sounds accompanied the sudden extinguishing of two floodlights. In seconds the shadow was on the roof and soon enough had gained entry to the place.

It was only a quarter hour and the shadow re-emerged on the roof of the building and leapt from the darker side of it to land running at an unbelievable speed into the darkest regions of the business park.

Pleased with himself, Enzo smiled as he unfolded the King County map he had purchased earlier that day. Soon enough he found the road matching the road given as the address of the woman who had leased the SUV. Ridgemont Road was in a rural area in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle, some forty miles south of where he and his party had been ambushed.

It was rural, remote, and surrounded by mountainous woodland; a perfect place for a coven to live and hunt together in privacy and yet reasonably convenient to Seattle. At last, I might have the real address of the Seattle Coven. We may yet repay them for what they've done. Vincenzo will be pleased to at least have this lead. Picking up his cell phone he entered two numbers and waited for the international call to go through. A deep voice answered and he said "Enzo here. I have some information that should prove fruitful."

***

Clay renewed his struggle against the ropes that bound him when the trunk of the car was opened. A dark silhouette plucked him up from where he was lying as if he was a babe in a crib. Tossing him over a shoulder, the vampire rocketed to the side of a large steel industrial building and leapt to the second story roof effortlessly. Dropping him on the corrugated metal roof briefly he broke a window and reaching in, he pulled it open.

Quickly Clay was again snatched up and carried effortlessly through the window and was amazed that a dizzying leap followed that, and they were suddenly on the inside of the darkened warehouse on the main floor.

Running rapidly in the dark to a place where several tarpaulins were folded and stacked on a pallet, the vampire dropped him unceremoniously. Taking a cell phone from his pocket he entered two digits and waited for a few seconds. The call was answered at the other end and he said "We're here."

"Keep him there until I call you."

"All right."

# Chapter 58

Irina's cell phone chirped as she drove north on I-5 toward Dom's place. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was Clay calling.

"Hello."

"Hello, Irina. I have someone here who wants to speak to you."

The voice had an Italian sounding accent and she frowned as she waited. Several seconds passed and then she heard what sounded like someone being struck, followed by a groaning sound.

"Clay! Clay!" She waited for a response and then the same voice spoke again saying "Your boyfriend seems to need some more persuading." and again she heard a sound like someone being struck, followed by another groan.

She had put on her four-way-flashers and was now on the shoulder of the interstate, the phone clamped to her ear as she strained to pick up any sounds from the other end.

"Clay! Are you there? Clay!"

"Rini. I... don't do what they want..." She heard a sound like a loud slap, followed by a groan.

"Clay! Clay! Oh please talk to me!"

The Italian sounding voice spoke then saying "I'll have to soften him up some it seems, Irina. But you can put a stop to this now if you like."

"Yes, yes. What do you want?"

"I want information and I want it face to face. You'll go to a place that I'll tell you to go and wait there for further instructions, and you'll come alone. We'll be watching you."

"Yes. Yes. Tell me where."

"First I'll tell you that we have a tap on your cell phone and that we know you're sitting on the shoulder of Interstate 5 northbound right now. Don't hang up and try to make a call or I'll kill him."

In the background she heard Clay shout "Don't believe him, Rini. He's a liar!" Immediately she heard a flurry of sounds that sounded as if someone was being beaten and then the Italian accented voice returned, saying "Now he won't interrupt me. As I said, you're stopped along Interstate 5 northbound. Get moving now and go on until you're north of downtown and exit at Mercer. I'll stay on here with you as you drive."

Irina merged back in to traffic and drove northward knowing that none of the training she had received had prepared her for something like this.

***

"All right, Enzo. She's moving again. Let me pull out of here." The vampire merged into traffic from where he had been sitting, some six hundred feet behind Irina.

"Do you think she'll believe that part about the tap on her line?"

"She'll believe whatever I tell her. Just keep following her and keep your distance and get off when she does. She'll be tuning into a park after that."

"Very well."

***

"Margo?"

The familiar silky voice replied "Hello Detective Wilkins. To what do I owe this honor?"

"Margo, my partner didn't come in today. I've been to his house twice and both of his vehicles are there and his apartment's locked."

"Do you suspect foul play?"

"Yes. The super let me in and nothing looks wrong. He'd never ever do this. Something has happened to him."

"We'll take it from here, Wilks."

"I'm reporting it officially too."

"Very well. Let me get on this."

"All right, Margo. Good bye."

***

Sitting in the car she looked out over Jefferson Park. Two kids were tossing a Frisbee back and forth and other another couple were strolling along its' perimeter hand in hand. It seemed like hours but was only maybe twenty minutes when the voice again was on her line saying "You're doing well, Irina. Get back on I-5 and go north to the last exit before crossing the water. Exit there and go to Union Lake Park and wait there. Go on. Get moving."

She started the car and exited the parking area at the park and soon was merging back onto I-5. Traffic was moving well so in less than ten minutes she was approaching Union Lake park when the voice said "Park over to your right in the center of that open area there."

Knowing that someone had eyes on her, she complied, all the while wondering what she could do and knowing that she was being sent further and further from any hope of help.

***

The Gulfstream factory tech was going over the new features of the Nav-aid software update, explaining in detail the virtues of the newer features to both Ian and Dominique when she noticed that Ian's eyes had changed suddenly and he looked as if he was peering off into a great distance.

"Excuse me" she said to the tech as she turned to Ian. "We'll be right back."

Ian looked at her and took her elbow, steering her to the plush passenger compartment of the Gulfstream and guiding her to a seat at a small table where the two could face each other. His eyes remained looking as if he was seeing something far away and he nodded twice.

Focusing on Dominique suddenly he said "Clay's been kidnapped and Rini's being told to drive somewhere to meet someone who's holding him."

"Marelli?"

Sighing and shaking his head he said "I don't know, but I suspect so. It is someone with an Italian accent."

Dominique's eyes widened a bit at that. Even though she knew that some of the women in the family had special mental powers, she was always amazed to hear even the slightest detail about them. That one of them could eavesdrop on someone's thoughts and even discern the accent of a person to whom that person was speaking with on a phone was a thing of great wonder.

"We have to leave now. Reschedule this for tomorrow and tell him that we'll pay for another consultation on this. I'll bring the car around."

In only minutes Dominique was driving as they were heading for the Interstate and merging into northbound traffic. That she was driving Ian's classic E-type Jaguar was one indication of how serious this situation was. Again Ian's eyes got a distant look as he got an update.

"She's sitting at a park."

"Can you tell where?"

"No. I see water. We can't make any use of the GPS tattle tale I put on her car until we get to your place and get your truck. That's our next stop." He cursed his oversight at not going to the airport in her truck instead of his car, but the chance to take his vintage roadster out to the airport was too great a temptation to ignore.

Damn it Ian! You should have thought of this and driven out here in Dom's' truck! he thought as they drove northward in the thickening traffic.

***

"She's driving again Enzo, heading north on Westlake."

"You can come here now."

"We don't have to watch her anymore?"

"No. She's convinced we're watching. We have her."

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

***

"You're doing well, Irina. Pull over at the Green Belt and wait."

She saw the area ahead and pulled into a parking spot as the sun set, wondering if there was some way to make what was looking bad have a better outcome. The time dragged by as she sat waiting for the voice to return to her phone. She had plugged it into the cigarette lighter and was keeping it charged even now as she waited.

Sighing deeply she thought better if you'd never come to my school to thank me, Clay. Maybe at least you wouldn't be involved in this business. Do I dare hang up and call Dom or Ian?

She knew that she didn't dare try that. The only thing she could do to keep Clay alive was to run out the clock and hope for something to change in her favor.

***

Ian spoke to Celine and Celeste in his mind.

Have you a location yet?

No. She's at a waterfront area somewhere.

Not much help in a place like Seattle. Have you checked on her mother?

Yes. I have eyes on her now.

Oh?

Yes. We're watching her through Irina's dog. She's watching some game show on TV right now.

Her dog? Great idea! Do we have someone on the way over there? I don't want for Marelli to get a second hostage.

We have four who are on their way now. Irina has stopped again. It's getting dark and she's sitting at a park.

Can you get a name?

Not unless one of them speaks it or if she thinks it. I think it's a green belt.

There are hundreds of those in King County.

Where are you now?

We're still south of the city. Traffic is getting worse.

Celeste said there has been a wreck on the 5 northbound. Looks bad, Ian.

Speaking aloud Ian said "Dom. Exit at the next place."

"You're going on foot?"

"Yes. When you get to your place and get in your truck, turn on the GPS tracker and call me."

She pulled over to the side of the road just past the bottom of the exit ramp and Ian got out, trotting away toward the darkness. When he reached a dark area, he rocketed away to the north far faster than the traffic on the freeway and even somewhat faster than it would be moving even on a good day with light traffic. Had anyone seen him they would not have believed their eyes.

***

"Irina, leave now and take Westlake to Nickerson and turn off of it at third Avenue. From there you'll come to a park. Go there and wait in the parking lot."

She started the car and pulled out of the lot and began along Westlake. In a few minutes she was seeing a small park. She parked and switched off her lights and engine. Picking up the phone she said "I'm at the park."

"You're doing well, Irina. Just wait a bit now and we'll see if anyone's following you."

Some three or four minutes later the voice said "Lock your car and come west along West Ewing Street. At the end of it you'll cross some fences and begin to follow the waterfront. Get going now!"

***

Ian! Ian! Where are you?

I just passed Spokane Street, Harbor Island area.

She's out of her car now and heading west on Ewing.

I don't know where that is.

Along the canal we think. South side.

Where's Dom?

Still in traffic, but getting close to where she'll soon be past the wreck.

I'm stopping now. I'll call her....Damn! I left my phone in my car!

# Chapter 59

Irina held her cell phone to her ear as she ran at an easy pace. "Keep following the waterfront, Irina. Just keep jumping those fences as you come to them, but don't try to run too fast. We're still watching you."

In a matter of minutes she saw a bridge that spanned the waterway to the north shore. A large building on her left loomed nearby which she took to be a warehouse. She began to see a light flashing at its base. About then the voice said "Go toward the flashing light."

She altered her course away from the water and slowed to a walk, approaching the flashing light until it stopped. A figure stepped from the darkness, eyes glowing. "In this door now."

She walked in ahead of him as he held a steel door open and she heard it close and lock as she walked into a gloomy warehouse.

"This way." the vampire said, pointing to a freight elevator. As the gate was pulled down, he punched a large button and the thing began to rise. At the third floor it stopped and the gate lowered.

"Walk straight ahead and be seated."

She approached a wooden chair sitting in the center of the cavernous floor area of the dimly lit warehouse and sat down. The vampire stood to one side and she saw another one with glowing eyes step from the shadows some forty feet away and move toward her. He was one of the biggest men she'd ever seen, six feet and four inches tall and easily weighing around two hundred forty pounds.

As he approached he was putting a cell phone in his pocket. He was the owner of the voice that had been giving her orders on her phone and a feeling of dread began to build within her. "Hand over your phone, Irina."

She complied, handing it to the vampire on her left as her apprehension increased.

"I'm Enzo. If you co-operate, you can go and free your boyfriend. If not, I'll kill both of you."

She nodded even while noting the semiautomatic pistol stuck in his waistband. The other vampire walked back to the shadows and she heard him doing something there, but couldn't see him.

"Your boyfriend isn't here in this place. He's with my other assistant at another place."

She nodded even while thinking Clay could already be dead and I could be next.

"You're a young one to be a member of the Seattle coven." He paused and looked at her with unbridled lust as he continued, "and you're a beautiful one too, Irina."

"I'm not a member of the family."

"No? And why not?"

"I'm too young. They're afraid that I'm too immature."

"Well, it could be that you shouldn't be allowed to play soccer any more or go to any more baseball games." he said, chuckling at his own joke.

Irina got the creeps just looking at him, sensing his cruel arrogant nature in spite of his attempted courteous demeanor. At that instant she realized that her athletic indiscretions had likely brought this one to Seattle in search of her. Personal discretion was something that had been emphasized soon after she had begun her vampire imprinting, and now more than ever she saw why.

Her peripheral vision detected movement on her far left and she lowered her head a bit so that she could roll her eyes that way and not be seen doing it. The other vampire was approaching her with a set of steel manacles and a goodly length of heavy rope, and was circling now to make his approach from behind her.

Knowing that a civil conversation was not on the agenda gave her a leaden feeling in the pit of her stomach, yet she made no overt move nor indicated that she'd seen the other vampire.

"So where does your family live, Irina?"

"I told you that they don't trust me. I don't live with them."

"We know that. You live in Delridge with your mother. We know that you know where they live and you're going to tell us or else."

Sensing that the other one was now very near, Irina exploded from her chair straight at Enzo. Her left arm extended, she smashed the heel of her hand into his chin, driving him to fall on his back as he gave a roar of rage. She failed to grab the Beretta though being as Enzo had grabbed it even as she had lunged at him. The second vampire was so close that she had felt the rope sliding off of her shoulders even as she'd begun her move.

Enzo quickly rolled to his feet, blood streaming down his chin from his severely cut tongue and spun to give chase even as Irina rocketed toward the freight elevator.

***

Ian where are you?

I passed her car and I'm going west along the waterfront now.

He rocketed along and took the ten feet tall chain link fences in stride as if they were bales of straw, a dark shadow moving at an incredible speed.

Ian, she saw a bridge with cars on it just before she went into a big building that will be on your left.

There's a bridge in the distance. I'm looking at it now.

That looks like it. Wait. We think it's Ballard Drive Bridge.

I know that place. Yes it's Ballard.

You're still too far from it. Oh! Hurry Ian, hurry! You have to get there now!

***

Sensing him only a few steps behind her, Irina abandoned the idea of the freight elevator. Had it been down on the main floor she would have leapt down to it, but as it was still there on the third floor, it wasn't a viable escape route. Darting to her right even as Enzo attempted a tackle she heard him crash into the freight elevator gate and heard the heavy wood splinter at the impact.

Gaining precious space she rocketed away even as the second vampire pursued her. Seeing a network of girders about thirty feet overhead supporting the roof of the place she leaped to one and quickly moved to where she could leap from one to the other, being as they were no more than twenty feet apart.

The second vampire pursued her doggedly as she desperately cast about for a way to escape. Even as she saw a row of window vents across the way and altered course toward them she was dismayed to see Enzo leap up and quickly gain a foothold on the base of one of the girders and move to intercept her, leaping from girder to girder.

Altering course she plunged to the floor and rocketed toward a door at the furthest corner, the two vampires immediately bounding down and following in hot pursuit. Reaching the door she realized it was locked and quickly bounded away just in time to hear one of the two crash into it. Bounding up onto a stack of pallets she streaked across them and leapt out onto the floor to land running. Even so, she was aware of one directly behind her and she began to realize that there was no open way of escape. Even if she could break a lock on one of the doors, she would have no time to do so before one or both caught her.

As she ran, she found herself approaching a corner and glancing back she was dismayed to see the two spread apart so that no matter which way she turned one of them would intercept her. Running full tilt into the deepest part of the corner she leapt at the last minute and actually ran on the wall for some thirty feet, angling for the floor when she was tackled and brought down in a heap, sliding across the floor but firmly in Enzo's grasp.

He rolled atop her and slapped her face viciously several times, his hand moving at a vision-blurring rate of speed as her head rocked from side to side at the impact. Even in spite of that she managed to trap one of his fingers and using a well-executed Chi-Na technique, she broke it.

Enzo howled in rage and pain and slapped her viciously and began to rip her jeans off of her. The other vampire came to hold her arms and after he had stripped her, he ripped off some of his own clothing and was kicked in the stomach by Irina. Recovering he fell forward and pinned down her thrashing legs and said "I'll have this bitch and you take her when I'm finished."

While struggling valiantly she thought is this how my life ends after going through all of that hell?

From her right a form hurtled into Enzo, knocking him over even as he knelt between her thrashing legs and was preparing to rape her. He bellowed in rage as he rolled to his feet and pivoted to face the newcomer. Although still being held down by the other vampire, Irina looked to her left and saw a vampire with eyes blazing a frosty blue color moving toward Enzo like lightning. Hope sprang to life in her heart as she realized it was Ian.

Taking advantage of the distraction she whipped both of her legs up past her head and trapped the head of the vampire holding her shoulders in a scissors-lock. Straightening her body she pulled him forward even as she twisted like lightning to one side. Being completely surprised by Ian's sudden and violent appearance he was taken by surprise and found himself being pulled forward unwillingly. From the time Ian had appeared and this had happened only two seconds had elapsed.

Releasing him Irina arched her back and rolled away in a blur of motion even as the vampire recovered and reached to grab hold of her. She had already rolled to a crouching position and even as the vampire's hand neared her she made a lightning grab and broke his index finger. While pivoting rapidly away she saw Ian attack Enzo.

Engaging at a blinding rate of speed Ian crashed into Enzo, driving him back with several telling blows as Enzo tried to block the punches and mount an attack of his own. Although smaller and not as strong, Ian had been honed by centuries of combat with vampires and centuries of practice with others skilled at hand to hand combat. He landed three times as many punches and kicks as Enzo did and constantly varied his method of attack changing tactics and direction at a blinding rate of speed and never ceasing to press in, landing telling blows that drove the giant back repeatedly.

Irina circled warily as the other vampire snarled and moved toward her more cautiously now. He darted in, arms outstretched and sought to bowl her over and use his size and weight advantage to overwhelm her. Yielding to his charge Irina grabbed one of his outstretched wrists and whirled like lightning even as she dropped and slammed her hip into his and her shoulder into his chest even while she threw him over her head like a sack of grain.

Roaring with rage and bleeding about the eyes and nose from the blows he had already taken Enzo rallied and charged, thinking to bear Ian down by virtue of his size and superior strength. Ian moved so rapidly as to defy even Irina's vampire eyes for the speed he displayed. Never had she seen him move like that when he was training her.

Enzo was thrown over Ian's head twice and twice Ian came out on top, stomping down viciously on his face while holding on to his arm and twisting viciously. The second time this happened she heard a loud crack and Enzo roared in pain as his wrist was shattered, and yet by brute strength he managed to gain his feet in the blink of an eye. Ian never let up but kept kicking and punching from all angles and driving him back further and further and finally he relented a bit and circled; seemingly giving Enzo a chance to mount yet another counterattack but in reality seeking to let him set himself up for his own end.

Meanwhile Irina had followed up after throwing the other vampire with a vicious snap kick to his face, knocking several teeth out and snapping his head back even as she drove in close to deliver a devastating punch to his larynx. This was followed by her sidestepping and sweeping her right foot behind him even as she flicked her right arm around his neck and again threw him over her hip, following up yet again with another snap kick to his face. That rocked him back onto his buttocks where he gurgled and gagged, his hands grasping his crushed larynx.

Enzo powered into Ian, seeming to overrun him as Ian yielded and fell back, grasping the lapels of Enzo's jacket and planting his knees in his stomach while throwing him over to sprawl on the floor even as Ian again came out on top.

Like a lightning strike his hand darted in toward Enzo's face, his thumb extended. Ian twisted his wrist suddenly, pulling back quickly as Enzo's eye popped out of its socket, hanging only by the optic nerve.

Roaring with rage he twisted violently and arched his powerful back throwing Ian, who rather than fight to stay there rolled quickly off and came up in a battle crouch moving back to attack in a flash. Suddenly he feinted towards Enzo's head but turned even as he drove in and his right foot lashed out sideways in a blur. There was a loud crack as Enzo's knee was broken backwards, causing him to screech in pain even as he collapsed. As he thrashed about in pain the Beretta pistol he had lost when attacked was kicked skittering across the floor towards Irina. She rocketed toward it, scooping it up even as she moved.

Thumbing off the safety and racking a round into its chamber, she spun about even as the other vampire rocketed toward her and shot him between his eyes. Even as that one dropped to the floor and began to thrash about in a vision-blurring flurry of motion she tossed the pistol to Ian who caught it and spun to shoot Enzo through the head.

His remaining eye rolled up in his head as he began to thrash about violently, even as his other eye flopped about like an errant, grisly orb.

Ian tucked the pistol into his waist band even while he removed his own torn shirt and pulled it around her shoulders, saying "Nice work, Rini! You gave us quite a scare."

Heedless of being half-naked in her tattered clothes she leaned against him and put her arms about his waist, her head on his chest as she took a deep shuddering breath.

"I can't believe it's over, and I can't believe you found me."

Ian held her then, even as a feeling of absolute security and well-being began to seep through her. He took her by the shoulders and gazed down into her eyes with a kindly and understanding expression on his face.

"I saw that Enzo had a broken finger. You're a fighter and a real vampire killer. You did as well as you could here and had you not, this would have taken a really bad turn."

The praise coming from her mentor as it did had a soothing effect and she realized as never before how much she valued his approval, even as her eyes began to brim with tears of relief.

Drawing her close again he spoke softly "Let's take the pants from that other one. He won't need them anymore." he said as he stepped back and made his eyes glow and winked at her. She sniffled and laughed a bit as she shrugged herself into his shirt and buttoned it. Then she came over and knelt to help him strip the pants from the bound vampire.

# Chapter 60

Marie suddenly stopped in mid speech, holding up her hand to silence everyone as her eyes got a faraway look. The others looked at her expectantly and then she smiled dazzlingly and said "Praise God! We'll see you later, Celine." Looking at everyone she said "Rini's safe. Ian got there on time." There was no small amount of applause then as everyone expressed their relief.

***

Dominique paced back and forth, frustrated as she peered inside of Irina's car once more as if she would see something in there that would give her a clue as to her whereabouts. A voice suddenly seemed to sound inside of her head.

Dominique! Dominique!

Speaking aloud as she looked about in the pinkish light furnished by the City in the parking lot of the greenbelt area, Dominique spoke. "I'm here! I'm at a park near the canal. Hello!"

Hello Dom. It's Celeste and Celine. You can think your response and we'll hear it.

Oh my! Oh my! I... I thought it might be you. Is this really happening? I mean you always talk to Ian, but not to me.

We were going to get you used to this while you were here with us at the chateau, but you had to leave to watch Irina.

Oh. I'm... I'm honored; I... don't know what to say.

Incredibly thoughts of combined laughter came to her and she began to laugh aloud then herself.

I'm glad no one can see me right now. What's happened?

Ian got there in time. Rini's safe.

Thank God!

Dom.

Yes.

We need to find Clay. Ian's going to question the two vampires he captured, but you may be able to help us find him sooner.

Yes. Yes, anything I can do.

We want to look through your memories of Clay and of Irina.

Yes. I mean that is fine. Go ahead.

She began to feel a gentle presence searching gently, even as euphoria of sorts spread through her psyche and eventually began to spread through her body as well.

It seemed that it didn't last too long, and in fact she didn't want the feeling to depart, yet it did gently depart from her even as Celeste spoke in her mind, saying thank you, Dom. Get in your car and drive west on Nickerson until you come to the Carlson Corrugated Box Company warehouse and wait out front.

***

Irina had dressed herself as best she could in the borrowed pants and the remains of her blouse, keeping Ian's shirt as well. Meanwhile he had retrieved the coil of heavy industrial rope and manacles. A search of the other vampire had yielded a key for those.

Ian had clamped them on Enzo's wrists and had bound him securely, wrapping the rope around him in multiple layers and tying it securely. The remainder of the rope was used to secure the other vampire. Being a two hundred and fifty foot coil of heavy new rope, both vampires would be wrapped like cocoons and even their great strength couldn't burst that many layers of rope.

Irina was helping Ian secure the last vampire, kneeling on the other side of him passing the rope back each time as they wrapped him.

Just as he had tied the last of the knots, she became aware that Ian had straightened up and seemed to stare off into space. Then he nodded briefly and taking Irina's hand he stood, drawing her to her feet. Wordlessly he gathered her into his arms. She came willingly, resting her head against his chest and savoring the warmth of his body even as she began to again feel protected and safe.

"Ian...."

"Shhh. Be very still now." he murmured as he stepped back from her and took her face tenderly between his hands, looking into her eyes. "Place your hands on mine."

She did so and suddenly Irina heard a voice in her mind speaking to her.

Rini! Rini!

Speaking aloud she said "Ian. I'm hearing... I hear a voice in my head! Are you doing this?"

"It's Celeste or Celine. Answer them. Talk to them Rini."

"I can hear you! Omigosh! I can hear you! Is this really happening?"

A soothing voice spoke in her mind saying I'm Celeste. We met at your house.

"Omigosh! You came with Celine to see me about school!"

Yes.

"Omigosh! You're talking to me in my head! Is this real?"

Yes. You can think your words or you may speak them. Either way we'll hear you.

We? There are more of you? She sensed what was like combined laughter.

Yes. Celine's with me.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Omigosh!

She again heard what sounded like combined laughter in her mind. It had a musical quality about it. Ian took his hands away and stepped back from her. The connection got noticeably weaker, but was still working.

I thought you were from the Foundation.

The family is the Foundation, Rini.

Omigosh! I mean... I don't know what I mean. Omigosh!

Again she heard the combined laughter in her mind.

Rini. We need to find Clay. We want your permission to look in your memory for everything about Clay and Dom.

Okay, er...I... everything?

Again she heard the combined laughter as Celine said we promise not to pry or gossip, Rini. We might find Clay faster this way. Otherwise we wouldn't even be speaking to you.

Nodding her head she thought I understand. Yes. Look at everything.

Get comfortable, Rini.

She sat back on the floor of the warehouse, crossing her legs and feet, staring as if looking off a great distance. Gently a presence entered a deeper layer of her conscience, as euphoria spread through her mind, soothing her psyche and in seconds spreading to her physical body as well. She had never felt at peace as completely as the gentle probing continued.

All too soon it began to fade and she felt herself wishing that the feeling would linger for a while.

In her mind she began to hear a distant voice calling Clay! Clay! Clay Walker! If you can hear me say so, Clay. I can see the inside of a room. The walls are all brick and I see a small light overhead.

Clay! Clay Walker. I'm seeing the inside of the room you are in.

Oh my God! I'm losing my mind!

No Clay. We're trying to help you.

We? Helping me? I must be delirious!

We're connected to Rini, Clay. Rini, speak to Clay.

Clay! Clay!

Oh my God! Rini? Is it really you?"

Yes. It's me. Are you all right?

Yes... well I'm beat up some, but I'm okay unless this isn't real. Is this real, Rini?

Yes. I'm getting some help here.

I need help to understand this. Are you all right?

Yes. A friend is with me, well three friends really. Clay, where are you?

I think they have me at the south end of Harbor Island. I heard a train pass by.

We're coming to get you. Is the vampire there?

He's returning now. I hear the door in the other room.

Speak to us with your thoughts. He can't hear them.

Can you hear me this way?

Yes. You're doing fine.

I'm doing fine? It seems like I'm going nuts, Rini. This is really you?

It is, and I'm talking in my head to my favorite Mick Jagger impersonator!

Laughter came across to her, and then it really is you!

We're coming, Clay.

Rini?

Yes.

I love you. I've been so miserable since you left.

I've been worried sick about you.

I wanted to say that in case... you know... in case something happens before you get here.

We'll be there sooner than you think.

# Chapter 61

Dominique had been outside of the Carlson Corrugated Box Company warehouse some ten minutes when she saw two figures approaching in the pinkish light of the distant streetlamp.

Getting out of the car she came around to the passenger side as the two approached. Bounding over the ten foot tall chain link gate like it was nothing they came up to her. "Hello, Dom."

"Hey Ian! Been jogging?

Ian chuckled as she turned to Irina. "Rini! We've been worried sick! Where did you get those pants and that shirt?" she said as Irina ran the last few steps and the two hugged each other.

"Omigosh, Dom! We took these pants from a vampire and, and... Ian gave me his shirt, and... Omigosh! Ian got here just in time! Those vampires were going to..."

"We know Rini. We came as fast as we could. Ian had to get out of the car on the other side of town and run here."

"Run here? Omigosh! I just talked to Celeste and Celine in my head, and... and Clay too! I'm not crazy, Dom!"

Dominique laughed saying "I know. I just talked to them too. Pretty far out, huh?"

Far out? Far out? I don't know how to describe it! Omigosh, we have to go to Harbor Island, Dom!"

Looking at Ian Dominique said "Ian?"

"You two go ahead and try to find the place. Use channel two on your tracker and you should be able to pick up the other tattletale."

Irina stared stupidly at them "Tattletale?"

Ian turned to her saying "Celeste knew they were watching your house when she arrived. She felt it, and the two of them led him to a shopping mall where some of the family tagged his car."

"Omigosh! You said 'other tattletale'?"

"Rini, your car is tagged too. We've been watching you even though we haven't been talking to you. You two go on now and try to find their car, but don't go in unless you have to."

"But where are you going?"

"I have those vampires up on the roof of the warehouse. Celeste and Celine are coming to pick us up in the chopper and we'll join you over there.

"Celeste and Celine are flying a chopper?"

"Yes. They were flying this way almost the whole time they were talking to us."

"Omigosh!"

***

A black Bell 206 Jet Ranger had left the Cascade Mountains and had been westbound, skimming along through rural areas at an altitude of only three hundred feet. The transponder was turned off as were the strobes and running lights. Celeste piloted the craft skillfully as they now approached Puget Sound.

Once out over the water she dropped it to an altitude of thirty feet and held it there as the Allison 205 engine whined smoothly, carrying them southward across the inky blackness of the water. Sea-Tac approach wouldn't see them on radar, but any coast guard cutter nearby would. They would have no time to respond though being as this flight would be a quick in and out thing, all conducted below most radar installations in greater Seattle.

The lighted skyline of the city began to dominate the horizon on their left as they moved rapidly to the southeast, staying midway between the mainland and the islands.

She slowed the craft as they approached the entrance to the ship canal. The smooth whine of the engine reflected the reduction in throttle as Celeste skillfully piloted the craft down the center of the ship canal at an altitude of only twenty feet. Celine kept her sharp eyes scanning the buildings on their right hand side as they approached the Ballard Bridge. Luckily no ships were in the canal. Emerging briefly from the blackness the helicopter flashed under the lighted bridge, and then disappeared into the darkness on the eastern side of it. Likely only a pedestrian would have noticed that a helicopter had flown under the bridge, should one have been out in that vicinity at this time of night.

"There he is. Bear right"

Looking to her right, Celeste saw a blinking light on top of a large warehouse and climbing slightly she headed toward it.

***

Ian stood in the darkness atop the warehouse, and having already heard the approach of the Jet Ranger, he aimed the flashlight he had taken from the warehouse office toward the sound and began to flash it on and off. In his mind Celine said we see you Ian. Keep signaling until we get there.

Roger that. I have two passengers.

We can handle it. Where are the others?

On their way to Harbor Island, where we're going.

The helicopter hovered overhead and a bit north of Ian as Celine looked down at Ian who was mentally giving them their distance above the roof as they descended.

Ten feet. Five. Three. One.

The craft settled and Celeste throttled back to an idle as Ian approached with a large fully-bound vampire slung over one shoulder. In seconds he and Celine had loaded and secured him in one of the three back seats and Ian had gone to pick up the second one.

It was not a minute after it had landed that the helicopter took off, dropping back down after clearing the edge of the roof on the north side, heading toward the canal once again. Once out over the canal she again dropped the craft to a height of twenty feet and they rocketed under Ballard Bridge west toward Puget Sound, retracing her flight path. Soon they had made their way out of the canal and its approach into the sound and were headed south again at a height of thirty feet. In only minutes they were moving due east, climbing just enough to stay above the warehouses lining the water's edge enroute to the southern end of Harbor Island.

Celine reached out in the darkness with her mind Dom! Rini! We're coming in. Give us a visual. We have to land really fast!

We hear you. Can you see us?

No, not yet.... Yes! Make it blink fast.... Yes!

The three of them peered into the darkness intently now that they were approaching where power lines were everywhere. Dipping down they slowed and passed beneath some power lines that were visible only to an owl or a vampire and settled adjacent to railroad tracks, killing the engine.

"I'll stay with the chopper and monitor the coast guard band and police bands. No telling if someone alerted the authorities."

"Good idea, Celeste. They might think smugglers are doing business here. If anyone approaches, you'll have to leave."

She nodded as he continued "Those two in the back won't give you any trouble. I have a knife in the big one's brain and I just shot the other one in the head again so he'll be out for ten minutes."

Celeste unbuckled her safety harness, pulled her combat knife from its' sheath and reaching back she drove it into the other vampires' brain through his eye. Her hands moved in a vision-blurring motion as she tied a cord about the hilt and secured it behind the vampire's neck as Ian had done with his knife in the other one. "There! That's one less detail to worry about. Go on you two. If I have to leave, I'll see you at Ridgemont."

The two bounded away toward where the light had been flashing. In seconds they were with Irina and Dominique.

"Any idea which building they're in?"

"No. Their car is around a hundred yards east of here."

"Celine and Celeste can tell us where they are."

Celine answered "We're probing now. Everyone be quiet."

The two linked their minds together and began to concentrate their probing, building by building.

Celine spoke "Follow me and stay quiet." She rocketed away to the west past two buildings and stopped there as the others gathered about her.

Irina suddenly heard Celine in her mind Talk to Clay now, Rini.

Clay! Clay! Are you getting this?

Rini? Yes! Yes! I still can't believe this... talking.

Where's the vampire?

He's with me now and he's trying to call those other two again. He seems pretty upset.

We're close now. Sit tight.

Celine spoke then "They're in this building and we think they're in a basement room."

"Let's get to the roof then." said Ian as he bounded upward to land on top of the two story structure and headed for a large turbine vent. In seconds he and Irina had ripped it away from its anchor base, exposing a hole some two feet in diameter that looked into the gloomy interior of a warehouse.

The four dropped through it, landing soundlessly some thirty feet below and split up, seeking the stairs. No lights were needed for their vampire eyes to make out all of their surroundings.

Irina found the stairs and hissed. In her mind she spoke to Celine and both Dominique and Ian heard her thought.

Irina here. The stairs are over here by me.

We're coming.

Ian took the lead and the four descended silently and again fanned out. This time it was Dominique who spoke in her mind.

Dominique here. Stairs are over here by me!

There was a door and Ian opened it very slowly and spoke in his mind.

Let me get to the bottom before you follow in case these things are squeaky.

Shortly he had descended without making a sound, and the others had joined him. Celine joined Ian and spoke in their minds.

Celeste?

I'm with you. Turn left.

The group followed Celine as she led them to her left into a corridor of sorts, with four doors on one side and two on the other.

Ahead on the left.

The four glided silently ahead, pausing at a steel door. Celine turned to the other three and put her index finger across her lips as she spoke with her mind.

Clay! We're at the door. Clay! Clay!

I'm in here and he's on the phone.

Say something to distract him. We're coming in now.

The four heard Clay speak then "Maybe he's in an all metal part of that building."

"Shut up damn it. Something's wrong!"

Ian drew his Glock as he opened the door slowly and had gotten it halfway open when Clay spoke again.

"Maybe his battery has died."

"I said..."

About then the door squeaked and like a lightning flash the vampire had drawn his pistol and gotten completely behind Clay, jerking him up out of the chair and peeking over his shoulder as he held a Beretta pistol to his head.

"Not a step or he's dead. Put that pistol down and kick it over here!"

Ian knew he could shoot the vampire between his eyes easily, but he also realized that unlike a human, the vampire would himself be able to shoot Clay. So he nodded, his eyes the color of cracked ice as he put the Glock down and kicked it across the floor toward them. With both hands held high he backed away as Celine edged into view, both hands held high.

"How in hell did you find me? No matter! I want to leave and I want your car. I'll release him when I'm away from here."

In her mind Celine spoke.

Celeste, do you have him?

I have him. His trigger finger is frozen but he doesn't know it yet. Take him down now!

Celine looked into the eyes of the vampire and he began to shiver slightly and then began to shake his head as his gun hand slowly, inexorably began to point away from Clay and his arm began to move so that his gun was pointed at his own head.

He became more agitated and shivered more violently as his own hand aimed his gun at the side of his own head. Shaking his head from side to side violently he said "No! No! I won't do it!"

Release his trigger finger, Celeste.

Done.

Now stepping away from Clay the vampire shivered violently as he continued to shake his head saying "No! No! No!"

The sound of a gunshot exploded and the vampires' head snapped to one side from the impact of the round he had just fired into his own brain. He dropped to the floor and began to thrash about violently as Ian rocketed to his side and drove Celine's knife into his brain through his left eye. His hands moved at vision-blurring speed as he produced a cord and tied it tightly to the hilt of the knife and then passed it around behind the vampires' neck to secure it. Dominique passed him the remaining length of the rope left over from tying the other two vampires and he began to bind this one tightly hand and foot. Quickly he hoisted him to his shoulder and rocketed out of the room, heading toward the stairs with Celine behind him.

Irina stood dumbfounded at the supernatural power she had just seen demonstrated, and then she rushed to Clays' side and gasped when she saw his battered face. Quickly she took the knife Dominique handed her and cut the bonds from his wrists and ankles. Handing the knife back to Dominique she tenderly took his battered face between her hands and began to kiss him gently about his face and finally she gently kissed his swollen lips.

He put his arms around her and murmured "I've missed you so much, Rini. Please don't shut me out of your life."

Pulling back she looked up at him and then kissed him tenderly saying "Let's just get you out of here now. You look terrible." Even as they held each other she thought how can this ever work? Am I not better off with my own kind? He was in this situation because of me. She now had serious doubts about her future with Clay, or if they even truly could ever have a future.

"C'mon you two! We have to go now!

They turned arm in arm and followed Dominique out of the room, even as Clay asked Irina "Did I really see what I think I just saw?"

# Chapter 62

"Detective Wilkins here."

"Wilks?"

"Clay! We've been looking high and low for you!"

"Look no more. Our friends found me."

"The Others... those friends?"

"Yes. I'm on my way downtown now to make a statement."

"I hope it's a good one!"

"It's a good one, partner."

"Did our friends take care... of... you know?"

"Oho! They took care of business all right!"

"Did your girlfriend ever turn up?"

"Yes. She helped find me."

"We went to see her after I reported you missing and her mother said she was gone and she was worried too."

"She's seen her mother already."

"So are the two of you... you know, going to get back together?"

"Yes, if I have any say in the matter. She'll be gone for a while though."

"Oh?"

"Something to do with that foundation that is paying for her education. She thought it might be two or three weeks but she'll call me every day."

"I can tell by your voice that you like your odds with her a lot better now."

Laughing, Clay replied "I do, partner. I really do. See you soon?"

"Right. See you soon."

The official report said that Clay had been jogging and had come across two women who appeared to be having car trouble. After stopping to see if he could help, he was jumped from behind by two men. It turned out that they had drugs in the car and had stopped to change a flat tire. The report said that they thought he was part of a drug task force so they took him hostage until they finally believed that he was telling the truth. They became afraid after they had time to think about the consequences of what they had done. So they had let him go after making their delivery and had left town.

He looked through the mug books and finally picked out a character wanted for three separate counts of armed robbery and kidnapping and trafficking in narcotics. Not giving any hint that he had seen him in the book, he described him to a police sketch artist who rendered a vague similarity and had it posted as being wanted for battery and for kidnapping an officer of the law. He said that he couldn't furnish a good description of the women or the other man.

***

"Wilks?"

"Sir?"

"I need to see you in here when you have a minute."

Nodding toward his captain, Wilkins came into his office and looked at him expectantly. "Make yourself comfortable, Wilks. I'll get right to the point. That assist you gave on that hit and run case is going to be a huge thing. It looks like there's going to be proof of malfeasance in both the DA's office and the Public Defender's office as well as a judge over at Juvey."

"So all of that was connected to this hit and run thing with that Basher kid?"

"Looks like it was. The whole group was trying to railroad that poor girl because of some dust-up in a school cafeteria. It will come out that Basher's father spread money and influence around along with another prominent businessman and they've all gotten caught. That girl is quite popular right now and this thing is likely to go bad for Basher and his girlfriend too from what I hear."

"The girlfriend too?"

"Remember now, what I'm telling you is in strict confidence Wilks."

"Yes sir."

"Seems like the driver is claiming that he only wanted to drive through a puddle and splash rainwater on the girl and that his girlfriend was the one who jerked the steering wheel to cause the car to actually hit her. Looks like a jury or maybe even two juries will have to sort it all out."

"How can something progress to where it gets that bad? Makes me glad that we didn't have kids."

Captain Giles just shook his head as Wilks asked "How did the DA's office get to where they would go forward on this thing anyway?"

"I hear that the girls' personal house key and a scrap of her raincoat were both found wedged between the brake lines and the fuel line under the kids' car. There was a paint transfer found on one of her raincoat buttons too. I think her own lawyer got that entered into evidence when he had an independent forensics lab look at her clothing."

"Didn't that kid say that he wrecked his car somewhere else that night? I thought that was verified."

"He did, but the prosecutor says that was to cover the damage done when the car hit that poor girl. Someone in the body shop may have seen those keys and told your snitch."

Wilks nodded "Pretty conclusive. Someone will go to jail over this." He thought I bet I have a good idea how all of this information got to the media and the DA's desk.

"Wilks, how would you like to have my job? Meyers is taking his retirement at the end of the month and I'm moving to headquarters general staff."

Wilks' mouth dropped open as Giles continued "I need your answer within two weeks. What do you say?"

"I say I'm in, sir. No need to wait."

"Good man! The paperwork will be official tomorrow. I'm leaving here effective two weeks from today. Congratulations, Detective. You earned it."

Wilks stood and nodded "Yes sir. Thank you sir."

***

Irina and Ian pushed the Stearman biplane out of the hangar and on to the tarmac. Ian handed her an antique leather aviator's cap and a fleece-lined bomber jacket. "You might just as well look the part" he said as he put on his cap and jacket. He had a brusque air about him and wasn't as warm as usual, prompting her curiosity.

Donning her cap Irina smiled dazzlingly and did a pirouette, saying "How do I look?"

"We'll get to that in a minute. I recently got a text that says you have received thirty seven athletic scholarship offers at thirty-one different universities, and not all of them for soccer."

"Omigosh! I forgot to tell you about that."

"And?"

Laughing raucously she said "And no way am I taking any such offers. I've had enough athletic excitement to last me quite a while!"

With a twinkle in his eyes Ian replied "I guess there are no collegiate sports that compare with killing vampires for excitement after all."

Realizing that those offers were what had prompted Ian's cooler mood, Irina threw back her head and laughed again saying "I hope I've seen the last of that for a while too! So tell me, how do I look?"

"Like a pilot. You're taking her off, Rini."

"Omigosh! I can't wait! This is way cool! I've wanted to fly in this thing again ever since the other time! Can I land her this time?"

"She's a tail dragger, Rini. Landings are tricky in a tail-dragger if there's a cross wind. We'll see what the wind is doing when we get home."

"Home?"

"You're going to meet the family today."

She came to stand directly in front of him then "Omigosh! For real?"

Laughing at her exuberance he said "For real."

She grinned and began to jump up and down like a little girl and then stopped abruptly as something occurred to her. "But I didn't pack much."

"There are clothes waiting for you in your room."

"Omigosh! I have a room?"

"You're family, Rini. Why shouldn't you have a room?"

She laughed and then turned, bounded up on the wing and climbed into the front cockpit. Turning around she gave a dazzling smile, even as she beckoned to him to hurry.

Soon they were airborne and heading eastward toward the Cascade Mountains. When they had reached the foothills they maintained an altitude of around two thousand feet above ground level and Ian did a few loops. Irina whooped with joy several times and then she unbelievably heard his voice in her headphones saying "Okay Rini, now you try it."

"Omigosh! Omigosh!"

Laughing, Ian said "Here we go now. Nose down, pick up airspeed, full throttle... now pull back the stick this far and hold it, hold it, now all the way back and hold it there!

Incredibly she felt the plane go up and over to complete a perfect loop! She pushed the stick forward some and increased speed again, leveling out.

"I did it! I did it, Ian!"

They flew some thirty miles back into the heart of the mountains in an easterly direction and then began to circle back to the northwest. The terrain and vegetation looked the same to Irina all around, but Ian would change direction slightly from time to time. She suspected that he would see a trail or a fire tower or logging road and was using those as landmarks.

When they had reached the foothills, Irina saw a grass strip runway ahead and they were lined up perfectly on it.

"What is this place?"

"This is Ridgemont. We maintain a home here." He increased speed and did a shallow dive, skimming in low and fast, buzzing the runway at a level of under five feet clearance from end to end. It was around two thousand feet long and near the end he pulled up sharply and banked to the east to bring the plane around to where they could approach again.

"What did you see down there, Rini?"

"The wind sock shows the wind is straight up the runway."

"Correct. Let's get back around for another approach."

In minutes they were approaching again.

"Take us in, Rini."

"Omigosh! Okay! Okay! I got this!"

"Nose down a bit... a bit more... hold it there, now throttle back a bit. Back a bit more. Ease a tiny bit to the left... perfect! Now hold it there and cut power when I say. Steady... steady.... a bit to the left.... there! Hold that now... steady, ease throttle back just a bit.... Perfect... steady... steady. There! Cut power!"

The Stearman had come in perfectly and only gave a slight bounce and then rolled about two hundred feet. After it had slowed she applied full rudder and full power, turning it about and taxiing toward a large Quonset style steel building. As they pulled up and switched off the engine, Ian said "Well done, Rini! A perfect landing your first time, and with a tail-dragger no less!"

"For real? Perfect?"

"For real."

About then a man in coveralls came out of the hangar and walked to the double doors. Grabbing one he leaned into it and began to roll it open to receive the plane. Irina saw the Beechcraft twin and the Bell Jet Ranger helicopter sitting side by side with room for four more aircraft.

Clambering out of the cockpit she took off her aviator's cap and shook out her hair, grinning at Ian as she hopped gracefully off of the trailing edge of the lower wing. She slipped on her aviator's style sunglasses as she walked toward him.

"That was the greatest! No wonder you love it!"

The man who had opened the sliding door came toward them with his eyes glowing and with a big smile on his face.

Irina did a double take and her mouth dropped open in astonishment as she said "Mr. Glover! Omigosh!"

"Hey, Rini. I told you that you belonged. What? You thought all that I did was drive a van for kids? Someone has to help Ian take care of these flying toys." he said, laughing as she ran to hug him.

The three of them pushed the Stearman into the hangar and turned it around to face the door. As they exited the hangar, Irina saw a group of some two dozen people three hundred feet away. They looked to be a group of men and women walking hand in hand down the broad paved path that led from the house on the other side of the trees. Most wore sunglasses in spite of the high overcast cloud cover and Irina began to see some familiar faces. Celeste was walking next to a handsome sandy-haired man and she was carrying a small dog which she put down. Pepper streaked toward Irina barking excitedly and bounded up into her arms, trying for all he was worth to kiss her, squirming and wagging his tail furiously as she laughed and tried to avoid his tongue.

She recognized Celine walking hand in hand with a very tall dark-haired man with dark brown eyes, smiling warmly even as her unique voice spoke to Irina in her mind saying Welcome home, Rini. Looking at the others she sought to see if she could recognize any of them. Her gaze passed over a petite woman with glossy raven-black hair and violet-blue eyes who was walking with a tall distinguished looking man with a touch of gray in his otherwise dark hair. Her eyes snapped back as it dawned on her that she was seeing Marielle who had brought her the car from the Foundation only now she was not wearing a wig.

As the group neared her, she saw only warm smiles and open countenances. Dom ran from the rearmost of the group to grab her and hug her, saying "Hey, Rini! I'm going back to school for a while. Pre-Law. How do you feel about moving into a bigger flat on campus with me as your new roomie?"

She laughed with delight and said "Omigosh! Yes! Yes Dom! But what about Mom?"

"Your mom has just accepted a new job as building manager in that same apartment building, and she'll have her own apartment there. In fact she's moving in while you're here with us. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you but Carol Ellmore has been named to a new post of Chief Counselor and that's a new school board position."

"Really? She deserves a break."

"I have more good news."

"What?"

"Ike and Glenda Kohler are starting a new addition to their business as purchasing agents. They will shop for and buy antiques for some national auction house."

Dominique spoke then and said "That's not all either. Zoe's father has picked up a lot of business recently. The Sea-Tac Quality Court Motel near Tacoma has named him as the dentist for all fifty-seven employees to see for all of their annual checkups and he's getting other referrals now too."

Irina stepped back and covered her mouth with both hands as tears of joy began to form in her eyes. A warm glow began to spread through her body as the group neared her and Ian prepared to make introductions. Even now Marielle, Celine and Celeste separated from their mates and stepped forward with their arms open, smiling sweetly at her. In her heart, she knew that she was home, and that she had a family to which she would belong forevermore.

# Chapter 63

The Greek freighter Agamemnon sat idling in the Pacific some thirty miles west of Neah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula. It had been stopped some four hundred miles west of the American coast for six days, waiting for the storm that was even now approaching the mainland. This was the perfect cover that they had been waiting for being as the squall line would help to mask their approach to the mainland.

Verrazano had worked diligently recruiting this vampire strike force from the Balkans. They were mercenaries, a ruthless bunch of fifty-two killers who had signed on for this mission for a fat bonus and the opportunity to loot all that they could carry away from what was supposed to be the wealthiest vampire coven in North America. Together with the remaining twelve vampires in his coven, they were a fearsome fighting force.

Agamemnon had begun its' voyage in Naples and had sailed to Greece to pick up the Balkan mercenaries. There they had also picked up a herd of goats to furnish the needed blood for a long voyage. Departing from Greece they had sailed to Egypt and had passed through the Suez Canal to enter the Red Sea and after that, the Indian Ocean. From there they had sailed to New Delhi where a fresh herd of goats had been purchased. Blood could have been bought and stored in refrigerated containers, but Verrazano had done this to further entice the mercenaries with the luxury of fresh blood for much of the trip.

From New Delhi they sailed to Manila in the Philippines, and it was there that Verrazano himself joined his strike force, having flown there ahead of them. The last of their armaments and the eight Zodiac U S Navy surplus rubber boats were procured there along with a third herd of goats. From Manila, Agamemnon departed to complete the last leg of the voyage across the Pacific itself.

Verrazano had never once let Enzo know that he was coming to America personally to seek revenge. Now being unable to reach him he could only conclude that he was dead or captured. No matter because he couldn't reveal what he didn't know. Verrazano had smug satisfaction in his foresight to keep even his right-hand man in the dark regarding his plans. He had decided not to attempt to come by air, reasoning that the Seattle Coven would be watching for that and would use their considerable influence to detect any private craft large enough to transport a strike force. Coming by sea would be a thing that they wouldn't expect.

It had been a bit harrowing being that they were in the shipping lanes and had to be extra careful not to be run over at night by one of the super-container ships from China. Four times they had been offered help and four times they had radioed back that they were working on one of the diesels and had all of the parts they needed. The much-desired storm front had finally arrived so they had resumed their journey to within only fifteen miles of the coast, arriving with the wet weather. The final part of their long voyage was underway.

Now Agamemnon was discharging the last of the sixteen feet long Zodiac rubber boats. Their forty horsepower Yamaha engines idled quietly, not even audible in the mildly rough seas. Finally the last of the eight craft had its engine running and the group departed eastward in the rainy darkness, maintaining a tight formation.

In the lead boat, Vincenzo Verrazano consulted his GPS and a map of the Coast of upper Washington State. He set their course for the Olympic Peninsula and would correct it when halfway there. Their goal was to come ashore anywhere between Neah Bay which was at the northwest tip of the peninsula, and La Push, which gave them a target that fell inside of a thirty mile long stretch of mostly deserted coastland. They would aim to make landfall between two Indian reservations, roughly at Cape Alava; and enter the Olympic National Park under cover of darkness. There was no port anywhere near there so there was little likelihood of being intercepted by the Coast Guard.

The most pressing problem was the chance of encountering Halibut and Salmon fishermen in these waters. This was the best time of the year for catching both species and that upped the chance of being seen by someone. The approaching storm reduced the likelihood of fishermen who might elect to camp along the mostly wild coastal area. Verrazano had done his research and had decided to take the risk rather than wait until the fishing season ended. He figured if it wasn't fishermen, it could be people camping along the coastland after school let out for the summer, so now was as good a time as any because waiting for wintertime was not an option.

There were only eight vampires in each of the eight 10-man boats due to the automatic weapons, launchers, grenades and ammunition they carried. Each of the craft had extra fuel containers lashed into place near the rear of each boat. Eight pairs of Russian Spetznaz Special Forces swim flippers and masks were on each craft in the event that the vampires had to swim for the mainland.

That would only happen if they were intercepted by the Coast guard. In that unlikely scenario they would scuttle the boats and swim to the peninsula. They could make the entire trip underwater with no diving equipment easily being vampires, but would be forced to abandon much of their weaponry if that happened. Every one of them had a U S Navy Seals issue waterproof compass on one wrist and a watch on the other.

Radio silence was maintained and the rearmost boat was responsible for radioing Verrazano if one of the boats got into trouble. If no trouble occurred, they would make the entire trip in silence, their approach perfectly concealed by the approaching squall line and the darkness itself.

Less than two hours later they were in sight of the mainland, seeing the white foam of waves breaking on rocks along the deserted shore. In only ten minutes more, they had landed and had carried their boats inland and were even now running all out, carrying them toward the looming darkness of the lush forestlands of the Pacific Northwest. Well inside of the tree line, they concealed the eight craft and gathered around Verrazano. Unpacking a small flashlight from his waterproof Spetznaz marine assault pack, he spread out the map of Seattle and its surrounding communities. Looking carefully, he finally found the mark he had drawn on the map while still on the freighter.

Pointing to an area east of Seattle in the foothills of the Cascades, he said "Here is where we'll be a few nights from now." Eight of the sixty four other vampires crowded close to peer down at where his finger indicated. There was an 'X' drawn on the map. Verrazano looked into the eyes of those eight and his eyes glowed brightly as he said "The Seattle Coven will be destroyed in just a few days' time." The eyes of every vampire present began to glow brightly then.

One of them pointed to the 'X' on the map and asked "What is this place called?"

"Ridgemont."

The End

Thank you for taking the time to read 'Forever Young Irina'. This story is my very first attempt to write a novel in the Young Adult genre. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. If so, please do take the time to write a brief review and give my work a rating.

 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forever-young-irina-gerald-simpkins/1114586993?ean=2940044304222

or

 http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/forever-young-irina

or

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/280843

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18041878-forever-young-irina

To learn the origin of the Seattle Vampire family and read about the adventures of the members of that family who were in this book read 'Forever Young The Beginning', volume one of the Forever Young series. Then read 'Forever Young Birth Of A Nation', volume two of the series.

If there was anything that I could have done to make your reading experience better, please do tell me. I am a work in progress.

Gerald Simpkins

gsim@tds.net

# Glossary of Characters

Adam MacRae: Alias used by Ian.

Billy Basher: Boyfriend of Sharon Little.

Clay Walker: Young Seattle police homicide detective.

Coach Becker: Teacher at Bellevue High School

Dominique Delaine: Aircraft pilot in Ian's vampire family.

Donna Hartmann: Alias used by Dominique.

Emily Connors: Irina's mother.

Enzo Marelli: Member of the Verrazano vampire coven, a feared fighter and renowned lover.

Giuseppe Maranzano: One handed vampire of the Verrazano Coven.

Glenda Kohler: Wife of Ike Kohler.

Hugh Wilkins ('Wilks'): Veteran homicide detective at SPD.

Hyatt: Street vampire, Adept, Seattle area.

Irina Connors: 17 year old girl, senior at Bellevue High School in Seattle.

Ian McCloud: Vampire, mentor and protector of Irina.

Ike Kohler: Owner of 'Ike's Tradin' Post', friend of Irina.

J T Crawford: Head of Crawford, Barnes, & Mikelsky law firm.

Jeff: Adept vampire, Seattle area.

Joanna Sparks: Juvenile Court judge.

Judge Winkler: Juvenile Court judge.

Karen Olsen: Team mate on Irina's soccer team.

Karla Lauren: Vampire and member of Verrazano coven, mate of Enzo.

Katrina (Kat): Vampire who becomes Jeff's mate.

Marielle Lemont (Marie): Lady from Elsie Foundation and member of Ian's vampire family.

Mario: Vampire member of Verrazano coven.

Mike: Technician at local TV affiliate, Seattle.

Miles Bevins: Chief Medical Examiner, King County, WA.

Mr. Glover: Drives the van that takes Irina to school.

Mr. MacAlvaney: Teacher at Bellevue High School.

Mrs. Gutierrez: Irina's home room teacher.

Phillip: Adept vampire Seattle area. Starlas' mate.

Shamus: Homeless man, snitch for Clay Walker.

Sharon (Shar) Little: Member of the Clique of Bellevue High School.

Sherry: Technician at local TV affiliate Seattle.

Starla: Adept vampire in Seattle area. Mate of Phillip.

Susan Ellmore: Counselor at Bellevue High School.

Sybella: Vampire member of Verrazano coven.

Tommy Blair: Zoe's boyfriend and head of a teen band.

Tyler Walker (Ty): Older brother of Clay, and a uniformed officer on SPD.

Will Stivers: Lead singer of Tommy's band.

Verrazano Coven: A powerful and wealthy group of vampires living mostly in Italy.

Vincenzo Verrazano: Head of Verrazano vampire coven.

Zoe Minkus: Daughter of Irina's dentist and Irina's best friend.

# Glossary of Terminology

Blood Fast: A period of a few days near the end of the three-week imprinting period. During this time a vampire being mentored properly will be denied blood in order to reduce their dependence on it. It can be painful since the body is still adjusting somewhat and this increases the tolerance for pain as well.

Brought over: A term that means when someone is bitten and given vampire blood to cross over and become a vampire.

Cross over: A term that means becoming a vampire.

Crossed over: One who has gone through the process of becoming a vampire is said to have crossed over.

Eye lights: A term used to describe the characteristic glowing eyes that all vampires have. The ability to suppress this trait is best learned while imprinting otherwise the candidates' eyes may glow during emotional changes such as during times of laughter or anger.

Imprint: What happens to the body during the three weeks after a candidate is brought over to become a vampire.

Imprinting: The process of body changes that occur during the three weeks after a candidate is brought over to become a vampire. The candidate sets their tolerance to sunlight, daylight, whether or not they become ambidextrous, their tolerance to pain, what varieties of human food they can eat, and other characteristics that will remain with them for their entire life. Male candidates must make love during this period of time in order to preserve their libido, or they will lose it forever.

202

